How can I raise my profile at work?

[Nebulacoffee]

I’ve always trusted in the “head down and get on with it” approach at work, but I’m just feeling a bit unacknowledged and undervalued at the moment.
I think I do a good job, but nobody seems to notice.
Maybe I overestimate myself and I am just mediocre, I accept that, but I want to learn and stretch myself. People don’t really volunteer for things in my workplace, tasks and training is allocated to us and I feel like I’m being passed over time and again. I know I shouldn’t pay attention to these things but I’m always the last email recipient in emails, attendee lists, that sort of thing. It’s petty, but I notice.
I do professional development in my own time and if I bring it up I get a “that’s nice, good for you” sort of response, but no real interest or follow up.
I want to do well, I think I have a lot to contribute, but I’m feeling
like a try-hard, and I don’t know what to do about it.
I love my job, I don’t want to move. But this is getting me down, any advice?

You don't say what field you are in, so not everything here will apply, but in essence, push yourself forward, don't wait for someone else to notice you. Talk to your manager, find out what their plans are, think about how you can make those things happen. Go to them with ideas and suggestions. Ask for responsibility. Speak up in meetings, and don't be afraid to take some risks. If there's someone senior you admire, ask for an opportunity to work with them on something, or ask them to mentor you.

Who does the allocating? Can you talk to them?

Maybe ask for a 1-2-1 with your line manager and say you'd like to stretch/develop yourself further?

You need to be your own cheerleader, you really do.

Make sure you volunteer for stuff. Be happy to take on new projects, even if it's something shitty. If you don't know something, figure it out! 'Let me get back to you on that' aka doing your research cos you have no clue. Google is good for this.

Copy the right person in on the right email. I'm not really much of a fan of this, but find it gets results. If you don't sing your own praises no-one else will.

Do you have reviews - perhaps quarterly or half yearly? They can be a good opportunity to say what you'd like, what your ambitions are and ask what you need to do in order to get there.

Also, try relating your training you do in your own time - make the connection for them. If a project comes up in an area you've done training on then tell them. Don't go crazy pushy, but just make sure you're mentioning stuff, especially in 1-2-1s

Also, do you know who is who at work? Who pulls the strings? It's important to know this, and play the game accordingly

Thanks all. I work for the local authority in a role that supports children and young people. Working from home at the moment so I don’t hear about things unless people directly tell me, and letting people know what I’ve been doing needs an email rather than a passing comment in the office. I don’t want to come across a bit pathetic, like a person who wants to show off about something very basic. Problem is I am not given anything extra to do and I don’t know how to ask for it. My appraisal was in January so not for a whole year again. I am kicking myself for not saying anything. I was waiting for a “what would you like to do” question, but my manager didn’t ask that. He asked “how would you like to help us work towards objective A” which had muchc less scope for sharing where my interests are.

I was just about to ask if you work in the public sector and saw your update.

My experience of Local Authority was utterly awful. I went from being confident, able and vocal to a shell of myself.

Any time I tried to do anything over and above I was stopped. I was basically told that we just do our widgets and that was that.

I moved on after 8 months but that 8 months affected me very badly.

Some organisations just don’t lend themselves to development. Not really. You can go to the competency based interviews, move up a grade every few years etc but no real development for the majority or people.

I would suggest moving when you can.

My current place is completely different. I’m listened to, trusted, autonomous and appreciated. Workplace culture is impossible to change if it doesn’t come from the top.

You've mentioned here about people passing work to you and keeping you in the loop, but how are you at engaging with the wider team yourself?
Your manager might have even hinted at it with "how would you like to help us...."

It can be hard, but you might need to reach out more. get to know your colleagues and what they're working on. Offer help with their problems or take on an organisational job which helps everyone (like writing some guidelines or reference docs that everyone can use) but might be a bit boring.
If letting everyone know needs an email, others might be thinking the same. Perhaps ask if they might like a weekly catch up and organise that? That sort of thing.
It's one step already that you Are good at your job, but imagine how great it would be for the rest of the team if you could integrate that somehow. Training, case examples, feedback.

OP I'm really similar to you. I'm nice and get on with everyone socially but I'm also quiet and shy and very much get my head down and get on. I've always been well regarded in my jobs and have been given projects but I feel I'm never considered for promotion. It could be because I've had 3 children in the last 5 years but I've changed jobs and feel I give off a similar vibe here.

I'm going to work on being proactive and more vocal and direct with what I want to pursue. I think I've been to nebulous in the past with taking on work and I want to commit myself to more of a particular role and have sort of a specialty which will hopefully help!

You said Local Authority. You could continue to give it more effort and time but ultimately, it looks like private sector is more your scene.

Sometimes people just want to maintain the status quo and don't want tall poppy easy beavers to achieve more than them and show them up.

You are not the one that is mediocre. They are.

