The time of the year that you dread the most has arrived. You get to sweat through a performance review to determine if your performance is worthy of a promotion. The numbers appear to be in your favor, but your boss decides to give the promotion to a fellow employee that you feel deserves nothing more than janitor duty. Once again, your company has you passed over for promotion. The question is what are you going to do about it? How are you going to cope with another slap in the face?
Maintain Your Composure
One of the worst behaviors employees exhibit when passed over for promotion is to throw a seemingly appropriate fit. However, throwing an Oscar worthy tantrum only brings you down in the eyes of your managers and co-workers. Even if the decision to pass you over for promotion appears unfair, you need to take the high road and stay calm. Demonstrative venting to your peers only poisons the workplace and lowers morale.
Take a Deep Breath
The first thing professionals do when passed over for promotion is to resign from their positions. Whenever we experience a huge negative event-especially one that impacts our careers-the tendency is to quit our jobs and look for greener pastures. Resist the urge to quit by taking a big breath that lasts a few days. When you come up for air after a few days, you can expect to have a fresh perspective. The perspective may be the time has come to find another job.
Dig in with Tenacity
Your performance review should include measures that you can take to make yourself more likely to garner a promotion. Workers who don’t receive clear steps to take for getting promoted have no shot 12 months down the road of moving up in their companies. You should view passed over for promotion as an opportunity for professional growth, not a painful blow to your career aspirations. You need a tenacious, positive attitude, so that when next year’s performance review rolls around, your employer has no reason to pass you over for promotion.
Encourage Feedback
Before you leave the performance review disappointed at getting passed over for promotion, make sure to ask your boss to provide regular feedback throughout the next year. The feedback not only helps you improve your performance but by asking for it, you establish a strong rapport with the person most likely to conduct your next employee performance review. Ask for mini performance reviews every couple of months to keep you on track for your promotion.
Getting passed over for promotion invokes several negative feelings. If you succumb to negativity, you can expect getting passed over for promotion to become an annual ritual. Maintain your composure, take a few days to reflect, dig in with tenacity, and most important, ask the question, “What can I do to get better.” By encouraging feedback throughout the year, you enhance the chances of leaving your next performance review with a big smile on your face.
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