In a previous post, we talked about the benefits to both the employer and the employee of promotions. For the employee, while a promotion comes with greater responsibility, it also typically comes with greater prestige, seniority, authority, and compensation.
Source: Athitat Shinagowin / iStock / Getty
Promoting employees is a great way for the organization to make better use of an employee’s competencies, as well as to boost the engagement and satisfaction of the employee. We also discussed some signs that it’s a good time to promote an employee.
But, what if it’s a good time to promote an employee but there’s no open position to promote him or her to? That’s the question discussed by Ben Fanning in an article for Inc. He recommends creating positions to promote people to and suggests the following steps:
Get the Pulse
To the extent your motivation for promoting an employee is driven by reducing turnover, the first step is to figure out what your turnover rate is. It’s surprising how many organizations don’t know this.
It can also be helpful to determine turnover rates for specific positions, departments, and employee demographics. For instance, are turnover rates higher for employees with 1 year or less tenure with the organization? For female employees? For people of color?
Prioritize Where to Make a Change
Fanning recommends focusing first on the teams that have the highest turnover rate but are critical for the leadership pipeline of the company. Call center environments typically have a higher level of turnover than other areas. But, if there’s a steady stream of qualified candidates for these positions, it may not be a high-priority area of focus. IT staff, on the other hand, may be more difficult to recruit and, therefore, may require a high-priority focus.
Add ‘Ranks’ or ‘Merit Badges’
A promotion doesn’t necessarily need to represent a change in the organizational chart. By adding modifiers to a person’s existing title, you can “promote” him or her without creating an entirely new system. These titles could include coordinator, assistant, associate, analyst, administrator, engineer, specialist, generalist, officer, manager, consultant, representative, leader, etc.
Acknowledge Employee Contributions
Paying attention can pay big benefits. Find ways to acknowledge the progress, growth, and success of your employees. Fanning recommends offering signs of public acknowledgment that go beyond routine praise, which employees might tune out.
Track Your Results
As with any new process, it’s important to track and measure your results and modify your processes as needed along the way.
Promotions are great motivators, both for those receiving the promotion and for their coworkers who have something to aspire to and can see that advancement is possible. As we’ve seen, just because there aren’t existing positions available doesn’t mean you can’t make room for a promotion.