The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University recently released its national workforce survey, which found that more than one-third of Americans feel trapped in their careers.

Based on the survey, 31 percent of professionals say they have been passed over for a promotion they feel they deserved.

In addition, they believe that in order to earn a promotion, they must perform at a high level (54 percent), have a strong work ethic (51 percent), exhibit leadership skills (43 percent), and take on additional responsibility (36 percent) – more so than participating in training or classes to advance their skills (13 percent).

“This is an alarming find,” said Dr. Andrea Backman, dean of the Jack Welch Management Institute.

“Although today’s professionals can identify what they need to do to earn a promotion, they don’t have enough information about how to do it. This missing link creates a huge opportunity for those employees who commit to their career with energy, intellectual curiosity and a drive to succeed versus those who do not.”

For professionals who feel they have been passed over for a promotion, Backman emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, particularly around job expectations and job delivery, as well as having candid conversations about performance and identifying concrete skill-building activities.

“Once you’ve done this reflection and checked in at a 360-degree level – meaning you have completed a self-evaluation and gathered feedback from your supervisor, subordinates, and colleagues – it is important that you create and execute an immediate plan of action with the information,” said Backman.

“If you don’t approach your career with energy, guts, determination, and urgency, then a promotion is not likely in your future. At the same time, it is important to do this type of self-career assessment whether you have been passed over for a promotion or not. Everyone can benefit from identifying areas of improvement and pursuing feedback and solutions regularly.”

To be sure, surviving in the jungle of the US workforce is no easy task indeed.

And Welch himself warns that everyone is going to have a career disaster at some point, but you can bounce back.

“Everyone is going to have a career disaster or work at a company that gets nailed at some point. Accept responsibility for it, come clean, lose the shame and then change everything from how you plan the future to how you go about worrying,” the former General Electric CEO told the UK’s Management Today.

To be sure, despite the best planning, Welch says bluntly that your career can stall.

“You may not be good enough at your current job to progress,” said Welch, chairman and CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001. He co-wrote “The Real Life MBA” with his wife Suzy Welch, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review.

“Sometimes you have to face that and fix the problem,” he said. “Your best career lies at the intersection of what you're uniquely good at and what you love to do.”

But when the end of a work situation is inevitably near, there is an art to separating the worker from the company, Welch says.

“Let people know how they are doing at all times and if it's not working out, give them up to six months to find another job,” he said. “Good people are the whole thing. Hiring them, motivating them, letting them know where they stand, giving their work meaning and purpose.”

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