How to Advocate for Yourself at Work

Feeling successful in your work is an important part of feeling and being successful in your life. Part of feeling successful is learning how to advocate for yourself in the workplace so that you can be sure you are being treated well and being paid what you deserve.

Advocating for yourself can be really intimidating, especially when you are doing it for the first time, but mastering it will help you have better experiences at work and throughout your life.

Find Allies

Advocating for yourself can feel impossible if you don’t have a group of people around to support you. Work on building allyships with your coworkers so you can support each other and make sure that no one is being taken advantage of.

If you are all facing similar issues at work, you can work together to find a solution and talk to management to make that happen. Even having allies outside of your workplace can make advocating for yourself at work easier. When you know you are supported at home, it is easier to stand up for yourself at work.

Know Your Rights

When you understand your rights, it is much more difficult to take advantage of you and it is easier for you to advocate for yourself. Get familiar with your rights so you know when something wrong is happening in your workplace and you can take steps to correct it.

Worker’s compensation coverage differs from state to state, so make sure you read up on your state’s policies. The more you know about your rights and how you should be protected at work, the easier it will be to speak up and the more likely you will be to get what you need.

Practice

Much like any skill, advocating for yourself takes time, effort, and practice. Taking the time to advocate for yourself in small ways in other parts of your life can go a long way towards making you feel safer and more secure when you advocate for yourself at work.

If there are situations outside of work where you let things slide because it doesn’t feel important, but you are comfortable speaking up, try doing it next time. That will help you to prepare for advocating at work and make your life a little better.

You are a person who deserves to be respected and appreciated at work. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. Doing so will help you to have a much better time at work. 

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