INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 67
It is important to be strategic and relevant when
connecting with these people, so don’t spam them
with questions or irrelevant updates.
“If you ask one of your key leaders for 30 minutes
each quarter to check in, and you make it about a
mentor relationship, then that’s being respectful of
their time,” Shamir says.
Don’t forget the importance of building strong
personal relationships by acknowledging people’s
lives outside of work.
“Having those rapport-building chats, where you
ask about their children...are great, because it’s about
engaging with them as people,” Shamir says.
Employees should also seek feedback from their
manager “at least quarterly” to check they are on
the right track.
“Often we shy away from feedback, and we make
assumptions that because nobody’s saying anything
to us, then we must be doing a good job,” she says.
“But if we don’t receive feedback regularly, we miss
out on those critical moments to improve, or to redirect
our hard work to the areas that will really move the
needle.”
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Crucially, ambitious employees need to track their
performance, so they can articulate what they bring
to the table.
“You have to demonstrate the value that you have
brought to your role, and if you have also brought
value to the business, then that is a winning formula,”
Shamir says.
“By the time you go into that big performance review
with your manager, you shouldn’t have any huge holes
to plug, because you filled them along the way through
asking for regular feedback.”
Career development consultant Sue Ellson agrees,
and says keeping a record of work achievements is vital.
“Document all those extra things you are doing, so
that when the performance review comes along, you
can make that known to the manager,” she says.
“You don’t have to say, ‘I’m the greatest’. You just say,
‘Look, these are the extra things I’ve done on top of my
normal workload this month’.”
ENGAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Ellson also believes that finance leaders and
accountants must be more proactive on social media.
This may include setting up a My Google business
account, so happy clients can leave positive – and
detailed – online reviews about how you helped them,
as well as posting team success stories on workplaceappropriate social media sites, such as LinkedIn.
“Conventional wisdom
says that, the harder you
work, the luckier you get,
but that is only partly
true. You also need
confidence in yourself to
promote your work, build
key relationships
internally and use your
voice to make an impact.”
ALISON SHAMIR, EXECUTIVE COACH
“It’s particularly important for women, because
they often feel very uncomfortable about sharing
their achievements online,” Ellson says.
Furthermore, if employees engage with the
company’s social media posts, this can help their
chances of greater career recognition or promotion.
“Management will see you are across the digital side
of work, that you have an online presence and that you
support your clients and the practice,” she says.
Posting online also “shows you’re enthusiastic about
work, but make sure you don’t spend all day on
LinkedIn, as people will wonder if you do any work”.
MAKE THE FIRST MOVE
Finally, rather than waiting for recognition to come your
way, Ellson encourages her clients to thank others
– including management – thereby beginning a virtuous
cycle of reward and appreciation.
For example, Ellson encouraged one of her younger
clients, who was feeling overworked and underappreciated, to thank her boss with a handwritten card,
which was followed up by a soccer jersey from the rest
of the team.
“When he opened the gift, he burst into tears,
because he couldn’t believe he was being thanked,”
Ellson says.
“Later that afternoon, a card arrived on my client’s
desk and inside it was A$1000 to thank her in return.”
As Ellson notes, people need and like to be thanked,
and doing it appropriately through a thoughtful note,
especially if it is handwritten, may make a huge
difference to your career trajectory.
“‘Thank you’ is just the most unbelievably powerful
word,” Ellson says.
intheblack.com February 2022 67