Mediations #10: On Job Promotions—Learn The Rules
Learn the promotion cases holistically. Once you know the rules of the game, you know how to play and win.
Once in a while, I see someone struggling to get a promotion at work. They are frustrated and can’t figure out why they haven’t got the promotion. Questions like, “Why does it take too long? Why are they not promoting me even though I’m doing the job already?” fly in their heads. I was in that same situation before. Then, I moved to the side of “helping people get promotions” and learned a few things that helped me guide others and focus on the right things for my promotion.
I looked at the promotion cases holistically and brainstormed with a lot of managers. I learned a lot about how promotions work and how they are structured inside managers’ heads. Although some practicalities are different from organization to organization, the underlying motives are often the same.
Promotions are a lot of work, even just to get the process started. Showing the right skills, convincing people, presenting a case, or simply being in the right place at the right time takes a lot of energy.
Many people get sucked into the “I want promotion” mindset too much. If they can’t get it quickly, they start looking for another job and leave when their chances for promotion are the highest.
Some fall into the sunk cost fallacy and believe that if they stay a bit longer, they will be promoted, while their chances are very slim due to a lack of skills.
How we find the right track without falling into either edge is what matters. We’ll learn the contributing factors for the promotions and find a way around them. But before we dive in, we need to talk about the most important thing first.
Money & Privileges
Promotion usually brings money. I say usually because it’s not always the case. I’ve seen people who were happy to be promoted without any compensation change.
If you need money and it’s the only reason you want the promotion or the title, it is wonderful. You know why you want it, unlike many people.
Also, whatever I wrote below will assume that you’re in a privileged position—money is not your main motivation driver. Even if that’s the case, you can still get a holistic picture of promotions.
It’s good to get extra money in the pocket, but we must understand the trade-off. You get extra money, but what for?
Why The Title Matters
A title is proof that you earned it and have specific responsibilities. It doesn’t give details of those responsibilities when someone looks at your CV, but it gives an idea.
A title helps you pass the first stages of the interviewing process when you are looking for a new job. If you’re looking for an engineering manager role and have never had the title, your chances are lower compared to someone who has had it for a while. Yet, it doesn’t solely prove that you have all the needed skills; interviewing stages are there to examine your proficiency in the role.
A title helps establish your position in the company. You may have already been doing the job, but the title acknowledges it. It gives you a degree of power.
Yet, businesses don’t give money or title if they have no return on investment. Understanding that return is crucial to set expectations right.
The Value for The Organization—Why should the org promote you?
There must be a business need for any promotion to happen, whether we like it or not. Reasons can range from keeping a valuable employee happy with a promotion to assigning an interim CTO to prevent an engineering organization from falling apart.
A lot of promotions come from someone leaving a job and the organization refilling the position internally. It’s the case when your boss leaves the organization, and you step up. It’s a common promotion method because internal promotions are cheaper and more effective compared to external hires, and employee satisfaction increases due to investment in in-house talent.
Internal promotions don’t always succeed. When the promotion goes to the person who doesn’t want it and doesn’t have enough skills, promotions become detrimental. A lot of managers were pushed to the role because somebody had to do the work. Organizations, often without realizing it, end up with the worst-case scenario: an unskilled person doing a job they don’t want. However, if there is already someone willing to become a manager and is already working on improving skills, the opportunity becomes a gold match.
Another promotion type comes from organizational restructuring. Restructuring is costly to the organization and often has frustrating moments for many people affected. However, it’s also good for some people to change their focus and learn something new. A good example is doing the reverse of what we said above. Moving an unhappy manager to an individual contributor role in which they can be happier and more successful. The organization gains a lot of value by putting the talent into a good place—improving individual’s and the organization’s performance. Restructuring can bring a lot of opportunities for change, forcing people to move out of their comfort zones.
Also, many organizations have people they cannot afford (or don’t want) to lose. That person can leverage the situation rightfully (this might not look ethical, but it’s the reality). As the employee-employer relationship is based on a contract, they have negotiation power and the right to negotiate.
If an organization has one person they can’t afford to lose, the failure is on the leadership, and they have to pay the price. Why didn’t the organization work toward spreading the knowledge or responsibilities in time? It’s a difficult question for many organizations. If you see someone getting a promotion because of this case instead of you, don’t dwell on it too much. Try pushing your organization to change the situation. And if you’re in the leveraged position, use it wisely!
There are many other cases in which organizations promote people, but the main idea is that there has to be a good return on investment for the business. Either keeping a valuable employee, reducing the organizational complexity, or improving individuals’ performance.
If you’re looking for a promotion, look for how you can increase your value to the organization: impact is key here. The more impactful you are, the more value you bring.
After you understand the organizational value, you can assess if it’s something you’d like to provide.
The Value for You—Your Return on Investment
When an organization requires you to take on more responsibilities, ask yourself, do you want to take on them?
Many people want the money but not the responsibility. Some people want the responsibility and don’t need the money. Everyone’s motivation is different. Look at yourself to figure out why you want a promotion.
Don’t hang up on the title too much. Look at the package underneath. Know what you’ll get with the title. A lot of people act quickly and accept promotions without thinking enough.
A good example is the old CEO of General Electric, John Flannery, who lasted only fourteen months in the CEO role after working at GE for 30 years. He probably couldn’t evaluate what he was getting himself into when he stepped into the CEO role.
Many first-time engineering managers try to go back to being individual contributors because they don’t know that it is a different role. They think that they can continue what they have done so far. There is nothing wrong with becoming an individual contributor again, but it’s a sign that the consideration wasn’t thorough, or there was no chance to practice without the title.
Promotions almost always mean extra responsibility or higher expectations. Know what will be expected from you. Ask about the responsibilities, challenges, and disaster scenarios explicitly. Learn as much as you can. If it’s not something for you, then you don’t need to stress over chasing it.
Let’s say you knew why you wanted it and what you would get with the promotion, but your promotion was rejected. Now what?
Promotion Rejected? Good!
It’s natural to be disappointed when you want something and don’t get it. However, you can change your perceptions about promotions. If your promotion is rejected, try to understand why.
Is it because the organization doesn’t need someone in that role? Or is the budget tight? Maybe it is because you don’t have enough experience?
If the case is rejected because you don’t have the skills or experience, it’s an excellent opportunity to keep the learnings while discarding the responsibility. Ask your manager to learn what exactly is missing. Then, you can work toward closing that gap.
If the case is rejected because of other reasons you can’t change, don’t get sucked into sunk cost. Yes, you invested a lot of time and energy, but life is short. If you don’t feel valued and you see that the situation won’t change, make up your mind and say, “Thank you and goodbye.”
Even if you leave, keep the growth mindset. Learn, learn, and learn again.
When you look for career opportunities, don’t only focus on titles or promotions. Look for what you can learn and what problems you can solve, even if that means you jump on something you have no idea about.
Get used to being a junior and senior again and again. Being a junior is excellent. Constantly seek out being the least knowledgeable person in the group. You will learn something you didn’t know every day.
When you start applying what you have learned to solve the problems organizations face, promotion will come eventually. Of course, always ask for it, but don’t get too attached to it when you can’t get it.
Actual career growth happens when you solve problems, gain experiences, and build stories, not when a few words are written under your name.