In Nigeria today, most employees work only to earn a living. By earning a living, we mean getting money to eat, pay our children’s school fees, pay our house rent, probably care for our parents, and fend for ourselves in general. But few or no workers sit down to analyze their work and its effect on their career growth.
In this article, we will be looking at a good number of factors to know if you are really growing at your place of work or if you’re among the large number of people working just to earn a living and don’t mind if you remain at the same career level for the longest time.
It is not wrong for one to work to fend for himself and his family, but it is necessary for us to look back at how we started in our career, look at our present, and know if there has been any positive increment in our career.
Like we mentioned earlier in one of our posts, it is one thing to love your job and grow in it, and it is another thing to get paid for what you love, grow in, and enjoy doing. This is a double check, and as they say “using one stone to take down two birds”. Career development ensures growth and increases employee motivation and productivity.
Moving further, we are going to discuss the ways in which you’ll become fully aware that you are not stagnant in your career.
The first thing to do when beginning your career journey is to set clear goals. These clear goals will give you the blueprint for your career path. If you do not know what to expect in your career, then you will definitely not know when you’re not doing something right. Setting clear goals remains the basis for climbing higher in every endeavor of our lives. Give yourself a benchmark, set standards, and tell yourself where you would like to be in the near future. If you don’t make these plans, then you might remain in your position for the longest time. When you set goals, you’ll be able to measure your failures and successes and know if you’re either moving forward or lagging behind in your career.
Value is regarded as the usefulness of something. When something is not of great usefulness, then you can say that it is not valuable. Value in a career refers to your core uniqueness, which gives you an edge at your place of work. If you are taken for granted by your employer, then you are seen as less of a valued member of the workforce. When, as an employee, you are giving less when you know you can give more, you have to think again. Your value is not fully utilized when you are given easy tasks to do and you’re aware that you are capable of being much more productive. When you experience these, you’re not growing career-wise.
Your responsibilities at work are representative of your career. These responsibilities enable you to give value, and your value is supposed to keep increasing as time goes by. An increase in responsibilities gives you the ability to strive for greatness, learn more, and become a better version of yourself. But when your responsibility is unchanging from year to year, your value is incapacitated, and this will further deprive you of the growth you need. Your daily work routines should be driven toward challenging you. At work, your duties should make you research, look out for opportunities to learn, push you, and enable you to take on greater responsibilities than you started with. If you’re encountering new challenges, then you’ll be learning new skills for your future growth.
Learning is a skill. Learning is growth. Growth is learning. To grow in your career, you have to be intentional about learning. The responsibilities you shoulder at your place of work are the catalyst for your career growth. When you’re given tasks to perform, it might entail doing research. These responsibilities further your knowledge in various areas and help you grow. When you’re learning and enjoying your work as well, then you’re growing.
Any workplace where you are not getting any deserved promotion is not a place to be. Even your employer should be out to see that you are growing. And if you put all your effort into it, you know the value you bring to work, and you’re not being promoted as expected, then it’s time to talk with your employer. You contribute toward your career growth through hard work, and promotion is a reward for hard work.
Please learn not to be too comfortable at any level. Strive for greater heights. Learn new things. Try out knowledge in areas you lack. You can’t remain at a point in your career and decide not to go any further because you tried. Keep trying. Push yourself to become better and better; become more, because there’ll always be more of you. Most of the great people you know today kept pushing themselves. In life, if you are too relaxed with where you are, that is where you will remain. Decide to become better than those you admire, and in no time, you’ll become what you admire.
Acquire more degrees if possible. Get professional certifications in your area of expertise and decide to climb higher. It is pertinent to stay current and keep improving yourself to remain professionally active. If you quit learning, you risk becoming stagnant in your career. Learn new abilities and develop new skills in order to be more productive. When you learn more, it makes you more valuable; this will also create room for an increased salary structure.
In summary, ensure you set clear goals, become a person of value, engage in more challenging tasks, be eager to learn new skills and things, seek promotion, push yourself to become more, and find possible ways to acquire more knowledge and abilities. With these, you can contribute to your career growth.
2 Comments
So thoughtful, thanks
Great ideas and experience for us thanks for the update.