Want to be the employee who gets promotions? Seven steps to gaining high-potential status

If your career objective is to climb the corporate ladder, then you need to get recognized as a high-potential employee, or HiPo. HiPos have been tagged as the top performers in an organization and are invited to key meetings, asked for input, offered advanced learning opportunities and given plum assignments. And even when economic circumstances lead to layoffs, they are the ones who don’t just avoid the axe, but always seem to endure without any scars.

So what does it take to be recognized as a HiPo? While some of it may be who you know, or luck, there are ways to influence how you and your talents are perceived.

If you are deliberate and thoughtful about showcasing your strengths and establishing your workplace value, you can, and will, position yourself as a HiPo.

Here are seven things you can do right now to become worthy of HiPo status.

1. Do excellent work. Fulfill your current responsibilities. Don’t just perform well, perform exceptionally well. This is your baseline. If you can’t show those who can influence your success that you are more than capable of consistently producing great work, then none of the remaining six actions will matter.

2. Step up. Show initiative and take action. If you see an issue brewing, preemptively propose solutions. Offer to take care of an unexpected setback. If there is a new project in the works, find an opportunity to add value, perhaps even by taking on a leadership role. Extend a helping hand for tasks that are outside of your direct responsibility. Volunteer for special task force teams and ask for more challenging duties. Demonstrate that you work well on your own and that you can be even more effective as part of a team. When you step up, you stand out.

This is one my regular columns in The Globe and Mail, originally published on November 11, 2022. If you have a subscription, you can read the rest on their site here: https://tgam.ca/3EoIJKj . And if you don't, a pdf version is archived here: https://www.turningmanagersintoleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GM_ManagementOnline_111122.pdf