Getting promoted
The ability to get a promotion and advance your career remains one of the top five drivers of employment attraction and retention in Australia1.
The changing nature of work has seen a move away from an environment of employer-managed careers to an employee-self-managed approach. Many financial services organisations are aware of this trend, and becoming increasingly creative and sophisticated with structured career paths and promotion opportunities. However, the path to success is increasingly one where employees proactively seek out these opportunities. If your aim is to climb the financial services career ladder, you can expect that – at one time or another – this will involve applying for and receiving a
promotion.
Promotions in financial services
The financial services sector, like the majority of major industry groups, has changed at a rapid pace. As a result of restructuring and downsizing, vertical promotions are no longer the dominant options when it comes to career development and progression. However, rewarding promotion opportunities continue to arise as the industry changes, and will vary according to the size of the organisation and type of role.
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Career profile on gaining a promotion within financial services:
Arthur Kallos, Regional Manager Financial Planning NSW, St George Bank
Opportunities within the sector
While there is consensus that both Australia and New Zealand have not escaped the impact of a slowing world economy and resultant job losses, demand for skilled financial services professionals will continue into the future – both in existing and emerging disciplines – especially as the outlook improves.
Financial services professionals play a pivotal role in engine room of the global economy, where they work to facilitate trade and genuine investment flows in the process of supporting economic growth. As a result, the sector continues to be a major employer, representing one of the largest industries in both Australia and New Zealand with a respective 19.4 and 20.9 percentage share of GDP in 2007/082. The increasingly global nature of the banking and finance sector has also resulted in
a range of international promotion opportunities. Depending on your area of market expertise and your career aspirations, international (promotion) opportunities are a worthwhile avenue to explore – even during the current bear market.
In addition, as highlighted by Finsia’s Closing the Talent Gap report (PDF 1.7MB), the sector is faced with an ageing workforce, with participants aged under 30 declining six per cent and those aged 60 and over increasing by three percent in the past 10 years. While the slowing world economy may temporarily alleviate concerns of a skills shortage, it will not
dampen future demand for new entrants to the industry.
Larger financial services institutions (in particular those in the banking sector) have acted to protect themselves against an ageing workforce with cutting-edge human resource practices and innovative career and promotion policies. This is reflected in the fact that many large financial services employers are regularly ranked highly as 'top employers' or 'employers of choice' in national surveys. Review our Comparison of working conditions of major financial institutions in Australia (PDF 40KB) for more information.
How to increase your promotion opportunities
For many, the process of achieving a promotion can be forbidding. However, by doing your homework and going in with the right attitude, you can certainly hedge your bets for success.
Do your research
If you haven’t already, build a well-thought out career road map that defines where you want to go, why you want to go there and how you plan to get there. Reflect on your key professional and personal strengths, weaknesses and interests. Consider how well they link in with the opportunity you are pursuing, keeping in mind your career road map. Make sure you look at this from both angles: Do your skills and experience make you a realistic candidate? How long will the role challenge you for?
Talk to as many people as possible working in and around the role you are applying for. Get a realistic understanding of the work involved, future growth opportunities, remuneration expectations and the challenges and rewards of the role. Assess this information against your short- and long-term career objectives. Use this opportunity to introduce yourself to the people that will potentially have a say in the decision-making process for the promotion.
Get yourself known
Self promotion can be a daunting task. The appropriate level of promotion will vary depending on your comfort level and the culture of the organisation. Keep in mind the following tips:
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Understand the boundaries: There is a fine line between marketing yourself and coming across as overly pushy, arrogant sounding or self-serving.
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Make yourself known: Get to know the people working in and around the area you are interested in being promoted to. Have some clearly thought out points to sell yourself, and look for appropriate opportunities to put them forward. Use any
structured interviews to sing your praises.
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Understand the corporate culture: Ensure your presentation style and self promotion compliment the role and the corporate culture. One organisation may have quite a conservative culture and hierarchical structure, while another may be quite dynamic and flat structured.
