Employee promotion Strategy

Employee promotion strategies should be carefully crafted as these depend upon a number of factors other than just performance. Every organizations have different strategies of employee promotion. Here are some commonly used criteria which many of the Indian organizations follow:

Length of service – it is important for an employee to spend a considerable amount of time in the organization before he is recommended for promotion so that he is acclimatized with the working environment, policies and overall culture of the organization. Usually this time ranges from 1 – 2 years.

Performance – Performance plays a crucial role but is not the only deciding factor for employee promotion. In most of organization policies, usually 4 or 5 raters only are eligible for promotion.

Potential – Employee’s potential to take up higher roles and responsibilities is significant criteria in deciding whether the employee should be promoted or not. Many companies opt for identifying high pot employees through assessment centers and psychometric tools to identify high pots and hence, recommend them for taking up higher roles in the organization.

Organization Structure – Employee may deserve a promotion but unless there is a vacancy in organization hierarchy for the new role, he may not clear through. Organizations which are highly structured have an approved position and budget for each role in the hierarchy, unless there is a vacancy at a position, the next in line employee may not to be able to succeed to the position. However, in developing organizations and start-ups, the structures are open and flexible and this factor may not be a constraint.

Tenure in a particular role/ position – Unless an employee justifies his existence in a role which he is currently in, promoting him to next level wouldn’t make sense and he would need time to stay and perform at a particular position before hopping on to next role. The range of tenure varies from 2 – 3 years in organizations.