Increase Your Promotion Opportunity

By: Abbie Geigle 

If you are looking for ways to get promoted to a safety leadership position, you will not reach your goal by sitting on the sidelines. It is vital you take smart and strategic steps to be noticed by upper-management.  Some opportunities you will want to take advantage of include the following:  

Have conversations about your career goals with your manager. Be open and honest about what you hope to accomplish within the company and talk about your skills- though not in a bragging way.  Managers appreciate employees who show dedication to a company and find meaningful ways to contribute. 

Volunteer for safety projects.  Not only will volunteering help you gain more safety experience, it will also showcase your skills to your managers and make your name known within the company.  When you demonstrate your skills and achieve safety successes for your company, managers are more likely to notice notice and increase your safety responsibilities.

• Example:  If your company has created a safety committee, volunteer to be a committee member.  If your company asks for volunteers, especially when it comes to safety, be the first one on their list! 

Suggest Safety improvements and projects.  Managers have many responsibilities they must deal with everyday.  Because they are so busy, they may not have time to figure out ways they can improve safety within your workforce.  Take notice of ways you can contribute to the safety efforts and talk with your managers about projects you would like to help out with. Good managers will appreciate employees who make creative suggestions which decrease the long-term costs of doing business and increases the organization's effectiveness. 

• Example:  You have noticed your manager seems stressed when it comes to training employees to work in a safe manner. You mention OSHAcademy training to your supervisor and talk about how all the training is free to access. 

By choosing the right opportunities, you will be able to become invaluable to your company and carve out a space to become the safety leader you have always wanted to be!