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Share your ambitions when you can: Formal or informal performance appraisals provide an excellent opportunity to market yourself. Facts, figures and behaviours that demonstrate how you have positively impacted the company’s bottom line will demonstrate your suitability for promotion. Keep records of what you have achieved against stated targets and KPIs, and prepare documentation that demonstrates the impact your ideas and actions have had. Don’t rely on generalised, emotive and subjective statements. This approach can be particularly useful when
the person you report to doesn't have the power to grant you a promotion. The more compelling your presentation, the easier it is for them to provide a convincing case in your favour up the management line.
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Be authentic: Avoid negative and disparaging comments about peers and managers when promoting yourself. Stick to positive supportive statements. If you are asked to criticise others, do this in a constructive manner and stick to the facts.
Manage and extend your career networks
Networking provides you access to the hidden jobs market. Building and maintaining a strong network of colleagues and friends in financial services will keep you informed about job leads and promotion opportunities. Your network also offers a useful sounding board for advice and guidance. Finsia has a number of tools and resources to support your networking initiatives, including:
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www.careernetwork.finsia.com: Finsia Career Network give you access to an online community of professionals working or with an interest in the financial services industry.
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More about networking: Find out where you should network, how to network and the difference between networking and selling.
Proactively manage your career with a mentor
Many of the world's most successful people have benefited from having a mentor, from businessmen Richard Branson (mentored by Freddie Laker) to seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong (mentored by Eddy Merckx). Mentors offer expertise to less experienced individuals (or mentees) to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build networks. A suitably matched mentor can offer valuable insights and identify hidden opportunities.
Finsia runs a mentoring program, where mentees are able to set their career aspirations and start the journey with personalised guidance from senior industry leaders. The 16-week program is run in cities around Australia and New Zealand annually. In addition, some larger financial services organisations also run in-house mentoring programs. These are often aimed at high potential employees.
Stay ahead of the game
Continue to learn new skills and stay up-to-date with changes in the industry. Be able to demonstrate that you have gained the skills and experience that will make you an attractive promotion prospect. Consider additional industry training or going back to university (part-time or full-time courses are available depending on your circumstances) for a higher or more relevant degree.
Demonstrate your industry kudos by joining relevant membership associations, such as Finsia, and displaying relevant post nominals after your name. Make sure you note your memberships in your resume as well. Membership has the added benefit of driving your industry knowledge and skills currency through professional development events, policy and research initiatives and publications.
Be good at your job, and exceed expectations
Demonstrate your eligibility for a promotion by excelling in the role you are currently in. Identify areas where this is possible – for example, work ahead of a set deadline – and offer to help others where it would be appreciated. Volunteer for project teams and, without over-extending your capabilities, ask for increased responsibilities. Be innovative and establish new, creative solutions to any problems encountered.
Working with this attitude will not just position you well for promotion – it will also safeguard you in industry downturns. Regardless of the state of the market, your promotion opportunities will be limited if you are unable to meet the core requirements of your current role.
Be inquisitive about promotion prospects
Take advantage of existing relationships, systems and processes to discuss promotion opportunities.
Performance appraisals offer an ideal platform to discuss your career objectives. Seek advice on ways to increase your chances of being promoted. Take advantage of the structured format to identify professional development needs and establish a training plan.
Informal discussions and work-in-progress (WIP) meetings are also useful ways to seek information and advice about promotion prospects. Ask for your manager’s advice on the steps that you need to take to increase your promotion opportunities. Most people like to be asked for their advice/opinion, and managers are no different. Your manager can often become your greatest advocate.
Human Resources, Learning & Development or similar departments can also be a useful resource to tap into. These specialists can provide you with inside information about specific roles, the personality traits of hiring managers as well as the challenges and rewards accompanying certain promotions. They may also be able to suggest other approaches and contacts that can help you to improve your chances for promotion.
Most progressive financial services organisations have clear policies and procedures on candidate assessment and selection to ensure equal and fair access to promotion opportunities. When considering new organisations, ask how your potential new employer approaches their internal promotion processes.
