One of the reasons why a lot of us change jobs frequently is simply because our managers start to take us for granted if we stay too long. You work hard, but you may be still doing the same job for many years without getting a raise or the recognition that you deserve.
It's a common issue that the good soldiers don't complain and thus are not heard at the workplace. This culture is detrimental to the employee motivation and the organizational efficiency. If the dedicated employees don't get enough recognition, they may lose hope and look for other opportunities. For the employees, the cost of leaving a place where they have dedicated a lot of efforts is very high. For the employers, it's also very costly to lose these dedicated employees. Of course, organizationally, there are certainly a lot of things that can be improved both in terms of culture as well as reward & recognition mechanisms. Today, we would like to just focus on a few ways for employees to prevent this from happening.
1. Voice your expectations. Be it salary raise, or change of positions, or anything else, it's not going to be heard if you don't say it. We may expect that our dedication could be seen by others naturally without the need to promote it, but unfortunately we are all very busy with our work and life. The limited attention span that are still left with your manager needs to be divided into hundreds of directions. So if you don't speak out, they will assume that everything is fine. Either through a formal meeting, or informal catch-up, or just randomly complaining over lunch, you need to voice your expectations.
2. Be more active in meetings. I know when you read this, every cell in your body is resisting it. But face it, people who are more active in meetings could get more exposure, and that's probably the easiest way to do so. You don't need to be loud and noisy, but you can still be confident and assertive in speaking in front of others. Your manager would soon realize that you are not the same you anymore. We know that this is an issue that lots of us are struggling with, so we have written a separate article on how to be more active in meetings.
3. Bring more energy to work. We all have different kinds of responsibilities outside of workplace, and it consumes a lot of our energies. However, being energetic at work is very important to leave others a good impression. I know this sounds cliche, but think of some of your colleagues who exuberate energy everyday. They would most likely get more spotlight than you. Check out our energy guide on what you can do to have a higher energy level.
4. Take record of the outcomes of your work. It's a good habit to record what you have worked on, and what you have achieved. It would be a good proof of your work and value when you enter into discussions with your manager or HR. You think you could remember everything, but trust me, we tend to forget a lot of things if we don't write it down in time. So take 15 mins every week to write down what you have done.
5. Take credit of your work. It's important to take credit of the work that you have done, if this is not explicit to your manager. Do not assume that they would know it if nobody says anything. It's normal that managers often only know 30-50% of what their direct reports are doing. So if you don't copy them in emails, or you don't inform them in your regular feedback meetings, they have no idea of what you have done and what you are working on. So make some noise, not excessive, but just enough to let them know.
6. Talk to your colleagues about work. It may not sound very convincing, but any work-related discussions are more than welcomed by your manager. If you can start such conversations, whether it's about some issue that you have run into with your focal points, or a problem that you think others are also struggling with, it shows that you care about your work, you are a team player, and .you have leadership Exactly what your manager is looking for.
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