Consider the following scenario. You are responsible for a large team and in one of your regular catchups with one of your senior staff members, you confidentially tell him that another senior team member in the business has handed in their resignation.
You also let him know that for the moment you haven’t decided whether you will look externally for a replacement, distribute their responsibilities among the other team members, or promote from within.
At this point in time, you have absolutely no idea at all that the team member sitting opposite you would love to take on the departing employee’s responsibilities – not instead of his current role, but over and above it.
Rather than telling you there and then that he wants to be considered for the role, he takes a more strategic approach.
That evening he sends you an e-mail requesting a meeting at some stage in the next few days to discuss the opportunity of transitioning into a dual role and taking on more responsibility. He then spends time carefully preparing his case, highlighting his achievements within the business to date, the reasons why he feels he should be considered, his rationale for wanting the additional responsibility, a picture of his ideal career path within the business, and finally, a carefully thought-out handover and transitioning strategy.
He knows his timing is right and he feels very confident presenting his case to you as his leader.
His strategy works since after reviewing his proposal, considering your other options, and ultimately formally interviewing him, you agree to move him into a role that will see him supervising two different teams, thereby fulfilling his career aspirations.
Confession: In the above scenario, the team member was me and I will be eternally grateful to my manager at the time for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to step up and take on the additional responsibility of managing two offices in different states.
Later, throughout my career as a manager running teams across multiple geographies, I also witnessed several instances where people were too scared to ask me for a promotion because they felt that as their manager I would either think they weren’t quite ready or perhaps their request might be seen as an indication that they were not happy in their current role. Then, when overlooked, they became jaded, and in many cases, left the organisation.
The notion of a ‘promotion’ can differ depending on who you ask. For some of your team members it may mean more responsibility. For others it may equate to more seniority and a new title to showcase on LinkedIn or add to their email signature. However, it’s important to note that neither necessarily guarantees a salary increase.
If someone approaches you in your organisation wanting a promotion, you need to seriously consider whether they are in fact looking for a promotion, or a new job entirely – one that may in fact only exist beyond the company walls.
On the flip side, just because a team member has discussed the idea of taking on more responsibility, or even formally presented their case and asked for a promotion, in your position as their leader, there is still the possibility that you may decide to decline it.
In your time as a people leader, you may one day encounter any or all of the following personality types when discussing the notion of a promotion.
Have you ever been on the receiving end of an email stating, “I expect that by the end of the year you will promote me to Team Leader”?
Is this a case of … “or else!”?
How did you feel? How would you react if you were dealing with an ‘expector’?
As tempting as it might be to simply reply, “Let’s see what happens”, you need to manage the scenario carefully. After all, there’s really no point stringing anyone along if you know it will never happen.
I can vividly remember sitting across from one of my team members many years ago during her performance review. She looked me in the eye and said, “If you don’t promote me immediately then I will have to reconsider my place here”!
To this day I don’t regret my response. She left. I replaced her immediately.
The irony of the situation was that I had actually been thinking about promoting her within the next 6 – 9 months. I was just never one who liked being given an ultimatum.
I’m convinced you’ll find characters like this in most organisations.
They like talking about their future career plans within your organisation (which is great), but for some reason if you don’t give them an answer straight away, or if you tell them you will re-assess the situation in six months, they will ask “how much longer?” in every single 1:1 catch-up you have between now and then.
It’s exhausting.
Sometimes you want to tell these people to just get back in their box.
Over time they may have even earned the title of prima donna; they treat their colleagues like sh*t, but still ask for a promotion at the first available opportunity – not realising it will almost certainly fall on deaf ears.
Time for a reality check.
You can spot these ones a mile off.
They will ask for every possible promotion (perhaps even roles for which they aren’t suited), thereby reinforcing that they have no real sense of career direction and in turn, no credibility behind their requests.
The bigger question here is whether they are ever really 100% focused on their current job (the one you are paying them to do) or whether they are always thinking about something new.
Exactly how you choose to handle these approaches to asking for a promotion is entirely up to you. But it’s important to be aware of the thought processes and strategy of each of your individual staff members when it comes to their career advancement within your organisation.
‘Having Difficult Conversations’ and ‘Setting Clear Expectations’ are two of the most highly sought after Hellomonday coaching topics.
To stand out in this rapidly changing world, new leadershipc apabilities are needed – to make individuals, teams and organisations thrive.Say “hello” to and book a demo today.
As we move into the new year, many leaders will be looking to enhance their leadership style and create more meaningful connections within their teams. One powerful approach certainly worth considering is radical candour.
There's nothing wrong with showing vulnerability when delivering feedback, but you should never need to sandwich it with positive feedback.
How well followers follow is as important to a company’s success as how well their leaders lead. It's not an overstatement that good followers matter as much as good leaders. So, if you want to spot your future leaders, identify your followers first.
