Why weren't you promoted?

You weren't considered for a major promotion despite the enormous results and glowing reviews. You go to the office everyday, and you do exactly as you're told, you go far and beyond what is required. However, the responses you receive are vague and unsatisfactory, leaving you angry and frustrated. In the meantime, other employees take flight with promotions and raises.

Corporate India?! India couldn't make the mark in the Glass Ceiling Index(environment for working women worldwide by country) and ranks 95 among 129 countries in the Global Gender Equality Index. Up to 85% Indian female workers reported missing a raise, promotion or job offer because of their gender, relative to the average of 60% in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report. The LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021, said that a greater number of women in India had suffered from the gender impact on career development when compared to the APAC region.

We got business to do.

In most organizations, promotions are governed by unwritten rules, that is, the often vague, intuitive and poorly expressed feelings of senior management about the ability of individuals to succeed in C-level positions. 1 in 5 or 22% of working women in India stated that their companies show a "favourable bias" towards men at work relative to the regional average of 16%. Here are some ways women can boost up their growth rate at work:

1. Sabotaging self-promotion: Your thoughts can be your biggest supporter or rival. Don't handicap yourself on the job by chronically understating yourself and your standing with your colleagues and bosses, instead notice your thoughts, question them and timely update them with better narratives. When you are in a negative and under confident mindspace you stop focusing and get stuck and that becomes a reason for why you're not getting promoted.

2. High expectations may be detrimental: In today's age, tenure is no longer the major factor in promotional decisions. It doesn't matter if you've been there for three months or three years, what matters is the contributionmade. Promotion doesn't need to be the main goal; be part of office hours, make an effort to connect with people in the break room, and engage in healthy discussions with colleagues.

Conclusion

Being a woman is not a problem, workplaces are. Women and men respond differently to their workplace experiences, as those experiences are fundamentally different. Workplaces need to be changed, as women are successful in a number of occupations, but still face significant barriers to entry and participation, promotions and raises. Women too, need to be assertive, bold and competitive in the workplaces to fully benefit society’s entire pool of talent and mindset; that’s the sort of change we need.