Santa looked at his resume and found that he was not promoted in any of his previous jobs. Santa decided to ask for a promotion in his current job. Santa socialized the idea with some of his colleagues at work. Preeto told Santa that earlier promotions used to happen very systematically. Moment one completed three years, one was promoted. In past few years, after the joining of new HR Head, the practice has changed. Now there are no time bound promotions. So it will be a bad Idea to say “I need a promotion because I have completed 3 years”.
Bitoo advised Santa to negotiate internally because many people got promotions in the past by negotiating internally. However Bitoo forgot to tell Santa that all those people had offers from other employers in hand. Santa went for internal negotiation to the HR Manager. Santa said “I need promotion else I will resign”. Threats often misfire, especially when there is no backup plan. Having a gun without bullets is no threat at all. Mutual trust has come a long way, people need proof of everything. Even gun threat requires authentic sound of aerial fires. HR Manager politely answered – please go ahead and resign. If you need any help with the exit formalities, do let me know. Santa freaked out. Santa did not have any option.
Sitoo analysed that Santa went to the wrong person. HR Manager is not aware about contribution and Business impact of Santa. Only person who may understand Business impact of Santa’s absence is the Line supervisor of Santa. Santa was prudent this time. Santa first found a job with a higher designation and then went to his Line supervisor for internal negotiation. Articulation makes a big difference. Santa said to the Line supervisor that Santa is considering an offer from another company with higher designation and salary. Santa wants to consult the Line Supervisor in this regard because Santa wants to stay and grow with the current organization.
Supervisor looked at the offer and advised Santa that Salary increase is not significant, which can be taken care in the next appraisal cycle. As far as grade is concerned, each company has its own grade structure and comparing grade structures of two companies is not fair. Santa was baffled. Santa said that designation is an important social parameter and growth of designation means a lot to Santa. Supervisor explained Santa “Growth of Designation is not Promotion.” Designations are deceptive. AVPs in some organizations are equivalent to Senior Managers in other organizations.
Santa realized that Preeto, Bitto and Sitoo were not the right people to guide. Santa shared his aspiration of promotion with his supervisor. One must share the problem with the person who can solve the problem. Beggar does not go to another beggar to ask for money. Supervisor told Santa that next level of jobs require project management capability. Santa should go for a project management certification, take couple of project management assignments and improve his written communication. This will prepare him for next level of jobs. Once Santa is prepared, Santa will get a promotion in the organization or an equivalent opportunity outside the organization.
www.harjeetkhanduja.com by Harjeet Khanduja publishes HR relevant topics in layman language and redefines conventional concepts in current context without making HR too technical or complicated
