3 Tips for Advocating for Yourself
Request performance reviews and present materials from your “positive feedback folder.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it trickier to advocate for ourselves due to employee layoffs and changing work conditions. In 2021, about 30% of women reported having 30% increased workload and responsibilities; however, only 14% of those women have received increased compensation. I personally fell victim to this trend.
Fortunately, I work at a fast growing company that is tracking to grow to 1,000 employees by 2025. This spells many opportunities for promotion, but it also means a lot of extra work because before a new role is created, someone must absorb those additional responsibilities. At my company, I was assisting my director in managing the team I was part of, I volunteered to support other teams in their onboarding and training, and I created content to be used across the global enterprise for standardizing sales practices.
Now, it’s great to be ambitious and go above and beyond on projects you’re passionate or knowledgeable about, but it’s crucial to receive recognition for the extra work. This can be hard for us to execute because, as women, we face greater pressure to be cooperative and humble.
Here are three tasteful tactics that I use to advocate for myself:
Keep a positive feedback folder. This can be a folder on your desktop, or in my case, a folder in your inbox. Whatever your preferred method, the purpose of this folder is to hold any accolades of your performance, positive feedback you’ve received on projects, or any other anecdotes from when you’ve gone above and beyond. If no one sends anything, type your own review and put it in the folder. This now becomes a one-stop-shop for you to reference during performance reviews, job interviews, opportunities for public recognition, or simply to give yourself a boost of motivation.
Identify someone who can advocate on your behalf. It is so important to have mentors, especially those who are in circles that you are not part of. This allows them to advocate on your behalf when you’re not in the room. When they positively represent you or speak on your behalf, it organically builds your reputation. Identify mentors you can trust, and schedule regular meetings with them so you can keep them updated on the projects you’re working on. This is a humble approach to self advocacy because you are ultimately seeking advice from that mentor.
Ask for regular performance reviews. In every role I’ve taken, when my interviewer asks if I have any questions for them, I ask what they consider as signs of success within the first six and 12 months of the role. Once hired, I request a semi-annual or annual performance review. This helps you align with your manager on expectations and demonstrates your ambition. When the time comes, these reviews will force your manager to countenance your performance and will allow you to present material from your positive feedback folder. You can highlight your successes and any work you’ve done that exceeds what was initially defined as signs of success in the role.
About the author: Amanda Stone manages a sales team at a FinTech software company and has spent years working with the construction, architecture, and engineering industries. Driven by her education in intersectional feminism and workplace inequity, and her experience working in male-dominated fields, Amanda is dedicated to supporting other women as they navigate these spaces and fostering change to make the workplace a more inclusive environment.