Promotion is an act of raising someone to a higher level in their sphere of influence. This typically occurs based on merit or out of necessity. Regardless of the source, promotion is typically offered to outstanding employees who go above and beyond to ensure the success of their business units.
As long as a Business Unit is functioning even during the pandemic, there are deliverables, goals to be accomplished, and expectations to be met.
In the case of a pandemic, where there are a lot of uncertainties, such as job losses and business closures, the logical thought is to be grateful to be gainfully employed. As such, being promoted or offered an incentive becomes far-fetched thoughts in the minds of employees.
However, going back to the previous statement about a functioning business unit, the fact that we are in a pandemic does not negate the effort put in to accomplish tasks at work. In a lot of ways, business as we knew it has been impacted, making it either more tedious or streamlined.
This requires tenacious employees who have both the appropriate soft and hard skills to forge ahead. This is for you, if you have the necessary technical skills, with which you can meet up to the new demands of business. In addition, soft skills such as Emotional Intelligence, adaptability and interpersonal relations are necessary to respond to the changes and influence others to do the same. An employee who can demonstrate these skills, will get results, and therefore is positioned to ask for a promotion.
Timing is everything. The best times to bring up the conversation of a promotion are when you have tangible results, or when you become aware of a company need. Due to the pandemic, a lot of companies, may not have as many openings advertised, as they did prior, so new positions may be on as needed basis. As an astute employee, once you can identify a need, and you have a solution which will bring about tangible results especially in the pandemic-that is the time to have the conversation.
Presentation is key. The best way to approach your boss, would be to present the current reality, and the company’s potential. In so doing, the need becomes glaring. Discuss your solutions in high level, making sure you include timelines. An example would be “We currently have three product lines running effectively and looking at our manufacturing capabilities in terms of manpower and machineries, we can run up to eight lines concurrently. I want to suggest making some HR changes, investing in training & equipment servicing to add two additional product lines over the next year to increase revenue by 30 percent”.
Asking for a promotion in a pandemic may be daunting, but with the right strategies and approach, it is doable.