5 Best Practices for Promoting Employees

There are a number of benefits associated with promoting employees to higher positions within your company. For one, providing team members with the opportunity to advance their career will boost morale and job satisfaction.

Ways to Promoting Employees

Additionally, promoting from within often ensures smooth transitions –– you don’t have to introduce a current employee to their team members because they know them already! However, promoting employees internally can be a bit tricky from time to time. That’s why we’re listing five best practices associated with internal promotion –– so that you can reap the benefits without dealing with any of the potential drawbacks:

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Start Training Early

If you want to form a company that consistently promotes employees through the ranks, then you need to create a learning culture that prepares employees for these transitions from day one. The more education an employee receives in their formative years, the more prepared they’ll be to step up to a higher position when the time comes. Consider incorporating written, video, and microlearning content within your training program to promote employee development.

Stagger Promotions

It’s unwise to promote too many individuals at one time. After all, if five account managers were promoted within a month of each other, odds are productivity will take a dip –– at least in the short-term. Rather than throwing several employees in the deep end at once, stagger promotions so that your more experienced team members can mentor employees when future generations are promoted.

Don’t Rush

Sometimes, business owners may be tempted to fast-track an exciting young go-getter to a management position. However, this may not be a wise decision. No matter how capable a professional is, it’s beneficial for employees to cut their teeth with entry-level work for a while. That way, if they make a mistake, they can learn from it in a productive way and it won’t harm the company (much).

Promote with Actions & Words

Have you, or someone you know, ever been promoted “in title only?” Some companies may decide to “promote” employees to positions with greater responsibility, but not actually offer them improved compensation with the step up. Plain and simple, this is a bad idea, and team members will grow irritated by this tactic sooner rather than later.

Keep Your Options Open

While it is a sound strategy to promote from within as often as you can, sometimes extenuating circumstances force business owners to change policy. As such, you shouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to hire a very talented manager who wants to come to your company just because you’re afraid of how the move will be perceived. At the end of the day, quality employees find ways to succeed, and most professionals will warm to a great boss –– even if they were leery of them at first.