Handling Promotions and Pay Rises

A work promotion is usually cause for celebration. It isn’t until you show up for work on your first day in your new position that you realize things are about to change. Sometimes a promotion can cause significant problems at work and at home. You must learn how to balance the two.

Talk to the family first. If a promotion involves a major change in your day-to-day life, discuss it with your wife and children first. This will make your family feel included in your decision, and might bring to light certain complications you wouldn’t have considered. This is especially true if your promotion involves relocation, longer hours, more travel or anything else that will disrupt your current schedule. You’ll manage the transition at work and at home better if you consult your family.

Schedule play time. Promotions might mean more money, but they also usually involve more responsibilities, which means less time for yourself and your family. Whether you live alone or with a large family, you still need time to decompress, so set aside play time when you accept a promotion. For example, you might decide that weekends are family time. You’ll leave work at the office and devote yourself exclusively to your wife and kids until Monday rolls around, at which time you’ll return to the grind. Or you might agree to be home by a certain time every evening so you can relax, catch up and refuel. Even if you aren’t married, you still need time away from work. Single men should schedule activities with friends or solo outings that don’t involve work.

Check your baggage at the door. In addition to increased salary and responsibilities, a promotion also means more stress. You have more duties to fulfill on the job, and blunders fall on your shoulders rather than someone else’s. To handle a promotion at home and at work, there has to be some separation. Decide now that when you walk through your front door, the job stays outside. You won’t agonize over mistakes or fret over decisions you have to make tomorrow. Instead, you’ll live in the moment and give yourself and your family a break.

Ask for support. Speaking of stress, a promotion can feel like a ton of bricks on your shoulders, and this type of change often results in uncertainty and confusion. When you start to feel overloaded, unburden yourself to your wife, your colleague, your best friend or even your parents. You need some type of support system to survive in today’s corporate culture. Get it all out, listen to their words of wisdom and close the book on it.

Be honest. Men often feel like they can’t ask for help when they get a promotion. The Powers That Be have given you more responsibility at your job, and therefore you should be able to handle it all right away. You should have all the a

nswers. Not so. Any promotion takes some adjustment, and you have to ask for advice and admit your shortcomings during that adjustment period. Ask for a meeting with the boss and say, “This situation came up and I’m not entirely sure how to deal with it.” Believe it or not, this admission will actually inspire admiration in the higher-ups. Your boss will see that you aren’t afraid to ask for advice when you need it, and you’ll get the guidance you need to deal with your new promotion.

Take time to celebrate. We’ve discussed all the problems that a new promotion can cause, but it isn’t all doom and gloom. A promotion might create obstacles at work and at home, but it’s also cause for celebration. You’ve achieved something at work and you should be proud. To commemorate your promotion, go for drinks with the guys or take your wife out for an evening on the town. Find some way to celebrate your achievement so you can get down to business tomorrow.

Have you had a promotion recently..care to share with us how you dealt with it??