How to be more successful at work

I've just been reading a paper that describes a meta-analysis of studies that examine the factors that make us successful at work. Of course the whole notion of what 'success' looks like in career terms is up for debate (one to return to another day), but for the purpose of this article, the researchers were looking at the factors that predict salary and promotion.

The first thing I found interesting was that there are apparently two identified ways to promotion in the work place. The first is known as 'contest mobility' which is promotion based on merit. Promotion is based on an open contest, and the most suitable person gets the job. The second is 'sponsorship mobility'; which refers to the idea that the person who gets promoted is the one who has been chosen by the organisation as a high flier. Early in your time in any organisation, the senior managers make a decision about whether you are the kind of person they want to promote. If you are the chosen one then you are likely to get the promotion regardless of whether you are actually the most deserving.

Contest mobility is (thankfully) the more common reason for people to get a promotion or pay rise, but I was interested to see that as well as leading to higher chances of promotion, being sponsored by your organisation is also a really clear predictor of job satisfaction. It seems that the feeling that your managers rate you and want to help you in your career makes you feel good about work, over and above its impact on objective factors such as promotion and pay.

In terms of top tips for clients (and indeed ourselves) looking to climb the corporate ladder, the strongest predictors of salary are:
1. Your IQ
2. Your education level
3. Your political knowledge and skills

And the factors most likely to lead to a promotion are:
1. The amount of training you get access to (strongly linked to the organisational sponsorship idea)
2. Your social capital
3. The hours that you work (the more the better).

The notion of organisational sponsorship is a good one to share with clients, as it seems that putting in a super human effort in the early stages of your time in an organisation to try and make the right impression, pushing for training opportunities and working long hours are likely to pay off.

Ng, T.W.H., Eby, L.T., Sorensen, K.L. and Feldman, D.C. (2005) Predictors of objective and subjective career success: a meta-analysis Personnel Psychology  58 367 - 408