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Six signs your manager cares about your career progression
6 min read | Nick Deligiannis | Article | Career development | Asking for a promotion
Your manager plays an important role in your career progression. Here’s how to tell if they care
You’ve been in your role for a while and are starting to wonder about your career development. To a large extent, career progression is down to you. However, how much your manager cares about your development is also very important.
Constant progression during your career is essential. Without it, your role will seem repetitive, and your skills could become outdated. You are hindering your chances of success when applying for roles elsewhere, as well as in the future.
You need to know which areas you want to improve in and what your long-term career goals are. You then need to proactively communicate these goals to your manager and suggest action points for achieving these.
Your manager should then use their experience, seniority and influence to help you achieve your goals. So, how much does your manager care about your career progression? Ask yourself whether they are taking these steps when you approach them to discuss your development.
Do you have regular catch-ups with your manager to discuss your professional progress? If not, do you think they would be receptive if you asked for this? Open communication during regular meetings provides you with the chance to discuss the steps necessary for you to fulfil your potential.
Does your manager give you the chance to take on more responsibilities that are relevant to your career goals? For example, if the destination on your “career map” is to eventually become a people manager, then your boss might ask you to train up new members of the team.
In giving you tasks outside of your comfort zone, your boss is demonstrating that they want you to develop and will help you get there.
Your manager will know who you need to impress and how to get you in front of these people. This can be in the form of giving presentations, representing the team during meetings or inviting you to corporate events.
It is down to you to figure out what your goals are and proactively search for ways to achieve them. Ideally, your boss will supplement these with their own. One of these ways could be via certain training courses relevant to your career goals.
It is important to bear in mind that training courses can be a big investment of company time and money. If your boss’s hands are tied, they should at least explain their reasoning, and suggest alternative ways to up-skill yourself.
You are taking the initiative to learn new things to develop your career. Your manager should understand and recognise this ambition, and help you out wherever possible.
Does your manager publicly praise you or take credit for themselves? You need to know that your boss has your back and that they aren’t just following their own agenda. A key indicator of this is your boss commending you in front of the wider team, attributing relevant successes to you, and being happy to let you take credit where credit is due.
If a promotion comes up within your team which seems perfectly aligned with what you want, how does your boss react? If they think you are suitable, do they encourage you to go for it? If they don’t think you’re quite there yet, do they give feedback and offer to help develop you accordingly?
What if an opportunity comes up elsewhere within the business that you would be perfect for and they know it? This situation is the definitive indicator of whether your boss cares about your career progression. If they are willing to help you move elsewhere in the business for the sake of your career development, then they truly have your best interests at heart.
Ask yourself the above questions to indicate how much your boss cares about your career development. If you answer yes to most of them – then you have a good manager who is supportive of your development and career goals. It is important that you make them proud. Make the most of any new challenges, training and development opportunities that you take on, and feedback to your boss on how it has helped you.
If you answered no, then it’s time to have that conversation with your boss. Are they able to alter their management approach and support you more? If not, then it may be time to move on and find somebody who can.
If you decide to look for a new role, emphasise your ambitions on your CV. Speak to a Hays recruiter for more advice on how to do this.
Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand
Nick Deligiannis began working at Hays in 1993 and since then has held a variety of consulting and management roles across the business, including the role of Director responsible for the operation of Hays in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. In 2004 Nick was appointed to the Hays Board of Directors and was made Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand in 2012.
Prior to joining Hays, he had a background in human resource management and marketing and has formal qualifications in Psychology.
