At some point or another, we all need a career boost. Whether you’re going into the dreaded performance review or need to find a new job, expanding and grooming your professional brand will always be a priority if you want to advance yourself.
But, how can you forgo the same tried solutions and become a remarkable employee? More importantly, how can you boost your career in the process, particularly in the eyes of a supervisor?
Today my guest blogger is Morgan Norman, CEO of WorkSimple, the social performance application that fundamentally changes the way employees and companies view performance and each other. You can connect with Mr. Norman and WorkSimple on Facebook and @getsimple on Twitter. As we close out the year, it may be the ideal time to put his tips to good use.
1. Set a focus: Believe it or not, your manager may not know what you do on an everyday basis.
In fact, they may assume that you’re working on a certain objective when it’s been passed on to someone else or no longer relevant. You typically have four to five focuses, depending on your role. Setting concrete focuses and then assigning goals under that focus can give your manager the feedback they need, while at the same time cluing them in on why you deserve the promotion, salary bonus, or job. Setting a focus also lets your manager know what your strengths are — which, again, they may not be aware of.
2. Go visual: We live in a visual world, so why shouldn’t your work portfolio follow suit? A great way to showcase your work is to have a visual storyboard that tells your personal WorkStory. Plus, you no longer need to be a designer to build a biography of your accomplishments. Many platforms out there make it easy to showcase your work in minutes, helping you manage your own work portfolio. Additionally, visual storyboards can help you be that remarkable employee. First, your manager can see exactly what you accomplished, what you’re working on, and how you got there. Next, a visual element is much easier to relay than words on paper. After all, if there are visual elements in your portfolio, it makes your work exciting, which puts you on a higher plateau than your competition.
3. Tailor your content: When you’re in a room with a manager, do you think they want to hear about the work you did last year or the work you did last week? Probably the latter. By tailoring your content to what matters now or in the recent past, you give your manager insight on your current achievements and objectives. Think about setting a few focuses (as I stated above), and tailoring your content towards it. That way, your manager can see what you’re working on in real-time.
4. Share your accomplishments: Take control of your career by transforming
how you share work and capture your accomplishments. For example, you can create a work portfolio that allows your best work to shine. Further, you can also highlight your top five accomplishments and relay to your manager why hitting these goals made an impact on your company. When it comes down to it, you can’t transform team or company culture without sharing; it takes action. So take it.
5. Get feedback: Endorsements and recommendations of others can have a huge impact in your career. By getting that little check mark, your great work can shine across the organization. Anything from a LinkedIn recommendation to written praise by coworkers, managers, or partners can be that little push you need to be remarkable in the eyes of your supervisor.
What are some approaches you have used to position yourself as a remarkable employee?
