3 actions for career success

Suresh is productive in his role, a good performer, and consistently delivering on goals.

Looking to strengthen his career, he is pondering what are some actions he should take.

Three which are worth considering are

1.       Be compensated competitively

2.       Grow expertise & knowledge

3.       Build job resiliency

Be compensated competitively

As a productive worker Suresh is likely to be valued and compensated fairly.

However, it never hurts to check if that compensation is competitive.

To start, Suresh should have an open dialog with his supervisor to understand how his performance benchmarks vs. peers. Performance review cycles are a great time to have this conversation but it can be discussed even outside of that.

The next step is to understand if his compensation benchmarks well with similarly positioned and performing peers. His supervisor may be able to share that input, or otherwise a trusted contact in HR can be a good source. There is a lot of sensitivity about sharing individual compensation data so the question to ask will be about range of compensation for his role and level of performance.

If there is a material gap between peer compensation and Suresh’s, then it’s time to ask what actions he can take to boost it, how he can catch up and in what timeframe.

On the other hand, if he is at the upper end already, go to step 2.

Step 2 – Benchmark if your compensation is competitive vs. similar roles in peer companies.

If companies outside compensate much better – and consistently so  - for similar performance, it may be worth considering a move.

Suresh should assess if his skills and competencies are portable and will also deliver similar productivity in a new organization? Is his productivity dependent on the network which he has built within his present employer or on employer specific knowledge and there will be a productivity dip when moving?  He should factor these in when making a decision of making a move.

Disclaimer– A compensation bump is not the only criteria to consider when assessing a job change. Suresh should assess his career path, quality of work and lifestyle choices to make a balanced choice.

Grow expertise & knowledge

Suresh is adept at the work which he does and delivers consistently.

Continuing to do the same will ensure that while he is productive today, there is the risk of stagnation and subsequently of professional worth.

It may be time to challenge yourself Suresh. Enhance your professional knowledge, build greater specialization, take on more challenging work.

If you are in tech or services, learn how contemporary tools including AI can be used and deployed.

In legal, HR, finance – what are emerging processes, compliance changes, and efficiency tools.

As a salesperson , pitch for more complex sales, get into depth of the business processes of your target market segment, invest in building a network of buyers.

These new challenges will push you. It will take effort and may be even a struggle initially as you repurpose and relearn.

Which can be uncomfortable for consistent and recognized performers.

The payoff is worth it. A continuous effort at learning and taking on more complex challenges is the best path to mitigate stagnation and, in some cases, also a job loss. It is also the path to career growth.

Do it proactively when you are performing well, so that you don’t need to do it when you have your back to the wall.

Build job resiliency – move to better growth opportunities

Jobs evolve. Some get automated, others become redundant.

To ensure resiliency in his career, Suresh needs to be alert to these changes.

Is his work getting routinized and hence likely to get automated or outsourced? Has his industry slowed down and provides limited opportunities for professional growth.

He needs to stay ahead of the curve. What are other roles where his skills can be redeployed?

As an IT professional can he add or redeploy his skills towards a new platform / technology theme which is emerging as the next wave? From SAP, can he move to Hana? From server management to cloud transitions? From data warehouse builds to data lakes?

As a sales person in an industry which is slowing down, can his sales acumen and network be repurposed to a faster growing industry which is contiguous to the current one.

If his role is closely tethered to a particular industry (pharma research, apparel merchandizing, selling technology services) the best option will be to consider a move to a faster growing / healthier organization within the same industry. His experience and expertise will enable faster productivity and results.

On the other hand, roles like IT, HR, legal, logistics, and facilities management are more portable and provide options to move across industries.

Keep a watch for opportunities in emerging themes and in industries which are growing. The odds of job resiliency are better there.

In closing

Suresh is proficient in his job and recognized as a productive worker.

Having got there, three actions will help ensure that he is fairly rewarded and investing in the future of his career.

1.       Ensure that he is compensated commensurate to performance.

2.       Learn new skills, take on more challenging work to elevate his level of competency to avoid stagnation and position himself for career growth.

3.       Keep a watch on the longevity of the role which he is in. Work actively to move to emerging themes and growth industries where his skills can be repurposed and deployed.

Be proactive in these three areas and build a rewarding future

Keep swinging!

You may also want to read Valenco Case Study - Mahesh