The number of people quitting their employment in the United States is increasing dramatically: Nearly 16 million Americans left their employment between April and July 2021, leaving small company owners wondering what they can do to keep their employees and that is where employee promotion strategies comes.
Typically, employees quit because they are in the wrong position and see no way for improvement. You can increase the engagement and motivation of employees by offering promotions strategically. Study findings suggest that how promotions are handled can affect a company’s overall culture and how employees perceive their future. Fine tuned employee promotion strategies can handle these problems.
Now is the moment to review your personnel strategy and ensure that each employee is able to play to their strengths. Here’s how you provide high-performing staff opportunities for advancement and determine who deserves to go up the corporate ladder.
Create standard promotional criteria
Create a set of performance requirements that employees must meet before being considered for promotion. This is very important in order to make your promotions fair to all employees and eliminate the danger of a discrimination lawsuit. To minimize or completely eliminate the charges of bias, Workest advocates generating advancement chances based on skills and performance. This might include needing a certain number of years of experience, a specific period of time with the organization, a certificate or qualification, or mastery of a specific skill set.
Identify candidates who are ready
When determining who to promote, start by looking for the following signs to see if an employee is ready to take on more responsibilities:
- The employee brings a positive attitude to work, impacting the team as a whole.
- The employee is informally managing others, either by welcoming a new hire or organizing others on the team.
- The employee volunteers to try new tasks and take on more responsibility.
- The employee has already asked. Often, high achievers will initiate the discussion of what they need to do to get promoted or take on new responsibilities.
- The employee is speaking to other recruiters. If you catch wind that an employee is job hunting, now is the time to have a discussion about the benefits of staying.
As soon as you have identified the right candidates for promotion, show them your support. Provide them with additional training and development opportunities or a mentor so that they can succeed. Consider giving them additional responsibilities, identifying and filling skills gaps in their skill sets, and preparing them for a promotion you want them to achieve.
Create meaningful promotion opportunities
Most companies offer “title changes” without increasing compensation, responsibilities, or roles. A simple title change will probably not persuade employees to stay, and simply adding “senior” in front of their title won’t make a difference either. You need to show employees that advancement opportunities at your company are better than starting over elsewhere.
If you’re on a budget, and you can’t afford a major salary increase, what should you do? Look for other benefits in addition to compensation. For example, a flexible schedule, more work-from-home days, or a grant for training courses or attending a conference could be offered. Help hesitant employees to find opportunities where their skill set may fit, which may not match the original role they had in mind.
Encourage them to go for it
Despite finding a suitable candidate, Harvard Business Review warns that it may be necessary to encourage them to apply for a new position. You should find out their concerns: rejection fears, imposter syndrome or mistrust about fair consideration.
Prepare for change
Promotions cause a ripple effect in your workforce. You may promote multiple employees at once, or you might have outside applicants lined up to fill a vacancy. Make sure to provide enough time for the transfer and training. Be gentle with yourself when you make the inevitable errors that come with starting a new job. Provide further encouragement by emphasizing why they were chosen and how others might follow in their footsteps.
Bottom Line
When looking for candidates for a promotion, keep an eye out for employees who are already taking on extra responsibilities and leadership roles.
SW HR Consulting has been helping companies to build their teams and values for over 10 years. Contact us to find out more about our unique hr outsourcing services and see how our expertise can benefit you.
