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It’s a new year, and that means you, an employer, have a chance to start fresh with your business practices. No doubt you made some mistakes last year that you want to avoid in the future. Some of those mistakes may be related to promotions, either not promoting enough employees or advancing the careers of undeserving individuals. The good news is this year can be better than the last. But, before you begin doling out promotions in 2016, you’ll want to take a few things into consideration.
Never Promote an Employee Out of Sympathy
If you’ve been a hiring manager for any significant period of time, you’ll understand that it can be tempting to promote an employee out of sympathy. Many employees have financial troubles and desperately need to make more money. How easily this can pull on your heartstrings! These feelings of sympathy are augmented if you like the employee as a person. As hard as it can be, try to stay objective about giving promotions. Is the employee you are considering for a promotion having financial troubles? If so, ask yourself if you would be as apt to bestow a promotion on him or her were those financial woes not in the picture.
Are You Playing Favorites with Your Employees?
If every hiring manager were honest, he or she would freely admit to having favorites. There is certainly nothing wrong or immoral about this. However, it is wrong to promote individuals whom you favor, simply because you like them more than other employees. When considering someone for a promotion, look at his or her overall performance and history with the company and avoid letting your emotions influence your decision.
Only Promote Those Who Can Handle Increased Responsibility
Every employee wants a promotion, but not necessarily increased responsibility. Increased management responsibilities come with nearly any type of promotion or career advancement. With this in mind, employers should only promote those employees who have the capacity to handle management responsibilities. Heather Krasna, author of When to Give Your Employees a Promotion or Not, says, “…not every person is right for management. If the person you are promoting has a track record of looking down on their peers, not being able to say no politely, or is either too aggressive or too passive, they may not have the temperament for management. You can be setting someone up to fail, and the failure of a new manager also can mean failure for his or her team…and even failure for the company.”
Thinking of promoting an employee? Before you do, make sure you are not giving the promotion out of sympathy or favoritism. Also, think hard about whether or not the candidate can handle management responsibilities. Once you’ve taken these things into consideration, by all means, promote your deserving employees.
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