Promote the Promotable!

One of the things I love about recruiting is seeing the joy and satisfaction that comes to some selected candidates. Whether they have finally landed that job that will get them to the next step in life or they have worked hard and gotten their dream job, it always brings a smile to my face. Of course, there are always those applicants who get the job and don’t seem to care either way. I won’t concentrate on them; let’s keep it positive. Apathetic applicants haunt too many of us!

Getting a promotion usually brings the most excitement from an applicant. These would normally be existing employees of the company who have developed their skills so they would be poised for the next great role to take them up the career ladder. The feeling of accomplishment and salary increase make for a celebratory environment. Promotions can work wonders for morale by retaining talent and showing a commitment to all employees. Promotions can be a win-win opportunity for both employer and employee.

However, there are times that promotions can bring ire and discontent when they are given to employees who may not be perceived as deserving by their coworkers. Few and far between, these types of promotions almost feel like a punch below the belt for your staff and reek of favoritism. Hopefully your organization monitors these types of position changes and strives to promote the most qualified candidate. After all, that is the ethical thing to do, right? Often companies make the right decisions and promote candidates who are qualified and competent. However there are times they don’t. No matter what hiring decision is made, somebody is bound to be unhappy with it but a company should use the most transparent process to make hiring decisions in order to maintain integrity and morale.

Please note that I am not advocating that companies defend their promotions to their associates. But rather make it known to all employees that hiring decisions are made fairly and are free from discrimination and bias. Providing accurate and appropriate feedback to the candidates who are not selected can help alleviate any feelings of sour grapes. It also might help to foster a culture promoting internal promotion and offer opportunities for employees to develop their skills so they are ready when that next big break becomes available. These learning options could be casual like brown bag lunch and learns or more formal like offsite trainings and even encouraging further education by offering tuition reimbursement. Investing and promoting internal employees has proven time and again to benefit all parties.

Promoting the promotable – it’s just good business.

Don’t forget to CELEBRATE!