10 Characteristics Bosses Look For When Handing Out Promotions

If you’re looking for a promotion and not sure where to get started, this is the perfect guide to figuring out what characteristics bosses look for. 2018 is going to be a great year for employees seeking promotions and it’s a good idea to get the ball rolling early.

If you want to push your career further, you need to understand which of these ten characteristics make sense for your own skillset.

1. Collaboration

"Collaboration with teams across the organization always stand out. I always look at an employee's internal branding to see how they are viewed by others."

-- D.G., a GRC training manager at Oracle Cloud

Collaboration is a key skillset that helps you focus on getting ahead quicker. If you’re a team player and know how to get work done together – it’s a great skill to go ahead with. Consider talking to more people around the office and ask your colleagues how you can help them out from time to time.

2. Ownership

"We value something called FLO: 'Full Leadership Ownership.' We promote people who demonstrate an ownership of the outcome of their project. That means doing whatever it takes to get it done — staying late, getting creative, pulling in resources to help if they need it. FLO comes from a personal desire to put the ball into the end zone and score. Not just pass the ball around."

-- D.G.

Ownership is a key attribute that managers look for when it comes to giving out promotions. They want to hire someone in their own image and want to look for people that own up to what they’re doing. If they don’t take full responsibility for a task to be done, they may not get a leg ahead of the competition.

3. Effort

"It's more about the amount of effort I see, rather than specific milestones. When I [promoted] employees, they were all people I saw making [a] great effort every day. I have promoted less-skilled people over someone who is skilled but does the minimum."

-- Janelle L., a marketing director

Effort is an important attribute that allows employees to showcase their true talent. When someone’s hired you to get the job done, your effort shines bright. If you’ve displayed effort and talent in combination, then you’ve taken the fast train to success in the workplace

4. Reliability

"Punctuality, initiative, friendly manner and the ability to show development are the key factors I look for when I promote an employee."

-- Hayden B., an experienced manager

Reliability is all about being there for the boss. If they ask you to finish something on a deadline, and you don’t deliver, it shows that you aren’t a reliable leader. If they assign a task to you and you’re not there to fulfil the need – then that’s another negative strike on the reliability characteristic.

5. Learning from failure

"We celebrate failure at Happie. We create an atmosphere where people are encouraged to try new things and see if it works. And if it doesn't — celebrate that failure for the learning it represents."

-- Fremont-Smith

Failure is an important attribute that teaches you about what works and what doesn’t. It’s up to the employee to figure out how best to take failure in stride. Whether we like it or not, failure will happen to each one of us. What we do with it is completely on us.

6. Open dialogue

"I promoted an employee because they had an ongoing dialogue with their mentor and myself on next steps for their career and [weren't] afraid to come to me with concerns, issues or questions. I promoted an employee because they had an ongoing dialogue with their mentor and myself on next steps for their career and [weren't] afraid to come to me with concerns, issues or questions"

-- D.G

Having an open dialogue with one another helps. It helps further, if you have a cordial relationship with your boss and your colleagues. Having open dialogues on a regular basis shows off your human side and allows you to fully express your intentions and aspirations in the company. You should showcase your talents and talk about your inner aspiration with your boss early on.

7. Autonomy

"Take on some of the tasks of the job you want to be doing. It shows an understanding of the new role, the willingness to work hard for it, and it makes it easy to justify why this is the person for the job."

-- Kevin C., a manager at a media company

When someone provides an opportunity to you, how willing are you to take it head on? Do you have autonomy at work and do you help those who may not? These and many more questions must be asked before approaching your boss for a promotion.

8. Honesty

"Tackle the tasks that push you and ask questions when you don't know the answer. And be honest that you don't have all the answers."

-- D.G.

If we’re not honest with our boss, and we’re caught lying on multiple occasions – then we can kiss that promotion goodbye. Honesty is a key attribute for employees. Managers take a chance on you every time they promote you, and having a dishonest person on their team is every manager’s worst nightmare.

9. Hard work

"We hire consistently from within by promoting our existing employees into leadership positions. We know they are ready because we are crystal clear about the specific skills and mindset they need to acquire to receive that promotion. When they achieve those skills, and have developed that mindset – we celebrate their success, promote them and then support them through very clear milestones of learning and deliverables. In this way they are set up for success because they know what success is from day one – and they know they have the support and help to get there."

-- Fremont-Smith

Working hard is a lost art these days, and employees that master the art of hard work make it to upper management. Hard work isn’t about working longer hours than everyone. It’s about making sure the task is done on time and with a higher quality than others. This ability to work hard is what separates you from your colleagues.

10. Creativity

"The employee I promoted thought out of the box and provided several solutions. They also came to me with projects they thought would be good for the team, along with how to execute them. And when they came to me with problems, they always came with potential resolutions."

-- D.G.

Creativity in the workplace is a great skill. Creativity is not about being artistic or clever. It’s about solving problems. This ability to solve problem is a clear sign of creative thinking, and that’s what managers want from an employee.

Conclusion

No one candidate will be good at all ten of these characteristics. But it’s important to figure out where your weaknesses are and work with your strengths. Depending on the role, the requirement and the responsibilities, you will have to enhance your inner characteristics to become more eligible for a promotion.