How To Manage Promotion When There Is No Scope For Vertical Growth ?

Good morning,

I am Pavan Kumar and I am working on a project in HR. During my project, I encountered a few questions or bottlenecks, one of which is a 'what if' scenario. The question is as follows:

In an organization where the levels of hierarchy are limited to Manager > Sr. Assistant > Assistant > Trainee. If an employee at the Sr. Assistant level has been with the company for 15 years in the same position, has a good track record, and is performing well, drawing a salary of 25k while the manager's salary is 26k. After working for so many years, the employee might be seeking a promotion, but the next level is the manager, and the manager position is currently occupied. Could you suggest what can be done to manage this situation without disappointing the employee's expectations?

Thank you, and I am looking forward to hearing a logical step/solution to appraise the employee.

Thank you.

Greetings,

What are the options of the horizontal growth path? Generally, before promoting a level, it's better to ensure that the talent completes a full cycle in horizontal roles. This strengthens the basics and prepares for sound leadership. This manages the compensation for gradual growth through the salary range within the same band, rather than a sudden hike. A competitive bonus or incentive can be planned to keep the talent motivated and justify the extra responsibility taken and delivered correctly. For example, if an assistant manager is shifted from Operations to sales, a suitable sales variable can be offered based on target achievement. This will increase the salary for the employee while minimizing the risk for the company.

You may read this article discussing this issue: [Young and clueless - HBR Article](http://hbr.org/2002/12/the-young-and-the-clueless/ar/1)

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

Thanks, Cite Contribution, it is a nice real story. I have read it, and it is informative in a practical sense. So, in other words, would you suggest job rotation as a way to address this problem?

Hi Cite Contribution,

You linked a wonderful story, but I think this doesn't fit in Pavan's case. Pavan's case is a very common scene in most small organizations which have a small number and even smaller number of opportunities.

Let me refer to Pareto's Law of 20% vital and 80% non-vital. In any organization, only 20% of the employees get a chance to move ahead because that is the sheer number of responsibilities available in supervisory or leadership roles. The remaining 80% have only three options - quit or stay quiet.

Here is where attrition has a positive role to play. In my humble opinion, the only good option for such employees is to look outside the organization. Change is always good - as very well depicted in "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson.

I've corrected the spelling and grammar errors in your text and ensured proper paragraph formatting. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you, Avantika, for referring to Pareto's Law of 20% vital and 80% non-vital information. I appreciate the insight, and I will definitely review this concept further. It has helped me understand that job rotation, either quietly or actively, are the only options available. Since no senior finance professional would prefer to transition to HR or other departments after 15 years of their career, job rotation may not be a feasible choice.

Thanks.

On the same note, even we have come across a similar kind of situation in our organization. We have employees working in operations at the branch level. Now, we are looking forward to a career path/appraisal.

The problem is if we promote them in terms of designation, there is no job enlargement/enhancement as currently, they are designated as Coordinators. We can promote them to Executive, then Senior Executive, Assistant Managers, but their job responsibilities will remain the same. They will be simply redesignated with a salary hike with no real promotion.

Also, in job rotation, the only option is if they are interested in sales, which we are sure they wouldn't be. So, what should we do? Should we go ahead with an illusionary promotion?

Looking forward to the suggestions.

Warm Regards,
Hardeep Kaur

Dear All,

Everybody contributed valuable points and suggestions. If an employee has been working in the same designation for a decade without any promotion or additional responsibilities, it might be better to assign some new tasks to such an employee without a promotion and provide some financial or non-financial incentives.

Thank you, Hardeep, for your real-time example of the same type of problem.

Thanks, Ashwani, that was a wonderful contribution. As per what I understand, you would suggest giving additional work or assignments to that person. That is a good idea. I think that by assigning tasks that are outside of his core area, it would also help him develop in more areas.

Thank you.

"If you continue to do what you are doing, you will get what you have gotten."

There is no rule or system anywhere that if an employee works in a particular position for many years, they have to be promoted. Promotion comes only when you are equipped to handle higher responsibilities, for which you need to have:

1) Technical Skills

2) Managerial Skills

3) People Skills

You already possess technical skills, which is why you are in your current position. The other two skills need to be developed if you want to grow in the organization. Without developing these skills, if you keep complaining that there is no promotion, you will never advance.

Your promotion also depends on your subordinates' promotion, would you agree?

"There was a person (maybe a star performer), whose contribution to the organization was excellent; he excelled in all fronts and tasks given to him. Almost everyone in the organization was talking about the promotion of our hero. Performance reviews were held. Everyone was handed a 'review sheet' detailing their increment/promotion. Our hero opened his cover and realized he received an excellent increment but no promotion. He almost wept. The MD was out of station, and our hero had sleepless nights, avoiding people in the office; whoever he saw seemed to be asking, 'Hey, what happened?'"

Finally, he took an appointment with the MD and asked him,

Hero: "Sir, how was my performance in the performance review year?"

MD: "Excellent and extraordinary."

Hero: "Do you think that I deserved a promotion?"

MD: "No doubt about it."

Hero: "Then why, sir, did you not promote me?"

MD: "I do not have any doubt that you are a deserving candidate to shoulder higher responsibilities. But one point bothered me much."

Hero: "What was the barrier?"

MD: "I know your current role is crucial, and you handle many responsibilities. When you move to a higher position, have you identified a subordinate to take over your role? Do you see anyone currently in your department capable of this?"

Hero: "Not yet, sir. My subordinates are good, hard workers, but they need more time to develop other skills to handle my current position."

MD: "Therefore, identify your subordinate, prepare/develop them to take over your role. Come to me then, and you will see your promotion letter typed."

Your growth depends on your subordinates' growth. Unless you develop your fellow teammates, do not expect a promotion simply because you have served for 17 years (or more) in the same grade.

Balaji

Thank you, Balaji, for your valuable contribution to knowledge. It is very informative. We often see HR top executives and managers doing less physical work, but tasks involving minute details like these can cause a lot of mental pressure. Their workload is significant and yet often goes unnoticed.