公司是好公司，但是限于大環境，近期內都不太可能得到提拔。遇到這種情況是走是留？ 聽聽專家怎么說。
親愛的安妮：我希望你能給我些建議，因為我覺得可能有很多人和我一樣——而這在某種程度上是問題的關鍵所在。2014年，我唯一的決心就是最終獲得晉升，但看起來希望不大。我所在的公司非常好，我并不想離開。然而，我們公司在經濟衰退期砍掉了大量的管理層，因此短期內可供晉升的高層職務是少之又少，而且公司內部（更不用提公司外部）符合晉升要求的人員已經排成了長龍。
所以我覺得我的問題在于，我現在該怎么辦？我已經在盡力表現自己，例如在現有的崗位上拿出出色的業績，但是大家也都在這樣做。你能給我提一些建議，幫助我繼續留在公司發展嗎？——Rooted but Restless
親愛的R.R.：你覺得跟你有類似遭遇的人還有很多，這一點你說的沒錯——而且，公司上層人士可能正在絞盡腦汁，思考如何把你留在公司，希望這多少能給你一些安慰。波士頓職業發展公司ClearRock副總裁勞拉•博伊森說：“公司高層基本上都在思考這個現實的問題。”她還說：“那些在經濟下行時曾幫助公司完成目標的重要員工如今正期待獲得晉升。然而問題在于，在公司決定保持現有精簡構架時，他們有這個機會嗎？”
這個問題已經積壓有一段時間了，這也讓很多失望的中層管理人員難有出頭之日，部分原因是因為嬰兒潮一代的高層大軍由于受經濟衰退（以及房地產危機）的影響未能如期退休。
如今出現晉升難現象的另一個原因在于，正如你所看到的，管理層的工作崗位的確越來越少。與此同時，技術崗位的數量呈爆發式增長。例如，求職網站TheLadders在11月份調查了約6萬家公司后發現，其中含有“經理”頭銜的崗位的增長率比崗位平均增長率低25%，含有“總監”頭銜的崗位增長率比崗位平均增長率低50%。在增長速度排名前10的工作崗位中，有7個崗位都是技術崗位或與技術相關的崗位。只有三個崗位（人員會計師、法律助理和行政助理）對STEM（科學、技術、工程和數學）領域專長沒有作出要求。
很多跟你級別一樣的人對自己的期望做出了相應的調整。不妨看看下面這項調查：去年12月，咨詢公司BlessingWhite對全美全職雇員2014年將要采取的職業生涯舉措進行了調查，結果發現，超過半數（58%）有上升趨勢的員工希望去從事新的項目，要么在現有的公司做，要么去其他的公司。只有13%的員工認為他們會得到晉升。
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| Dear Annie: I hope you can give me some ideas, because I think I'm probably just one of many -- which, in a way, is the whole problem. My only resolution for 2014 is to finally get promoted, but it's looking unlikely. I work for a really good company, so I don't want to leave, but so many layers of management were done away with during the recession that there are now very few senior jobs likely to be available anytime soon, and lots of internal (not to mention external) qualified people in line.
So I guess my question is, what can I do now? I'm already doing the obvious things, like producing great results in my current position, but so is everybody else. Can you suggest anything that might help me hang on here? -- Rooted but Restless
Dear R.R.: You're right to surmise that you have plenty of company -- and, if it's any consolation, people upstairs may be thinking pretty hard right now about how to hold on to you. "This is a real problem that's very much on the minds of senior management," notes Laura Poisson, a vice president at Boston-based career development firm ClearRock.
"Valuable players who helped companies meet their goals during the downturn are ready to move up," she says. "The question is, how can they, when organizations are determined to stay lean?"
It's a conundrum that's been building for some time now, with lots of frustrated people stuck in middle management, partly because legions of boomers in corner offices, spooked by the recession (and the real estate crash), aren't retiring on schedule.
Another reason promotions are scarce these days is that, as you've seen, there are simply fewer management jobs. At the same time, the number of tech jobs is exploding. Job site TheLadders, for instance, studied about 60,000 employers in November and found that the growth rate of job titles with the word "manager" in them is about 25% lower than the average growth rate, and titles containing the word "director" are growing 50% more slowly than average. Of the top 10 fastest-growing job titles, seven were in tech or were tech-related. Only three -- staff accountant, paralegal, and administrative assistant -- pertained to jobs that required no STEM expertise.
Many people in your position have adjusted their expectations accordingly. Consider: When consultants BlessingWhite surveyed full-time employees across the U.S. in December about their next career moves in 2014, they found that over half (58%) of upwardly mobile types expect to start on a new project, either where they work now or at some other company. Only 13% think they'll get promoted.
