As you move into your chosen field, and take on progressive experience, you will take on greater responsibilities commensurate with higher levels of compensation. Usually as you move up, you will become responsible for directing the work of others, assessing the performance, making decisions on training, and taking on responsibility for providing a service or function, or for a unit within a larger group.
You may have been groomed for a higher level internally, meaning the organization has identified you and trained you towards this, or you may have applied, whether internally or externally. It is a good idea to do your due diligence before you take on any new position. Consider what you bring to the new position, and what you would prioritize to learn to best fulfill the new responsibilities. Identify the partners you will work with, and the stakeholders, or those who have an interest in the work you do. Reflect on the mutual fit between the new work environment and structure, and your professional and personal needs.
There is a difference between being a rank and file employee, and to being a supervisor or manager. The relationships you have with your colleagues can still be positive, but it will be wise to keep some distance, and to exercise discretion in who you confide in.
Within the organization, you will have access to new levels of information, and be asked to support larger corporate goals. You may be asked to interpret or enforce policy. This larger perspective can be very gratifying if you have moved up internally, and adds complexity to your decision-making process.
Further to this, consider the impact on work-life balance. As you move up in an organization, you will be able to delegate work, but you will have greater accountability for the actions of others, including their errors. It’s possible that your needs may be to earn as much as possible, but if you have attained a certain level of income that you are comfortable with, and do not anticipate significant needs in future that cannot be planned for, it is not unreasonable to do something of a cost-benefit analysis. Will the additional income and level of work be worth the time spent on the learning curve, and the lasting work reality? For example, more senior levels of employees may be expected to work overtime, and in some cases there is a culture of unpaid overtime. They may be required to travel, or to be mobile for short or longer term assignments, or to be connected and reachable outside of working hours, even if not physically in an office. They may not be able to benefit from flexible work schedules or alternative work arrangements. They may be called on to set an example for work ethic, organizational commitment, compliance to policy, and responsiveness and flexibility to the demands of senior management.
You may not recognize this while you are new in your career, but you will reach a point of stability, in which taking on a new position of greater responsibility will not be worth the expense to other areas of your life. If you do reach a point in which you have gained competence in the position, but in which you continue to struggle with work-life balance, it is possible to take a lateral transfer, seek a specialist or consulting role in which there may be less responsibility for human and financial resources, or to voluntarily move back into a role of lesser responsibility. These may all be preferable to seeking new employment in a different field, or to feeling compelled to resign or take a break to achieve balance.
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