How to get noticed, in a good way. If you want to get ahead at work it’s worth paying attention to this piece of research. The following stats are pretty well known (in my world at least); they come from some research Harvey Coleman conducted when he worked at IBM. But have you ever applied them to yourself and your career?
Harvey Coleman was interested to know how people progressed in organisations, having been unsuccessful several times when applying for promotion. He was told that his work was good but promotion just wasn’t happening.
He looked further into just how people got promoted and how to get noticed at work.
Quality of Work & How To Get Noticed
You might think this would be number one. I’ll do really good work, someone will notice and they will promote me.
To an extent that is true. If you have a really good manager/appraisal system it might be true that good work is noticed and rewarded. It might be that’s all you have to do.
However, Coleman’s research concluded that getting promoted accounted for only 10%. That’s how much the quality of the work that you actually do counts for. It doesn’t mean that you can give only 10% effort, but that it’s the least significant factor in getting on in the workplace.
Will Your Image Get You Noticed?
Coleman’s second factor for getting promotion at work was your image. Do you look as if you fit in with your current organisation?
Much as I hate saying to women your image is important, how you look plays a part, image is important if you want to advance your career. How you project yourself can have a big impact on your confidence, if nothing else.
However, this still only counts for 30%. It may make you weep, but Coleman found that the image that you choose to project is more significant than the quality of the work you actually do. That makes it worth giving some time to. You don’t have to change your image, but you can look around your workplace and see how you compare with other managers and senior roles. Is it giving you any useful information?
But it’s still not number one.
What is the very best thing you can do to improve your chances of getting ahead at work?
Number one in How To Get Noticed At Work?
The more mathematically minded among you will have noticed that we’re at 40% leaving a whopping 60% unaccounted for. That 60% Coleman found, is attributed to putting yourself out there, being visible. You need to make sure that people know you, know what you do.
That means turning up for meetings and speaking at meetings, online or in person. For women this is harder as research shows that men routinely talk over women. They often simply don’t hear women’s voices. When I’m coaching women I always say try to speak as soon as you can in a meeting or at an event. The longer you take to speak the harder it becomes. The less likely the men present are to hear you.
It might mean submitting articles to professional publications, asking for mentoring, giving feedback on courses to other staff members. Perhaps using LinkedIn productively. (Do connect with me on LinkedIn). There are endless possibilities.
Check out this post for more on that topic.
You can be utterly brilliant at what you do, but if you are beavering away quietly maybe no one will notice you. To get promoted, to advance your career, people who matter need to know about you.
Career Coaching Questions
Give yourself a half hour to reflect on these questions:
How easy is it to get noticed in your organisation?
If you work mainly from home you may have to get uber creative. What could that be?
What could you do (or have done) to raise your profile? Write down some really practical steps.
Is there a ‘type’ of senior manager in your organisation?
What is the best path for you to raise your profile?
Do you want to do it?
Coaching Opportunity
I have some spaces for coaching either on my RenewYou programme, or a more bespoke programme. Contact me: mailto:jane@changingpeople.co.uk. I’d love to hear from you and we’ll have a no obligation, informal chat to see if I can help you advance your career!
Top Photo by Crispin Jones on Unsplash How To Get Noticed
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on February 10th, 2025 by Jane