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在這個背景下，到底是往上走還是另謀高就，博伊森提出了四點意見：
1. 跟著錢走。如今，你離公司的戰略核心還有多遠？博伊森說：“目前，得到晉升的人員往往處于公司最重要的戰略領域，或處在這個領域的邊緣，而且這個領域是公司最賺錢的領域。就算你是一個非常知名的主題專家，如果你無法直接為公司最重要的戰略目標做出貢獻，那么你的專長對晉升也不會有什么幫助。”
如果你并不處于公司的戰略目標的中心區域，博伊森建議，你可以尋求平級調動，向中心地帶靠攏，也可以要求參加有助于你接近中心區域的跨職能團隊項目。博伊森說：“必須向賺錢的業務部門靠攏，要么幫公司賺錢，要么幫公司省錢。”博伊森還說，很多急切盼望晉升的人都“忽視了這一點”。
2. 制定具體的職業規劃。你應該具體和你的直接上司討論這件事，包括你晉升或離職之后的替代人選。博伊森說：“你需要和老板討論你的目標，然后再看看你能不能培訓或指導那位替代人選。如今，這種對話已變得越來越平常，因為人們有必要這樣做。”
她還說，她很多客戶公司中，人們會花幾天或幾周的時間，變成某個人的影子，觀察這些人接下來會采取哪些行動。 “試試你是否能夠變成某人的影子，然后借此進一步了解你所心儀的崗位，掌握更多的具體信息，” 博伊森建議。“日常的工作可能會和你的想象有出入。”——而這也給了你對自身規劃進行相應調整的機會。
3. 想想除了升職之外，還有什么是你真正想要的。如果目前晉升的希望不大，博伊森建議，在晉升希望來臨之前，你可以想想公司還有什么是值得你留戀的。她指出，很多公司“非常重視一視同仁的做法，因此，處于同一級別的所有人都會獲得同樣天數的假期和其他待遇”——但是不可避免的是，這樣做的公司在減少。她說：“要發掘公司的彈性所在。”
然后列一個愿望清單。每個人都有不同的想法，但是博伊森表示，靈活的日程，更多出差參加重要行業會議的機會和更多的培訓——“尤其是自身現有專長之外領域的培訓，例如非數據分析師參加大數據培訓”——都是很受歡迎的機遇，而且通常也會獲得高層的首肯，因為他們都盼望藉此留住重要雇員。
4. 認真考慮留下來的原因。你說過，現在的公司是個好公司，但是博伊森認為，“好公司到處都是，你可能會發現，在別的公司你能得到更好的待遇。”她還說：“長期缺乏進步的的確確會侵蝕個人的信心”，因為人的天性就是如此。“在意志還未消沉之前做出改變能夠極大地鼓舞你的士氣。”
如果在別處面試時發現了極具吸引力的機遇，那是件好事情——“或者，你會發現留在當前公司的一些真正優勢，”她說。“這樣，不管怎么樣，你都能做出理性的決定。”祝你好運。
反饋：在你工作的地方，與過去相比，晉升是不是變得越來越困難？你是不是找到了解決這個問題的方法？請在下面留言評論。（財富中文網）
譯者：翔
| | | Against that backdrop, Poisson has four tips for you on moving up -- or moving on:
1. Follow the money. How close are you right now to your company's strategic center? "The promotions now are happening at or near companies' most important strategic areas, and that's also where the money is," notes Poisson. "You can be a highly accomplished subject-matter expert, but if you're not contributing directly to the company's biggest strategic goals, it won't help."
If you're not at the center of your company's strategic aims, Poisson recommends asking for either a lateral move closer, or else an assignment to a cross-functional team project that will get you there. "You have to be close to where the money is made, and either make money or save money for the business," Poisson says, adding that many people anxious to move up "lose sight of that."
2. Make a specific career plan. This should be something you discuss in detail with your immediate boss -- including who's going to replace you if you move up or out. "You need to discuss your goals with your boss, and see if you can train or mentor the person who would replace you," Poisson says. "A lot more of these conversations are happening these days, because they need to."
At several of her client companies, she adds, people "shadow" someone for a couple of days or a week to see what their next move is all about. "See if you can shadow someone to find out more details about the job you think you want," Poisson suggests. "The day-to-day may not be what you think it is" -- which gives you a chance to adjust your plan accordingly.
3. Decide what else, aside from a promotion, you really want. If a move up the ladder isn't possible right now, Poisson recommends giving some thought to what else would keep you around until it is. She notes that many outfits "really value treating everybody the same, so everyone at a given level gets the same amount of vacation and so on" -- but that number is, by necessity, shrinking. "Find out where the flexibility is," she says.
Then make a wish list. No two are the same, but Poisson says that flexible schedules, more travel to important industry conferences, and more training -- "especially training somewhat outside your current area, like big data training for non-data-analysts, for instance" -- are popular choices, and usually get the green light from higher-ups eager to keep key people from quitting.
4. Think hard about why you're staying. You mention that your current employer is a good place to work, but "there are good companies everywhere," Poisson observes. "You might find you'd get a better deal somewhere else." Human nature is such that "a lack of progress for a long time really erodes people's confidence," she adds. "Making a change before you get to that point can give you a big burst of energy."
If interviewing elsewhere turns up some appealing opportunities out there, then great -- "or you may find some real advantages to staying where you are," she says. "Either way, you'll be making a reasoned decision." Good luck.
Talkback: Is it harder to get promoted, where you work, than it used to be? Have you found ways around that? Leave a comment below.
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