To work your way up in a company requires careful planning and strategy. Being a great strategist can help you to achieve your goal faster within the ranks of the company.
Mastering the different values and positions helps you to become a valuable employee to the company and also helps you to achieve recognition within the company. This method can also help you to reaffirm your position within the company.
To be familiar to the various facets and challenges in the company you need to work your way up in a company by following certain steps, methods and strategies which we are going to discuss in detail below.
Steps to Work your Way up the Corporate Ladder:
1. Obtain an entry level position within the company:
Try to start from the grass root level of the company. Try to obtain a job as a temporary employee or a permanent full time employee within the company. Try to aim for the branch that you are interested in.
For example: if you wish to be a marketing executive one day, try to obtain a job in the marketing branch of the company as an associate or a marketing trainee. Try to work at the base level and try to hone your skills and try to push your limits beyond the boundary.
2. Define your ultimate goal:
Having a definite goal helps an employee to climb up the corporate ladder. Having a strategy to get to the final goal is necessary. To aim to the top, try to be more specific about the career goals that you have in your life.
There are various other sub factors that might help you to achieve your goal.
- Try to understand the various sublevels and branches within an organization. This help you to plan your career goals better. Try to familiarize yourself with the various departments and also the associated management departments within the company. This can be made easier by studying the organizational hierarchy and structural map of the company.
- Learn about the history and the values of the company. Try to learn about when and how the company started and what its base values are. This will help you to get a clear understanding on values that you should focus on yourself. To achieve this try to utilize materials that are based on the company. This includes studying the company website, learning its values and studying its marketing materials.
- Try to learn from the higher-ups and the supervisors. Try to learn from veteran employees and learn how they made their way up of the corporate ladder. Try to find out the qualities that resonate within you and try to adopt methods that you find appealing and suitable for achieving such a goal. Learning from others is a great method, as it provides you with an example on how things must be followed and how it should be followed.
3. Understand and value the purpose of your position:
Even though an entry level position may not seem appealing for a person who is very much ambitious in reaching the top position, but try to keep in mind that such intermediate positions are necessary for achieving the set goal.
Try to understand the importance of your given jobs how small the position maybe. This will help you to enjoy your work and also helps you to show your commitment towards the job. Such small positions, directly or indirectly helps you to achieve the overall goals of the company.
4. Try to build a positive and a healthy relationship:
Always keep in mind that any hardworking person can lead the company one day. This can include you and your colleagues. For example: your colleague can become your boss one day.
Hence, having a healthy relationship with your colleagues and all the employees is necessary for having a sure chance at promotion. Try to treat everyone with fairness and respect. Failure to do so can even lead to dismissal of your promotion.
- Try to show appreciation to your colleagues. Always try to acknowledge their contributions and their skills while they help you or guide you through various challenges. If you are a person, who is leading a team, try to encourage your team members to value their individual strengths. This shows how appreciative and thankful you are towards others.
- Greet people with a smile. Always try to greet and strike up a conversation with an employee. Be it an executive of the company or an employee who has a lower position than you, try to be friendly and strike up a conversation. This helps you to bond with the other person and hence helps you to maintain a good relationship within the organization.
- Try to be social and friendly. Always try to attend the social gatherings of the company. Even if you are tempted to skip such events. Social gatherings are a great platform for employees to meet each other. It also acts as an opportunity for you to interact with various employees within the company.
5. Take on additional responsibilities and challenges:
Try to show your supervisors that you are a well-rounded professional. Hence, try to take on small yet relevant responsibilities such as overseeing a small project or preparing documents for a presentation and such. Try to work hard and improve your skill set and personality.
Also, make sure that you are not stepping on the line or crossing the boundaries when it comes to your relationship between employees. Taking on multiple responsibilities does not mean that you outshine your supervisors and your colleagues. You are trying to help others, not trying to show off your skills to others.
Also make sure that while taking on such responsibilities you are not distracted from your main job and that such responsibilities will not affect and jeopardize your relationship with your colleagues and your supervisors.
6. Strengthen your skills:
Always try to be updated on what all skills it requires for you to reach the next step of your strategy. A good employee always tries to improve his skillset and makes himself more compatible with the competition. Try to acquire information and skills that are required for you to reach the next level.
