I am doing everything right. So why am I not getting promoted? By Israel Lozano

(Reading time: five minutes)

Good performance should mean better promotion opportunities. But unfortunately, this is not always the case, as many other factors affect your career, including a lack of skills, a job that does not prepare you for the next, lacking support for a management position, biases, etc.

But what if hidden factors also affect your promotion opportunities? Let me share two processes that significantly impact individual performance and people seldom know: Calibration and Talent Reviews.

Calibration: after line managers produce ratings (exceeds expectations, meets, etc.), leaders review performance distribution vs. budget, compare peers, and set the final ratings. Consequently, a "top" performance evaluation could be downgraded to "average" based on relative performance or budget availability. Perhaps the most criticized aspect of calibration occurs when influential or "noisy" leaders get higher grades for their teams at the expense of others.?

Talent Review: leaders analyze top performers and discuss potential. This process is a function of cultural fit, a measure of your alignment with the organization's values and behaviors that works under a simple equation: low cultural fit = fewer growth opportunities, regardless of performance.

You may appreciate at this point that "doing everything right" does not always translate into promotions. But does that mean your growth opportunities are doomed? Not really, because cultural fit is under your control.

Why is cultural fit so important? Because corporations operate like a country club: if you are a member in good standing, you enjoy the perks, in this case, the best opportunities. Is this wrong? No, just a basic human tendency to surround ourselves with similar people. If you were part of the leadership, would you want to work with people who share your values and behaviors or with others who don't?

The good news is that simple things can improve cultural fit. Respecting the company's values, attending company events, learning the organizational lexicon, and enhancing your communication skills (including language if you are foreign), are just a few examples.

But if you are unwilling to make these small efforts, you may want to consider a different working place, as you can be sure the company will not change its culture to fit your aspirations. Or maybe it will - if you are the owner or the CEO.

I believe alignment is essential for employee and company growth. Alignment starts with similar information, but as companies grow, information asymmetries develop. In time, only a handful of employees (usually in Headquarters) understand how to navigate the organization's culture, while many others drift throughout their careers. Providing access to similar corporate information is my way of helping employees and employers align and grow together – Israel