Five Ways To Deal With a Missed Promotion

The appraisal results are out in the open, and that promotion you thought you more or else had in the bag seems to have passed you by. Don’t fret. Being passed over for a promotion doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Sreeradha D Basu has some tips on how to bounce back.

1 Believe in Yourself A missed promotion doesn’t, in all cases, have to be a reflection of your capability as an employee, so don’t be too hard on yourself. A number of external factors, other than individual performance, can have influenced this decision. “You need to look at the overall perspective. It could be a function of a slow economy, the company may not be doing well, or the sector you are in may be going through a lean period, which is why the company prefers taking a cautious approach,” says Sunil Goel, director of executive search firm GlobalHunt. 

2 Meet the Manager If you were indeed eligible for a promotion, you need to have a candid conversation with your manager about why you missed out. "You need to understand whether the challenge in your current job is more or less than your capability. If it’s more, then you are certainly not ready for a promotion," says Judhajit Das, chief HR, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. He adds: "Use your manager’s feedback to help reassess your goals. Identify the reasons why you didn’t get promoted and work on those areas over the course of the next year." 

3 Enhance your Skill Set Make a conscious effort to develop your skills in areas where they are lacking — information technology skills, training programmes or others, and take the relevant courses. “I got passed o ver for a promotion once simply because another colleague had experience in working on a certain kind of project. I made sure that I had left no areas untouched from my end the next time appraisals came around,” says IT professional S Nayak. 

4 Avoid Rash Decisions GlobalHunt’s Goel advises against taking a hasty call to change jobs if a promotion doesn’t come through. “It will take a year to make a proper mark in the new organisation. Instead, it makes much more sense to demonstrate your abilities better and try for a promotion in the next cycle in the current company. Switching a job should be the last resort,” says Goel. 

5 Stay Positive Instead of brooding over the negative, concentrate your energies on improving your abilities so you don’t miss out on the next opportunity. Give it your best shot so that you are in a far stronger position the next time around.

(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 06-04-2012)