The No Club

Although your organization may value particular tasks, doing them might not help advance your career.

The term non-promotable task (NPT) refers to work that matters to your organization but doesn’t contribute to advancing your career: It doesn’t help you get a promotion, score top marks in performance evaluations, land interesting assignments, boost your salary or become marketable for another job. Categorizing specific tasks as promotable or not depends on whether they contribute to the organization’s “currency” – the things decision-makers care about, such as making a profit or growing market share. Tasks that directly contribute to an organization’s currency have high promotability. Identify your organization’s currency by looking at its mission statement, strategy, annual reports and marketing materials. Look at key performance indicators and the accomplishments it publicizes externally or internally.

Tasks that require specialized skills or that help you build valuable connections tend to have high promotability. In contrast, NPTs typically lack visibility, don’t require special skills or qualifications, and have a negligible impact on the organization...