V o l u m e.. 7 , ..N o . ..2
April 2 0 0 7

Managing the Promotion Process

Many of my clients struggle with the management of staff promotions within their organizations. On the one hand, they want to create an environment where professional and career development opportunities are offered to their staffs. Promotion to a new job and higher salary grade is one way to do this. On the other hand, they are concerned that some managers recommend promotions for their staff members when the actual responsibilities of the job have not changed much. It seems that these managers want to promote their staff members as a way of rewarding them rather than as a genuine reflection of a higher level of responsibilities.

I have noted over the years that organizations who manage the promotion process well have taken the time to explain to their management team the key principles of promotion. In particular, they have stressed to managers that certain conditions must be met before a promotion can be justified. An employee “doing a good job” is not in itself a justification for a promotion. Three further conditions are essential:

• The organization must have a need for the job to be at a higher level

I mentioned this principle at a management training recently, and several managers looked at me like I was from outer space. It was clear that they had never considered this point. Yet I cannot see how we can avoid it. While an employee may be an excellent performer at his or her current job, the organization simply may not need the position at a higher level. This is particularly true in smaller organizations.

• The organization must be able to afford the job at a higher level

Each organization has a finite amount of dollars and must decide how to spend them. As a result, there is a legitimate question to ask about every proposed promotion: should we spend our money upgrading this position, or should we spend it elsewhere? The fact that an employee may be performing well does not mean that the organization can afford to have the job at a higher level. There are ways to reward the employee for good performance other than promotion.

• The new job must include new responsibilities of a higher level

Sometimes an employee will take on additional responsibilities and the manager will recommend a promotion. But it is important that we ensure that the new responsibilities are of a higher level to justify the promotion. If I am performing tasks A, B and C, and my manager asks me to do task D as well, the fact that I have more tasks to perform does not mean that I am performing at a higher level. Do I have more responsibility? Do I have more autonomy? Do I have more of a decision making role? Am I involved in company issues that clearly are more complex and which have a bigger impact on the organization as a whole? If we cannot honestly answer these latter questions in the affirmative, then we have to question whether the level of duties has really changed.

Managers want to do the right thing by their employees, and that is a good thing. Legitimate promotions will occur, and that also is a good thing. But organizations need to pay more attention to the management of promotions to ensure an equitable classification of jobs and fair treatment of all employees. Organizations can help their managers by offering a wide array of reward choices for the manager to use. With many reward choices, the manager can find a way to send a positive message to the employee--without being tempted to recommend an inappropriate promotion.

Til next time.

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