Culled from Glassdoor
If you feel stuck in your career, consider whether you are underperforming, or you just aren’t finding meaning in your work. According to White, these are six warning indicators that you’re not meeting your company’s expectations.
- Your career has not advanced for at least three years.
- Your asks are getting turned down, whether it’s asking for a raise or to manage a project.
- You’re not hitting your objectives or you feel like there’s a lack of momentum.
- Raises are slow: You have less than a 10% increase over 5 years.
- You don’t have at least three senior advocates.
- You’ve received three or more average or below-average categories in performance reviews.
If you see any of these red flags in your career trajectory, take a moment to analyze what stage of your career you are in to work on next steps if you want to stay at your company, or decide if it’s time to move on.
The 5 stages of career growth
There’s often a gap between job descriptions and manager expectations, which could lead to workers feeling catfished at work, or often like their best isn’t enough. But you can bridge that gap and get on track by understanding the phases of career growth. According to White, the five stages are:
- Doer: An entry-level worker who gets ahead by asking lots of questions.
- Achiever: A middle-level employee. A manager will tell the achiever when something has to be done and why it’s important, but the doer has to figure out how to execute the task.
- Collaborator: A middle-manager or high-level individual contributor. Collaborators must rely on other people and departments to succeed, so they have to be good at asking for outside help and managing conflict.
- Builder: Usually a director or vice president. A builder’s success or failure is based on whether they can get the resources to accomplish a goal. Builders must be able to speak concisely about what they need and why, and need to be able to resolve conflict.
- Expander: Typically a senior vice president or C-suite executive. Successful expanders typically spend one-third of their time with people and organizations outside their company, one-third with other departments within their company, and one-third with their direct line of reports.
Remember: A promotion or title change isn’t the only indicator that you’re in a new stage. Your career stage may silently change as work worlds shift — particularly in the wake of company restructuring or downsizing.
A critical skill for career advancement
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” In most jobs, that means understanding what your company values. Instead of working more, make sure you’re working on the right things.
That starts with communication. Instead of simply running with a task, talk to your manager about the goal they’re trying to achieve, and ask for feedback about how your work aligns with their top initiatives. Identify the metrics for success, and how to measure your performance against those metrics.