How to Handle Losing a Promotion

People often work hard with the expectation that they will move up in the company. Success within many workplaces is measured by whether a person progresses, which often means whether they move up to a high-paying job with more responsibilities and a more prestigious title. Sometimes workers expect to get a promotion because of their experience, their time with the company and their contributions within their workplace. When they get passed over for a promotion, people often have to find ways to deal with resulting feelings of anger, resentment and sadness.

Instructions

1. Keep working hard at your job. Do all tasks to the best of your ability after you have lost out on a promotion. Try to not let the feelings you are experiencing interfere with your ability to do your job. If you do not perform to the level that you have or better, you could risk getting demoted to a lower-level job or getting fired. You also will have less of a chance of getting a future promotion if you do not perform well at your job.

2. Have more contact with your superiors. Talk with them about work-related and non-work-related topics. Letting your bosses know what you have accomplished in the company and getting to know them on a personal level can help you to have a better chance of getting a promotion in the future.

3. Talk to people that you trust, such as friends or family members, about the feelings you are experiencing as a result of losing a promotion. Do not keep your emotions inside, because the anger or sadness you are feeling could build and cause you to have greater emotional issues later. Talking with someone else can help you to come up with ways to cope with your feelings.

4. Get help from a therapist or psychologist if you experience intense emotions as a result of losing a promotion. A professional will be able to show you ways to deal with negative feelings, such as anger, and will give you someone to talk with who cannot disclose what you say to anyone else.

5. Move to a different department or workplace, if you feel that you will not be able to advance within your current department or company. Secure a new position before quitting your current job if you are not financially secure.

Tips & Warnings

• Let your supervisor or boss know that you are interested in a promotion in the future, if you have not expressed this desire before. You could keep getting passed over for promotions if your boss does not know that you are interested in a higher-level job.

• Act in a professional manner after losing a promotion so that coworkers and supervisors see you as an even-keeled person who can handle adversity.

• Do not try to get back at your boss or the co-worker who received the promotion. You could cause conflicts to develop in your workplace and could alienate others.

• Avoid using alcohol, cigarettes, drugs or food to cope with losing a promotion.

References

• Stepcase Lifehack; 7 Habits to Win Office Politics; Lawence Cheok
• Career Journal; What to Do When You're Passed Over for a Promotion; Arlene S. Hirsch
• Emotional Competency; Coping: Responding to Loss; Richard R. Beaumount
• HelpGuide.org: How to Reduce, Prevent and Deal with Stress
• BNet; How to Win at Office Politics; Kelly Pate Dwyer; July 2, 2007
• Excelle; Lessons in Losing...The Promotion; Brittany E. Hudson

Resources

• Changingminds.org: Coping Mechanisms
• MSNBC: It's Always Personal: Coping with Emotions, Stress at Work
• It's Time Online Newsletter: Power and Corporate Politics
• The Politics of the Workplace; The Politics of Being Cute on the Job: Are You too Sexy for the Workplace?; Ji Hyan Lee