Ever work for an organization and just feel like a number? You’re not alone. Many employees will comment that they are overlooked for projects and promotions because of their low visibility in the organization. Outside of your immediate department how have you let others in your organization know about the skills and experience you possess?
Depending on the structure of your organization you may have to consider a variety of self-promotion strategies.
Step 1
Have a clear focus on what you want others to know about you. Do you want to be seen as a specialist, or a general knowledge expert?
- Do some soul searching and have a clear idea of your strengths, skills and competencies.
- Seek a professional mentor that can guide you in the next steps of your career.
Step 2
Take steps to increase visibility within your own department.
- Ask your manager for monthly 20 minute status meetings, so you can review your current and upcoming projects.
- Let your manager know of your career goals and what projects or assignments you’d like to be considered for in the future.
- Attend Industry or Professional association meetings and volunteer to do a quick recap of pertinent information at your monthly or quarterly department meetings.
Step 3
Take steps to increase your visibility across the entire company.
- Become familiar with other key members of your organization by reviewing professional bio’s on your intranet.
- Send your personal congratulations to any colleague who has a notable success. This could entail completion of a difficult project, winning a new client, a speaking engagements, or promotion.
- When appropriate send colleagues/peers articles, or news clippings you think may be of interest to them.
- Join an internal cross-functional committee, such as Health and Safety, Social Club, United Way campaigns.
- Attend as many company social and special events as possible to increase your internal networking opportunities.
Increasing your visibility requires you to do some self-marketing which for some can be uncomfortable. Use your established strengths, whether they’re in customer service, analysis, or office administration and leverage these strengths by stretching yourself to tackle new projects.
When others see the contributions you’ve made, your overall value to the organization will increase. In the right situations we all need to ‘toot our own horns’. Identify the key accomplishments you’ve made and be ready to share information with others on how you obtained your successes.
Diane Cobbold
Career Coach - Careego.com