Startup
Why aren’t you getting promoted? 5 overlooked reasons
In the competitive world of career advancement, securing a promotion often seems like a daunting task. You might be doing everything right—meeting deadlines, delivering quality work, and even exceeding expectations—yet the coveted promotion remains out of reach. The reasons might not always be as obvious as you think. While hard work and dedication are crucial, several hidden factors can silently undermine your efforts. Understanding and addressing these overlooked aspects can be the key to unlocking your career potential in 2024.
Here, we delve into five hidden factors that might be holding you back from that promotion and provide actionable strategies to overcome them.
1. Lack of visibility
One of the most overlooked factors in career advancement is visibility. It’s not enough to do excellent work; people need to know about it. If your achievements go unnoticed, so will your potential for a promotion. Building visibility involves strategically showcasing your contributions and ensuring key decision-makers recognise your value.
Strategies to increase visibility:
- Regular updates: Share your progress and achievements through regular updates in meetings or via email.
- Networking: Build relationships with colleagues across different departments and levels.
- Public speaking: Volunteer for presentations and speaking opportunities within your organisation.
2. Inadequate soft skills
Technical skills and expertise are essential, but soft skills often play a crucial role in career progression. Communication, leadership, adaptability, and teamwork are highly valued in leadership roles. If you lack these skills, it can hinder your ability to advance, even if you excel in your technical domain.
Strategies to enhance soft skills:
- Training programs: Participate in workshops and training sessions focused on soft skills development.
- Mentorship: Seek guidance from mentors who can help you improve your interpersonal skills.
- Self-reflection: Regularly assess your interactions and identify areas for improvement.
3. Resistance to change
In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, adaptability is a key trait for career growth. Resistance to change, whether in terms of new technologies, processes, or organisational structures, can be perceived as a lack of flexibility and innovation. Embracing change and demonstrating a willingness to learn and adapt can significantly boost your promotion prospects.
Strategies to embrace change:
- Continuous learning: Stay updated with industry trends and new technologies through courses and certifications.
- Positive attitude: Approach changes with a positive mindset and a willingness to explore new opportunities.
- Feedback: Actively seek feedback on your adaptability and work on areas where you can improve.
4. Poor personal branding
Your brand is how others perceive you professionally. A weak or unclear personal brand can be a significant barrier to promotion. Building a strong personal brand involves consistently showcasing your expertise, values, and unique qualities that set you apart from your peers.
Strategies to improve personal branding:
- Consistent messaging: Ensure that your professional profiles, such as LinkedIn, accurately reflect your skills and achievements.
- Thought leadership: Contribute to industry discussions through articles, blogs, or speaking engagements.
- Professional image: Maintain a professional appearance and demeanour that aligns with your desired career path.
5. Insufficient initiative
Promotions often go to those who demonstrate initiative and go beyond their job descriptions. If you’re only doing what’s expected, you might not stand out. Showing initiative involves identifying areas for improvement, proposing solutions, and taking on additional responsibilities without being asked.
Strategies to show initiative:
- Proactive problem-solving: Identify challenges within your team or organisation and propose actionable solutions.
- Volunteering for projects: Take on new projects or tasks that go beyond your regular duties.
- Leadership roles: Step up to lead teams or initiatives, showcasing your leadership potential.
Securing a promotion involves more than just meeting performance metrics. Hidden factors such as visibility, soft skills, adaptability, personal branding, and initiative play crucial roles in your career advancement. By recognising and addressing these often-overlooked aspects, you can enhance your promotion prospects and achieve your career goals in 2024. Remember, it’s not just about working hard but also about working smart and strategically positioning yourself for success.
Startup
Thesys secures $4M funding led by Together Fund
AI startup Thesys bags $4 million funding in a round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from 8VC, the company said in a statement.
The startup will use the funding to bridge the gap of user experience with AI agents. As a visual collaboration tool, the company will also provide a platform that will enable businesses to ideate, visualise, and ship intelligent experiences at scale.
“The way we engage with technology is changing faster than ever. Static interfaces simply don’t meet the demands of today’s AI-capabilities…At Thesys, we’re building tools that make it possible for businesses to adapt and thrive in this new era,” said Parikshit Deshmukh, Co-founder, Thesys.
This evolution is about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven interactions and delivering unparalleled user experiences, he added.
