Promoting employees from within is one of the most rewarding moments for a company. It shows everyone in the organization that advancement opportunities exist. It encourages employees, at every level, to continue their efforts. It also shows them they may be rewarded with more responsibility and compensation. It means the role they have is a career and not just a job.
However, it can be difficult to create these promotion opportunities. Long-term career planning tracks can be derailed by business evolutions, market factors and competitor actions. It can also be challenging to move employees from one business division to another as competency and opportunity are hard to align.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect is creating a culture that rewards employee contribution to the company and not just actions that help advance their individual careers. The balance is incredibly complicated. Employees need to stand out amongst their peers, which can lead to actions that minimize the contributions of others while promoting themselves. Company leadership needs to have a very clear understanding of how each employee contributes to the overall business, rather than just recognizing those who engage in self-promotion at the expense of accomplishing company-wide goals.
President Harry Truman said it best with this quote. “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit,” he said. President Truman knew that if individuals worked only for the advancement of their own interests, the government could not succeed. Actions such as spreading rumors, internal politicking or outright sabotage would be employed by individuals more concerned about their own position than the government’s success. This was especially true during the years after World War II as the entire world order was being redefined.
This is true for any organization.
All employees working for the benefit of the company can only be achieved if employees are rewarded and advanced based on their contribution to the overall business and not personal gain. Leadership can only reward the right employees by having a deep understanding of what actions and efforts contribute to company-wide goals. This takes constant monitoring at every level and in every division of the company. A key sign that the proper culture has taken effect is when internal promotions are obvious to almost everyone in the organization and advancement of an employee is celebrated by his or her peers.