For example:
If your goal is to work your way up from the administrative department and be the department head, naturally you have to study about the various technologies used in that certain department. Always prepare for the next job, whenever you can.
Try to enroll in classes that helps you to improve your skills and helps you to strengthen your knowledge. Most of the companies provide classes so as to provide training to employees for them to be familiar with the new and upcoming technology.
When given a choice to attend such classes, try to use them wisely and carefully so that this knowledge can be used in the future.
7. Try to apply for job openings:
Your ambition to get a high level position in a company depends on the jobs that you apply for. It is nearly impossible for an employee starting at an entry level position to achieve a large position within a large company in a short amount of time.
Try to apply for jobs that suit your preferences and your skills and plan a logical progression towards your aim. Try to apply for jobs that suits you the most and then plan the way up. This helps you to achieve your goal in a relatively short amount of time.
Although, this method is not completely dependable as it depends upon each person and how they treat and use their chances.
Apply for companies where you plan to stay for a reasonable amount of time. This helps you to solidify your foundations and also helps you to make good decisions and contributions to the company.
An employee is expected to work for a company for at least one to two years, this is the minimum time required for an employee to get familiarized with the work culture and ethics of the organization. After working for that amount of time, one can also increase his chances of promotion within the company.
8. Always keep a success file:
Employees eyeing for a promotion should always keep a success file with them. This can act as a gauge to show what all various activities, projects, presentations that you have successfully led.
This can also act as a great source of encouragement and improvement when you face any work slump or when you are reviewing your annual performance.
9. Contribute ideas:
Working hard and being reliable both are not enough to work your way up or for an employee to work towards a higher position. Always try to be the person who contributes to the company.
Try to be active in the development processes of the company and always provide valuable suggestions and opinions that are not only favorable to the company but also favorable to fellow employees.
When managers or supervisors ask for any suggestions or opinions, always try to be the person who takes initiative in providing the necessary suggestions.
10. Try to be a team player:
Many organizations prefer employees or leaders that can lead their team to success rather than people who prefer working alone.
Try to be versatile and friendly to others, so that they can entrust you with their jobs and tasks. This creates an impression that you are a valuable member of the organization and many incentives will be given to you.
Being a team player not only increases your reputation within the company, but also helps you increase your worth within the organization and among employees.
11. Try to dress for the job:
Always try to dress impeccably. Dressing for the job is a good method to show that you take your job seriously. Try to avoid casual clothes when you are in your job or doing anything job related.
Employees won’t be taken seriously if they wear casual clothes. Wearing casual clothes at work shows that you are less committed and you take your work lightly.
12. Always be prepared:
One of the main disadvantages when working in a white collar job is the level of unpredictability. Every day is different. This also means that employees should be ready for any kind of work given.
This means getting the presentations and documents ready for a surprise meeting, suddenly meeting with the clients and so on. This shows the supervisor and the managers the level of your eagerness to do the job.
Also, take these opportunities as a form of assessment, where the bosses will go through the notes and materials prepared and will judge you based on them. Try to be well prepared so that you can easily impress your higher-ups.
13. Never postpone:
One of the most overlooked factors for an employee to improve himself is his ability to complete his work on time. Always try to finish your work before the deadline. Never try to push a work just before the deadline. This will result in poor results and errors. Such results can cause more harm than good to the organization and also to the client.
Postponing a task shows how unfocused and intolerant you are in your work. Always prioritize your work more than anything until it is finished. This is what differentiates an ideal employee from the generic lot of employees.
14. Always behave:
Try to be in a good attitude and also follow the rules and regulations set by the organization. This shows how disciplined you are in your work and how much you value your rules.
Always show the right temperament and show the right attitude to others including your boss. This shows how calm and composed you are, even when you are subjected to stress and pressure.
Failure in following the rules and regulations set by the company, will eventually lead to your bosses in marking you in the blacklist. Always follow a certain set of principles and maintain a level of decency.
Conclusion:
When applying all these factors, try to play your cards right. Try to stick out from the crowd and be as perfect as you can in your job. This way you can easily reach at the top of the corporate ladder and you can achieve the position that you yearned for.
