How do I get my boss to notice my success?

I’ve been collecting your work questions in the AMA About Work form. Here’s an answer to a recent juicy one.

Q: I am the type of person that trusts that my exceptional work will be noticed without having to do a whole dog-and-pony show, but I am realizing that my boss does not notice the scope/magnitude of my successes unless I tout them. How do I do this regularly without seeming tiresome or excessively self-promotional, especially when I usually exceed my goals? 

A: This is a good one. I’ve absolutely been here. 

If you’re the type of person that hates touting yourself, having to do it feels icky. Even if you don’t mind touting yourself a bit, it still feels bad to have to hold your accomplishments under your boss’s nose and be all “look at me! Look at me!”* Is it too much to ask that you notice the work I’m doing, bro? No one needs a parade, but acknowledgement of good work is critical to keeping your employees feeling seen and appreciated. (Which seems really obvious to me, but based on the number of bosses that aren’t doing this, it apparently isn’t.)

You have a couple of options here, my friend.

First, you could tie your accomplishments to your annual goals and report out on them at your 1:1s. It’s a little less “look at me” and more straightforward: here is how I’m working towards achieving the goals we set forth in my annual performance plan and here are the outcomes. After the meeting, email them with a recap of what you discussed in the meeting, along with your accomplishments (so it’s all in writing). 

Is this a pain in the ass? Yes. Is it extra work? It can feel like it, but it will absolutely ensure that you have documented your success. It’ll make it easier for you to list accomplishments on your resume when you are looking for a new position and it’ll make preparing your annual review a snap. If you don’t have an annual performance plan, make one. Frankly, it’s lazy on your leadership’s part to not have a plan for you (and I say this as both an employee who didn’t have a clear plan and a leader who didn’t always give my team clear plans — don’t do it). I have a freebie that can help you, the Quarterly Goal Check In guide.

Second, you can always sneak attack. I don’t love having to do this, but in workplaces that don’t work for you, sometimes you have to be sneaky to get seen. In this scenario, you can write a lovely email thanking all of the partners involved in the success of a particular project you managed, sharing the good outcomes with them all, and CC your boss. This accomplishes two things: first, you should be doing this anyway, and second, your boss will have no excuse not to know about it. BTW, CC, not BCC. You want everyone to see that your boss has been notified of this success. 

Neither of these things are zero work on your part, and that sucks. You shouldn’t have to wave your accomplishments under your boss’s nose.  

So: supervisors reading this, please for the love of dog ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR TEAM’S WORK. Verbally, and in an email. I had a boss who was phenomenal at this - the morning after any big event, they would send a big email to all the people involved (because it’s never just you, it’s you + the marketing team + the receptionist + the finance team etc.), name them each personally, and cc the VP of our whole department. Sometimes they would even cc the president. It worked for me – I felt seen, I was happy that everyone who was involved was acknowledged so it didn’t look like the Ellen show, and I was proud that the highest leaders saw our good work. 

Not everyone loves this level of praise, so you need to ask your team how they like to be acknowledged, and check in with them often. When you catch a little thing here or there, acknowledge it – “Hey, that email response you sent Jane was perfect, nice work.” If they don’t want to be praised publicly, don’t do it. But use those 1:1s to find something to acknowledge them for, at each one. 

Good luck, friend! Hope this helps you help your boss see all of your tremendous work. Keep on fighting to be seen.  

*Yes, this is a 10 Things I Hate About You reference.

Want to submit your own question? Head to the AMA About Work page and tell me all about it (you can do it completely anonymously).