Employee Promotion: Why Merit Beats Tenure Every Time

Promote on Merit

Promotion is a big topic, so I won’t cover it in detail other than to explain my belief that employees should be benchmarked for promotion against the Great Performance Profile. Because you are using objective measurements, it minimises political and personal bias, helps ensure promotion is based on merit, and reduces “glass ceilings”.

Common promotion problems include: 

• Employees are promoted based on tenure or to retain them, rather than on their competence or potential.
• Staff being promoted based on their performance in a current role rather than on how suitable they are for the new role, hence the “Peter Principle” coined by Laurence Peter: “Managers rise to their level of incompetence” (Peter, 1970).
• Great Performers may not want promotion, yet employers promote them anyway, hoping that such recognition highlights the qualities they value and makes the employee feel appreciated.
• Managers are too involved in promotion decisions and have an obvious personal bias.
• A poor manager can overshadow an employee’s potential for promotion.

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Interview Before Promotion

Before you promote an employee, you should always interview them for the position. Consider asking them the following questions:

• “How do you think your role would change if promoted?”
• “How would you need to adapt your approach?”
• “What would you focus on if promoted?”
• “What issues do you think would arise, and how do you think we could minimise them?”
• “What benefits do you think you would bring to the business, and how could we maximise these?”

The questions aren’t perfect because you’re asking a candidate to tell a story about what they might do in the future – often they’ve never been in this situation before. You must balance their answers against your past experiences to get a good idea of whether they’re ready for promotion.

I’m often pleasantly surprised by how much knowledge employees already have. I’m not looking for mind-blowing ideas – just sensible and coherent ones that show they’re ready to step up. When employees move into a managerial role, I’m interested in determining if they understand different managerial styles and responsibilities. When employees are promoted to senior leadership, I look for their understanding of business strategy.

If after interview you find someone isn’t suitable for promotion, I’d recommend review properly declining internal candidates – otherwise, their motivation and productivity may drop, and they might resign.

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Problems New Managers Can Face

Generally, new managers need to be careful not to take too much action too quickly. Otherwise, it may be interpreted that they are dogmatic, and too quick to make up their mind. This alienates colleagues and builds resistance. Additionally, trying to do too much makes staff less effective and more confused, and you don’t build a critical mass to get work done.

Newly promoted managers will have a steep learning curve:

• Different contexts: Dealing with a broader set of issues and decisions requires striking the right balance between having an overview and gaining detail.
• Delegating effectively: Building a competent team, establishing goals and metrics to monitor progress, converting high-level goals into specific responsibilities, and providing a process.
• Workplace politics: The higher you’re promoted, the more you’re surrounded by egos. This ironically means you have less positional responsibility and must gain political influence. It’s often necessary to warn new managers that politics is inevitable and bruising.
• Communication strategies: Communication is more important when you’re further from the front lines. New channels will need to be developed to determine what is happening and communicate the organisation’s strategic intent.‍
• There will be more scrutiny: Promotion attracts more attention.

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Additional Resources

• Talent Acquisition Book; The Secrets of Great Recruitment: How to Recruit Great Employees.
• Downloadable PDF guide; Simple Steps to Enhance Employee Retention & Reduce Turnover.
• Downloadable checklist; Checklist for Employee Onboarding.
• Article; Staff Induction Secrets: How to Turn New Hires into Great Performers!
• Article; Improve Employee Retention & Reduce Staff Turnover.
• Article; Performance Management Secrets: How the Best Leaders Handle Reviews.
• Article; Staff Training Secrets: Why Your Best Trainers Might Be Sitting Next to You!