“The future of AI relies as much on intuitive, adaptive interfaces as it does on backend capabilities. Thesys’ vision for Generative UI aligns perfectly with Together Fund’s commitment to enabling founders who are redefining the user experience,” said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner of Together Fund.
“By empowering teams to create real-time, personalized interactions, Thesys is setting a new standard for AI-driven interfaces. We’re excited to support their journey in transforming the role of design and development tools for the next generation of AI applications,” he added.
The company, founded by Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh this year, emerged from the understanding of the need to provide support in the shift towards AI-driven interfaces, it said.
“Thesys envisions a future where all interfaces dynamically adjust to each user’s behavior, preferences, and needs—driven by what the company calls “Generative UI”. Unlike traditional static interfaces that rely on predefined paths, Generative UI uses AI to create unique, adaptive user interfaces on-the-fly, allowing businesses to provide truly personalized digital experiences,” the company added.
The company plans to launch a UI SDK that is set to enable developers to seamlessly integrate Generative UI into their applications. Additionally, post its closed beta launch, the company plans a general availability (GA) with its product within the next quarter positioning itself as the go-to product toolkit for businesses looking to stay ahead in the AI revolution.
“Thesys is pioneering a transformative shift in UI design workflows by integrating AI-driven adaptability… Their Generative UI approach aligns with our commitment to investing in technologies that drive innovation in user experiences,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, partner at 8VC.
Startup
BrowserStack launches AI-driven Low Code Automation tool
Software testing platform
has rolled out Low Code Automation, a solution to simplify test automation for quality assurance teams, developers, and non-technical users.The newly launched solution will address challenges faced by software teams, including manual testing delays and complex automation frameworks, BrowserStack said in a statement.
While traditional test automation requires coding expertise by often limiting non-technical testers to contribute, this tool allows user—irrespective of their technical background—to create and manage AI-driven automated tests without writing code. Users can also use BrowserStack’s cloud infrastructure for reliable test execution.
“(The AI-powered Low-Code Automation (LCA) simplifies the process of building and maintaining test automation suites compared to traditional tools like Selenium. It reduces the steep learning curve and complexity often associated with automation projects, leading to a quicker return on investment (ROI),” Chintan Doshi, Director of Product Management at BrowserStack, told YourStory.
To support development teams worldwide, Low Code Automation speeds up testing cycles, boosts product quality, and enhances user experience by reducing technical barriers.
“Citizen testers—such as business analysts, product managers, and customer support teams—can easily add validations and create automated tests with the test recorder, without requiring coding skills. This reduces their dependency on developers and QAs and empowers them to actively contribute to testing efforts,” Doshi explained.
Founded in 2011 by Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, BrowserStack provides a cloud-based platform for developers to test websites and mobile apps across devices, operating systems, and browsers on demand.
With headquarters in San Francisco and Mumbai, the company has expanded its product line to include over 15 products, of which 10 were launched in the past 18 months.
In August, the Accel-backed firm acquired Berlin-based Bird Eats Bug, an advanced bug-reporting tool. The acquisition aims to address the existing gaps in bug reporting and streamline fragmented testing workflows.
Startup
Flipkart’s delivery arm Instakart reports widening losses, lower revenue in FY24
Flipkart’s delivery service arm Instakart’s FY24 losses increased multifold to Rs 1718.4 crore, from Rs 324.6 crore in the previous year, hurt by higher expenses and marginally lower revenues.
The company, which is in the logistics, warehouse, courier and allied services business, clocked an operating revenue of Rs 12,115.3 crore in FY24, 5% lower than Rs 12,787.4 crore it posted a year ago, according to filings made with Toefler.
During the period, the company’s total expenses increased 6% to Rs 14,149.4 crore, mainly driven by employee benefit and other expenses.
Logistics services accounted for the majority (about 78%) of Instakart’s total operating revenues, with Rs 9,429.8 crore, marginally lower than what it collected in the previous year.
Warehousing services, which accounted for about 10% of total operating revenues, witnessed a 28.4% drop in revenue, while collection services, which accounted for 12%, remained stable.
Just a week ago, Flipkart Internet reported a 21% rise in FY24 revenue at Rs 17,907.3 crore helped by rising income from its advertising services.
Flipkart India Ltd, which is Flipkart’s business-to-business (B2B) arm, reported a 26.4% rise in revenue from operations at Rs 70,541.9 crore in FY24.
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