Getting Recognition @ Work

In this article the author explains why Despite working hard and meeting our goals, sometimes it’s not clear why we cannot taste success @ work. The absence of strong feedback could make us feel underappreciated or undervalued. The author opines that while managers can help boost employee morale by bridging communication gaps around performance, it can be time consuming and lead to frustrations. In this article the author is going to provide us means of empowering yourself in these situations. and course correct to move in the right direction.

But what we need to realize is that you are not alone in this situation. The author states that in a recent survey of over 1000 full-time employees in the United States, more than a half of respondents reported feeling only somewhat valued (46.4%) or not valued at all (10.7%) by their organization.

The author opines that feeling underappreciated can come in many forms, but largely, it manifests from lapses in communication between managers and their team members. Some of the tips given by the author as below:

1. Suggestion#1 – The author states that there is a difference between high-visibility roles and status-granting roles — and you need both visibility and status to move your career forward. Highly visible work gives you a chance to network with people in positions of power, but it may not be brought up during promotion decisions. The only way to know if a project or role is worth your time is to explicitly and respectfully ask around if that role contribute to your status and improving your skills or will it be discussed when promotion decisions are being made?”
2. Suggestion#2 - ? Stop being too much of a team player. The author quotes another study where? people who failed to land a promotion, 7% took on extra work that no one was doing to pick up the slack, and 13% took it on because there was “no one else to do it.” The author states that this kind of work might get noticed by your boss, but it’s unlikely that it will contribute to promotion @ work. Strong teams must support one another’s career goals and it is better to remind your peers that taking too much of volunteer work can make it tough for you to move up. Also get feedback from your boss during a one-on-one, or a meeting focused specifically on discussing your goals and growth.

The author concludes that when feedback around why we are or aren’t appreciated at work is rare, the burden (unfortunately) falls on us to do the digging. But small steps — like finding out what will and won’t count towards your growth — can be empowering. In the end it lies with our individual self to check what best works for us whether that means changing our approach or moving on to better opportunities.