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2 min read
Have you been given tons of extra responsibilities at work, but a pay rise still hasn’t been brought up? The ‘quiet promotion’ is a common office experience, but what can you do to turn it into a real pay rise?
Have you noticed that your work responsibilities have been stacking up recently? Or maybe you’ve been looped in on meetings that you know are way above your pay grade? Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “it’s all great experience, though” crop up one too many times in conversations with your boss (maybe you’ve even started saying it to yourself).
If all these red flags sound familiar, you might have had a ‘quiet promotion’. Just as ’quiet quitting’ has come to describe what happens when you mentally check out of a job, fulfilling the basic requirements and nothing more, and 'quiet firing’ is what happens when your boss sidelines you, denying pay rises or saying no to potential development opportunities, a ‘quiet promotion’ sums up a seriously awkward career situation that many of us will have faced: when we’re given more work and more responsibilities over an extended period, but no sign of a pay rise or title change.
According to a survey by the employer review website JobSage, 78% of workers have experienced being given an increased workload with no additional compensation, and 73% have had a manager ask them to take on additional work.
“Quiet promotions are like a double-edged sword,” says Claire Warner, founder of workplace culture and wellbeing consultancy Lift. “Many of us want to develop and progress in our careers,” she adds, “but there is a fine line between growth and development and exploitation.” Potential warning signs include being asked to be ‘a team player’ or to cover someone who is off long-term, says Victoria McLean, founder and CEO of career consultancy City CV, although, as she notes, it’s more likely that “you are just assigned additional work rather than being explicitly asked so that you don’t have the opportunity to say no”.
These sneaky promotions with none of the benefits tend to coincide with a colleague leaving and some (or all) of their role being ‘temporarily’ added to yours, in the aftermath of an organisational restructure to downsize or rationalise salary costs or during a recruitment freeze, Warner says.
In the aftermath of the Great Resignation – and as a result of the cost of living crisis having a knock-on effect on many businesses – we’re arguably faced with a perfect storm for quiet promotion. Indeed, according to JobSage’s survey, 67% of employees have absorbed the extra workload after a colleague above them left the company. “The exploitation isn’t always deliberate, but unfortunately, sometimes it is seen as an opportunity to save costs, to prevent disruption or to not ‘lose’ the staff time it takes to recruit,” Warner adds.
If you’re given new responsibilities, at first it can seem like a compliment. “Some quiet promotion boosts morale at first – you’re really pleased to have been noticed, to be deemed worthy and capable of the extra responsibility and you want the challenge,” Warner says. It’s proof too, McLean adds, that “your employer knows or thinks you can handle the extra work”. But when the extra challenge becomes permanent and with no extra recognition or reward, as Warner puts it, that morale boost can soon “turn sour”.
Many of us want to develop and progress in our careers, but there is a fine line between growth and development and exploitation
When you see your workload doubling but your salary staying the same, while the people around you are somehow coasting through the work day and climbing the ranks, resentment can quickly set in. “When an employee realises they’re being quietly promoted, it can lead to frustrations and the feeling that you’re being taken advantage of – especially if the same thing isn’t happening to close colleagues,” says McLean. “It can also lead to stress, burnout and really impact your wellbeing.” Quiet promotion, it seems, is a seriously short-sighted tactic on the part of employers: it might seem like an easy way of saving money on salaries, but according to McLean it’s “bad for company culture and it often means employees start looking for a new job elsewhere”.
If you feel you’re being quietly promoted, it’s first worth thinking about the extra work you’ve been given. “You can use the extra responsibilities to your advantage if they are responsibilities that fit your career aspirations,” Warner explains. “Take on the challenge, learn the new skills, add to your experience – these all help your future employability.” If they don’t, she adds, they still count as proof that you’re “adaptable” and “can change focus at pace” - which will certainly look good on any CV.
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Sometimes, extra workload arises from a period of change or uncertainty, Warner adds. “Sometimes they either resolve themselves or the employer instigates the additional responsibility.” And maybe then a conversation takes place to recognise your extra efforts. But if this doesn’t happen, open communication is key, says McLean. “It’s so important to speak to your manager to explain how you feel, but make sure you have everything you want to say figured out first,” she adds.
There are a few straightforward questions that you can use if you’re hoping to make your quiet promotion a real one. One approach that Warner suggests is to ask: “In the last 12 months, I’ve had x, y and z [responsibilities] added to my role. Are these now permanent and how do you see those extra responsibilities being recognised?” Another, meanwhile, could be to say: “I appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given to grow and develop over the last few months. Where do these now put me in terms of additional pay or promotion?” Highlighting the benefits you’ve brought to your employer and the costs you might have saved could be a strong tactic too.
And if they shrug you off? At worst, McLean says: “You’re left with a new skill set and experience you can put on your CV when you look for a role that better reflects the work you do with a company that will appreciate and reward you.”
Images: Getty
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