Getting a promotion is often seen as a big step in the right direction for a successful career. On the other hand, promotions sometimes depend on who has been with the company the longest or who has the best management skills. A lack of career advancement opportunities is a leading cause of employee turnover, so this may be a challenge for managers attempting to keep their best people. What can bosses do for workers whose ambitions remain unfulfilled?
Managers must devise short-term ways to help intelligent people meet their basic needs when slow progress makes them feel down.
Understanding What a Promotion Means to Employees
First, even people who are good at their jobs may still need help to advance their careers. For example, this could be because they have gaps in their skills or performance. Managers need to talk to their employees and find out what they think about filling in any gaps in their skills or knowledge. Allow the worker some time to mull the suggestions for improvement, and make it evident that seeking advancement is not a negative trait.
Managers should then grasp the significance of a promotion for their staff. This might be a public form of reward, a higher position of authority in the job, the chance to manage subordinates, or any combination of these factors. Managers should keep their staff interested by finding out what drives them and finding ways to give them work experiences that appeal to those interests.
If a worker is motivated by money but hasn’t been promoted yet, for example, their manager may give them more money to work harder. The manager’s job is to give employees ways to make a big difference for customers and other stakeholders, if that’s what they want. A manager can help an employee get public recognition by putting the employee’s work on a more visible and well-known platform.
Even though this might help in the short term, it shouldn’t take the place of a long-term effort to help the employee. Moreover, workers shouldn’t have to sit around forever before getting a raise. Managers owe it to their workers to give them feedback that will help them grow as people and to be open and honest about how they decide who gets promoted.
Employee Advancement Support
Managers can help employees who haven’t reached their goals for advancement in ways besides those already mentioned. Managers may do things like:
Put people in charge of informal teams to prepare them for formal leadership roles in human resources. The person may get experience in things like managing the hiring of teams or helping out lower-level employees.
Nominate workers for awards in their field to show the public how much they have done and what they have accomplished. With this, the employee has a better chance of gaining the attention and respect of higher-ups.
Make it possible for the worker to sit in on leadership meetings and provide input on the project’s course. As a result, the worker may feel they have more say in their job and make a more significant difference.
Even if a promotion isn’t possible immediately, managers can still help employees feel happier and more engaged at work by encouraging them to talk about their goals and motivations in more detail and by giving them work experiences that match these goals. In the long run, this may improve morale in the workplace and help you keep more of your best employees. Managers should remember that although they may not have sway over who gets promoted, they can still do what they can to encourage and retain their best employees.