Can you get a mentor at work, someone more senior in the kind of position you would like to have, someone not in your line management chain . Discuss your aspirations with them & take any opportunity you can to network. Also speak to your manager of other stakeholders for feedback and he prepared to act on it. Get noticed volunteer for initiatives & never let someone else take credit for the work you have done.

try this book OP
www.amazon.co.uk/Linchpin-Indispensable-career-create-remarkable/dp/0749953357?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Your appraisal was in January, but you don’t have to wait a whole year to talk to your bosses about performance. Ask for a meeting, say you’ve been reflecting on your performance and development, youd welcome additional, stretching challenges and would be really interested if anything came up. Suggest you’d be interested in work shadowing or whether your boss could suggest a mentor. And if he didn’t ask ‘what would you like to do’ make sure you bring it up anyway. Eg ‘I’m interested in supporting objective A in XYZ ways, but I’m also keen to expand my development and work in in DEF’

Copy your line manager into an emails which prove you are going above and beyond. If you had your appraisal in January, have you had feedback from that yet? If not you can use the feedback as a way of reiterating the extra work you do etc. In my role my manager sends me his feedback and I have to then feedback on that if that makes sense?

As others have said - volunteer, put yourself forward for tasks and be vocal about the work you are doing. Shout about it, be proud.

I do think it's poor management if it is genuinely going unnoticed that you are excelling, if you were managed correctly that should be picked up. One member of my team has excelled beyond anyone's expectations over the past year and I've noticed it even on maternity leave! One of my priorities when I return next month is to revisit her job title and salary. She's an absolute asset to us and deserved to be recognised for the graft she's put in.

A good manager should pick up on your obvious efforts to succeed. Good luck OP.

Thanks, there is lots for me to reflect on here. I don’t claim to excel, but I do want to feel that my work is recognised and valued, and I would like to grwo to excel in time. I feel like a seed that isn’t being watered or given much light.
Anyway, I think you are right that I need to speak up more. My confidence is slipping and I’m not contributing as much to meetings lately. But I need to get a better grip I think. Will definitely check out the Linchpin book too, thanks for the recommendation!

Make friends and alliances. Help others solve issues. It gets noticed.

Can you go back to your manager with a "I've been thinking about objective A and I think approaching like x might be effective" or "and can we add this on, because it really compliments the current plan and will give us xyz advantages with minimal additional resources" email? I'm not ashamed to say I do this. Write it concisely, factually but with a "what do you think" tone. If you have set things out clearly and completely enough, you usually get you way (and the task) because it's easier for then than thinking of an alternative.

I now get invited to give my opinion by my manager on things way outside my original job scope. But you do need to be prepared to put in the thinking/work in addition to the day job, until it becomes the day job!

*I don’t know how to ask for it. My appraisal was in January so not for a whole year again. I am kicking myself for not saying anything.

I was waiting for a “what would you like to do” question, but my manager didn’t ask that. He asked “how would you like to help us work towards objective A” which had muchc less scope for sharing where my interests are.*

In general, I am all for pushing yourself forward and I tend to find myself doing it just naturally. It doesn't always work out well for me but generally in the right environment it stands me in good stead.

In your review, a bit like the politicians I despise, I would have taken any question and run with it for my own purposes.

Reading your post though, I am wondering whether you just don't do this enough for your own benefit "I was waiting for a what would you like to do" question or whether you are not pitching ideas which are a good fit for the environment in which you work, as finding the question 'How would you like to help us work towards objective x' was too restrictive.

It's only fair to point out that the people above you are fundamentally really only interested (at work) in how useful you can be to them. It's difficult to tell from your post whether you just are not speaking out or that the ideas you champion are not a good fit with the environment in which you are now.

You could try a test.

Find an initiative which is absolutely aligned with their objective A. Ask for a meeting with your manager, saying that you didn't feel you did yourself justice in answering that question in your review and that you would appreciated an opportunity to put that right.

How does that go?

If you are passionate with this aligned idea and you still don't get heard, remember people will be wary at first, wondering whether this is just a flash in the pan.

You will need to build a track record in this area before you can expect people to change their minds about you. Once you have a track record but still don't get heard, then maybe it is the environment.

Pitching these ideas will have been good experience in readiness for finding the right environment, a role with a culture which is a good fit for you. You can pitch yourself to possible new employers.

Bear in mind that the more senior you are, the more choice you will get to shape things your way. And the more pressure you will experience to deliver on objectives. Typically, successful people deliver on their objectives and add their own interests in on top, pitching them as aligned with objectives.

If you can't think of a way to get your ideas aligned with the objectives then you have quite the task on your hands.

Vanishingly few people or organisations will pay you to pursue interests which are not aligned with their objectives. Good luck.

@WishingHopingThinkingPraying agreed. A lot of the posters are focussing on the manager / employee relation when there should be some light on what OP does for the rest of the team.
You can be great at your job, but spreading knowledge and facilitating others is far greater benefit, and will get "noticed".

Part of why men are more successful (more promotions, higher pay) is that they aren't afraid to boast about their achievements to the right people. I've forced myself to do it more, although it's hard - most girls are socialised from very early on to be meek and humble.

Often at work I ask myself "What would a man do?" and then I try to do it. In your situation a man would go to his manager and ask to be given better tasks/projects because he wants a challenge or doesn't feel stretched enough. I'm a manager and would appreciate that, unless the employee was deluded and actually not capable of doing more (which I very much doubt is the case with you - I'd put money on you being even more capable than you think).