On the Job: How to Get Ahead in the Workplace

Last time we talked about how to make the most of your time training. Assuming you did all that, your next job is to do…nothing. ‘NOTHING?’ I hear you say? Well, not quite nothing but the first thing to do is to get on with doing the work you were trained to do to the best of your ability and doing plenty of it.

The trick is not to try too hard to get noticed. In his book ‘An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth’ the Canadian Former Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield talks about the idea of being a ‘zero’, a ‘one’ or a ‘two’. At this stage, you want to be a 'zero' by working as shown in the previous paragraph. Once you gain experience, you’ll become a ‘one’ and with effort eventually a ‘two’, by which time you’ll be ready to lead a team. Try to be a ‘one’ or a ‘two’ too soon and you’ll be noticed for all the wrong reasons and become a ‘minus one’.

So, you’ve been a ‘zero’ for a while and your quality and productivity scores have consistently been good. How to become a ‘one’? To start with, you’ll want to take advantage of any extra training that is available to you. You should have monthly review meetings with your manager where you should identify any areas for improvement (hint: if you can’t think of any, you’re probably not ready to become a ‘one’.) Having the correct attitude to criticism is essential – if you struggle to accept constructive criticism, you’re probably not ready to become a ‘one’.

Assuming you now consider yourself a ‘one’, you should expect to receive more complex work and your manager may well get you to deputise for them – I was assigned to cover for my manager when he was unwell and to help with job interviews – firstly taking notes and then being the one asking the questions. At this stage, you’ll also get to know people in other business areas who work alongside yours. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ll be ready to be a ‘two’ and will want to start thinking about promotion.

From start to finish, I’d say this can be done in about 18 months

At this point, it’s important to think about whether you’re truly comfortable with this idea of managing people – if you’re not, you may need more time to get comfortable. If you really don’t like the idea, don’t worry – all employers have specialist roles into which you’ll be promoted without having to manage people. If you want to go down this road (which is perfectly valid) your manager should be able to help you.

For those of you who have read this far 😊 thanks – I hope this post has been helpful. If you like it, please click the ‘subscribe’ button so you don’t miss future updates. I post every Monday and most weekends. Thank you and see you next time!