Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn't & Why:

10 Things You'd Better Do if You Want to Get Ahead

It's always good to have energized and ambitious employees who are on a meteoric rise to success. But like all employees on the "fast-track," they'll likely be coming to you in short order for a raise or promotion. On this week's episode of Salary Talk, Aaron interviews Donald Asher, author of "Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn't and Why" and "Cracking the Hidden Job Market," who deals exclusively with career professionals who aren't happy unless they're earning a promotion every 12-18 months. Listen in to find out why you shouldn't base raises on past performance, why key employees shouldn't be completely indispensable and to discover why the most talented employee isn't always your best bet when considering advancement possibilities.

Donald Asher is the author of Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn't and Why and Cracking the Hidden Job Market.

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Your top employees will be angling for a promotion or raise every 12-18 months.

Donald Asher, an internationally recognized author and speaker who has earned the title of "America's Job Search Guru," works with highly successful people who are actively seeking career advancement. The kind of employees who start looking elsewhere if they haven't been promoted after a year, and are gone with the wind by 18 months. Asher not only supplies tips to these employees to keep them moving up the ladder, but gives employers insight as to how to deal with them.

Too many people think of a promotion as a reward for past accomplishments. Not so, says Asher, who advises companies to think of promotions as an investment for future work. That's why you shouldn't necessarily promote the worker who just pulled off the biggest deal, and he explains why it's OK to give out a raise/promotion to an employee who may be underperforming now for one reason or another, as long as you're convinced he/she has a bright and productive future.

As with most everything, communication is key. Employers need to be prepared to sit down with their employees within six months of starting at a job to map out what they need to do to be promoted, and then hold them accountable as they go out and do it.

Timing is everything with raises and promotions. Make sure your star employees are not only hard workers, but also perpetually plugged in so they know when big projects or company news is coming. Also, if you have an employee you want to move up the corporate ladder, make sure that worker is NOT indispensable. He or she has to be able to hand off current duties to a new person in order to take on the next challenge.

It's a fine line between making sure you're getting what you need from your employees while also ensuring they are being properly rewarded. Asher's advice goes a long way towards successfully walking that tightrope.

Connect with Today's Guest: Discover more about Donald Asher and his books. You can purchase a copy of Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn't and Why from this link. And you can buy Cracking the Hidden Job Market from this link. If you'd like more info, you can visit the website http://donaldasher.com.