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I see it… often… and not enough leaders are talking about it… that’s why I’m here. It’s true that there are many job market issues we can’t control, but this article is not about that. The focus of this article is highlighting the things we can control. As a career consultant and corporate leader, I connect with many women of color who have the same characteristics…highly competent, successful and ambitious. Many of you have spent years investing time, energy and resources into your career. You’re good at what you do… actually you’re GREAT at what you do! So much so that you are everyone’s “go-to” person for training, new projects and even morale boosting initiatives. Yet you know you should be further along in your salary, job role and personal fulfillment … and…you’re right! From social media messages…to Zoom calls…to emails… to lunches… you share… and I listen, humbly. I hear common missteps and I understand because I’ve made those same career blunders. So I feel compelled to share the top 3 career mistakes that are keeping your income stagnant, your leadership suppressed and your passion stultified.

Staying in a Role Too Long (5+ Years)

The stats are compelling and honestly its simple math. According to the 2020-21 Salary Budget Survey from WorldatWork.org, average salary budget increases were projected to be just 3%. In fact, a significant amount of organizations expect to keep their salary budgets flat due to the financial impact of the pandemic. Wow! What’s scary to me is this average salary percentage of 3% has been the norm for over 2 decades now with all post-2020 signs pointing to the salary budget average decreasing to under 3% in 2021 and beyond. On the contrary, Forbes published an article stating that employees who stay at the same company for over two years on average will earn less over their lifetime by about 50%+! Gone are the days when people were heralded for staying at companies their entire careers. As of January 2020, the median tenure of American workers at their current employer was just 4.1 years. Staying longer than 5 years not only puts you behind the average job market tenure in comparison to your competition, but you’re literally LOSING money the longer you stay. Why?  While the average raise when you stay at a company generates 3%, the average salary boost when you leave can generate 10-20%+! Of course, it always depends on the industry and the role. I know it seems like you’re getting penalized for “loyalty” but the real issue is there is a limit to the salary increase you will generate when it’s a percentage of your current base. Also there are several factors that affect your salary such as the cost-of-living in your territory and quality of your performance. I’d be unwise if I didn’t advise you to weigh the value of all of those factors, your total benefits/compensation structure and the “risk” of leaving to determine whether or not staying makes sense. However, I can tell you firsthand competitive professionals in the market are heavily leveraging this strategy to secure higher paying roles at faster rates.

Lack of Quantitative & Qualitative Performance Data

For many of us our careers are our largest income generating resources in our households yet many of us miss critical opportunities to properly position our competencies and results to achieve the maximum payout. I’m a huge proponent of running your career like a business. Any successful business person, whether you are an individual contributor or the owner, knows you can’t run a thriving business without data. However, too many of us are not taking income-related discussions, such as mid-term and annual performance reviews, as seriously as we should. I had a recent discussion with a business professional who indicated her review was passed due so she just threw something together to get it done. NEVER DO THAT! I get it. Doing self-evaluations can seem like a daunting task but honestly it only feels that way if you’re waiting until the annual review time frame and not proactively managing your performance throughout the year. This is YOUR career and you always want to make sure you are controlling the narrative of your performance. This is demonstrated when you come to your performance reviews with quantitative and qualitative data to support the decision of a raise, bonus or promotion.

Quantitative Data can be counted, measured and expressed using numbers. Examples of quantitative data are copies of sales reports to show the revenue you’ve generated or processing reports that reflect your percentage of accuracy relative to quality control procedures. You should be reviewing reports that track your performance on a monthly basis. If you do not currently receive any reports, request copies and set up time to review results with your leadership team on a regular basis.

Qualitative Data reflects traits and attributes. Some examples include a positive email from the leader of a department complimenting you on your effective organization and team building skills when you led a cross-functional project team. You should always make it a habit to keep your own file of positive written feedback of your performance which highlights specific competencies. These are important documents to leverage when negotiating your compensation.

Passive Approach to Career Management

I recently did a video recounting a CNBC article published in 2020 on how corporate America’s diversity initiatives continue to fail Black women. The article details alarming stats about our lack of representation and the barriers that we face in these corporate spaces. As an example 21% of C-suite leaders are women but of the 21% only 1% are Black women. What was even more alarming for me was a story that the Chief Diversity Officer at Google, Melonie Parker, shared.  It really hit home for me and is part of the reason why I started The Biz Slayer, LLC.  In the article she shared a time when she was being tapped for a promotion at a former employer and her white male mentor warned her to not allow her immediate manager to talk her out of pursuing the position. Her immediate manager called right after her call with her mentor and said “Your name came up about this job, but you wouldn’t like the location. I don’t think you should do it.”  Parker stated if she had not listened to her mentor she would have let her immediate manager talk her out of pursuing the position. She would have trusted that her manager had her best interest at heart. I empathize because I’ve made a similar mistake relative to my performance review. For me, it only took one unfair performance review when I first started out in my career to cause me to never again risk putting my compensation and opportunity in the hands of someone else. It is OUR responsibility to properly manage our careers. I even see star performers become lackadaisical with this principle because they believe their results should speak for itself. News flash! This is not the case. Whether it’s writing a thorough evidence based self-evaluation for your performance review, pursuing an internal promotion, or seeking a transition into a new industry, a proactive approach to managing your career will produce the greatest results.

As a leadership and career strategist my passion for seeing women advance is borne from the pain of experiencing loss of time, money and opportunity in my own career. The strategies I share have helped me skip levels and have exponentially increased my income, expanded my influence and led to securing roles that have been more personally rewarding. I’m on a mission to help as many women as possible “level-up” so your coin matches your competency and following this guide is a great first step!