Prepare for the application and interview process
Many organisations follow a structured application and interview process when recruiting or promoting candidates. This can vary from one to a number of interviews, depending on the role and size of the organisation.
Don’t assume that your application for an internal role will not be subject to the rigors of a structured application and interview process. Many organisations will expect you to fill out an application form and provide an up-to-date resume and covering letter. Make sure you know what is expected and what they are looking by reading the job description and selection criteria thoroughly. Take the time to review and update your resume to ensure that it highlights your most recent experience and skills, clearly indicating a strong case for the promotion. Summarise the major
selling points that make you a good promotion prospect in your covering letter as well.
As with any interview process, be prepared to provide specific examples of past behaviour and transferable skills and experience that make you an attractive promotion prospect.
Find out more job seeking tips and resources to help you stay focussed in your job search.
Dress for success
When going for a promotion, make sure you dress in a way that suits the role you are going for.
Things to avoid
Making threats or demands
Be careful not to make a request for promotion sound like a demand. Don't threaten to leave if you don't get the promotion you wanted, especially if you are not going to follow through.
If you have been offered a new job somewhere else and you want to use it as a promotion bargaining chip with your current employer, approach your negotiations diplomatically.
And finally, even if you are really sick of your current position, try not to show this with negative behaviour. Don’t burn your bridges, rather keep in mind future promotion opportunities.
Waiting for the promotion to come to you
Without a proactive approach to career development, you run a greater risk of being overlooked for promotion. If you’ve been overlooked before, or have had colleagues promoted ahead of you, take a moment to reflect on how they have conducted themselves.
Set your career goals, and share them with people you think can help you achieve them. While individual personalities ultimately define how we approach a promotion opportunity, it is vital those in power have a very clear understanding of what your promotion objectives are. Do what you can to get their support while remaining true to yourself.
Remaining in a promotion-limiting environment
As the saying goes, the only thing constant is change. A role that met your career goals 12 months ago can easily change as a result of restructures (either departmental or company-wide), company politics and industry instability. If this new environment no longer supports your career plan, staying in the role may limit your future career aspirations.
Don’t become a boiling frog – keep abreast of gradual changes within your organisation, and make sure these changes are in alignment or complement your career plan. Internal newsletters, the corporate intranet site, briefings from the CEO and executives and divisional and team meetings offer valuable forums to assess the corporate landscape.
Take the time to do a regular promotion reality check with your current employer and use regular performance appraisals to assess your true promotion potential.
Reacting badly to a rejection
Being an unsuccessful promotion candidate may leave you disillusioned and disappointed, however it is important to maintain a positive outlook and learn from the experience. Always ask for constructive feedback, and reflect on it in a positive manner to ensure you avoid making the same mistakes again in the future.
Learn from the process and consider how you can address any gaps identified between your skill set and experience, and that of the ideal candidate. Don’t burn your bridges by reacting badly to a setback.
If you are continually missing out on promotions and are unsure why, it may be worthwhile reconsidering the role, company and possibly overall career direction you are moving in. Consider engaging a mentor, consulting your career network and revisiting your career road map.
In summary ...
Now, more than ever, individuals must take control of their careers. It’s up to you to identify opportunities that match your career aspirations, and then plan towards achieving them.
Seeking a promotion may be daunting, but the positive outcomes outweigh the negatives many times over. At best, if successful in your quest, you are rewarded with the promotion. At worst, you have a a valuable learning experience that takes you a step closer to attaining your career goals.
Additional resources
For more information to help you approach a career promotions, click on the following links:
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Webpage: "
Get ahead", ninemsn, cited 12 November 2008.
1 Towers Perrin 2007 Global Workforce Study – Australia.
2 Glenn Stevens, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor, Address to the trans-Tasman Business Circle Business Luncheon, Sydney, 21 October 2008. http://www.rba.gov.au/Speeches/2008/sp_gov_211008.html