How easy is it to get promoted at your workplace?
Discussion
I've been looking to make some more money but don't really want to leave the company I work for but getting a different job in the company is nigh on impossible.
Basically EVERYTHING is done above board, applications are received and vetted by someone in HR who, if they know any of the applicants, have to pass the hiring and whittling down to someone else. That all sounds legal and fair I hear you say!? And sure, it is. But it also means that they can't approach anyone who they believe or know they would be suited to the job. Gone are the days when you could be called into the managers office and be told that you're being promoted or being moved to a position of more responsibility. They are even banned from asking team managers for recommendations or advising individual staff members to apply as this could be seen as favouritism.
Is it like this in all big, national and multi-national companies these days? Are the days of busting a gut in these places and being rewarded gone for fear of tribunals and unhappy staff raising complaints through HR or is my workplace unusual in this respect?
Basically EVERYTHING is done above board, applications are received and vetted by someone in HR who, if they know any of the applicants, have to pass the hiring and whittling down to someone else. That all sounds legal and fair I hear you say!? And sure, it is. But it also means that they can't approach anyone who they believe or know they would be suited to the job. Gone are the days when you could be called into the managers office and be told that you're being promoted or being moved to a position of more responsibility. They are even banned from asking team managers for recommendations or advising individual staff members to apply as this could be seen as favouritism.
Is it like this in all big, national and multi-national companies these days? Are the days of busting a gut in these places and being rewarded gone for fear of tribunals and unhappy staff raising complaints through HR or is my workplace unusual in this respect?
Tiny workforce, so nowhere to progress to unless someone retires or...dies I guess!
MD has recently employed his own son in the same office as me at the same sort of level which is kinda 'grinding my gears' a bit, especially when he can't do simple arithmetic (working in sales) and has no concept of equations or percentages.
MD has recently employed his own son in the same office as me at the same sort of level which is kinda 'grinding my gears' a bit, especially when he can't do simple arithmetic (working in sales) and has no concept of equations or percentages.
MissChief said:
.... But it also means that they can't approach anyone who they believe or know they would be suited to the job. Gone are the days when you could be called into the managers office and be told that you're being promoted or being moved to a position of more responsibility. They are even banned from asking team managers for recommendations or advising individual staff members to apply as this could be seen as favouritism.
I would suggest this isn't true, in reality. The managers are horse trading and advising each other all the time. If you haven't been asked, they don't want you. 
We have the same policies, as do many other companies I work with, and the people get moved all the time, usually in some quasi-compliant way. I'm in the middle of a move myself exactly like this. Quite often jobs get posted internally with the chosen candidate already known.
v difficult.
Three components have to be in place. One of those components is a third party audit of your performance in one aspect of the job. This requires you to be observed and examined.
Content wise, it's simple as the activity being audited is a core part of the job.
But getting the unit that perform these audits to agree to audit you is nigh-on impossible. In my case, it's a year of waiting just to be allowed to commence the paperwork that leads to an observation. Their "lack of observers" seems, to me anyway, a subtle way for my employer to control its wage bill.
Three components have to be in place. One of those components is a third party audit of your performance in one aspect of the job. This requires you to be observed and examined.
Content wise, it's simple as the activity being audited is a core part of the job.
But getting the unit that perform these audits to agree to audit you is nigh-on impossible. In my case, it's a year of waiting just to be allowed to commence the paperwork that leads to an observation. Their "lack of observers" seems, to me anyway, a subtle way for my employer to control its wage bill.
Fairly easy at work for me. Infact my manager has said I would make a good team leader if I wanted. However I (kinda) enjoy my job, I enjoy coming in on set days, and finishing on time, not having to come in on my days off and get treated like crap by managers.
The hours would also be s
t, 1400-2300 Monday to Friday. Yeah the weekends off would be nice (unusual in retail!), but I could go weeks/months without seeing people at home. It would also mean doing less hours as a Special (which I love, think I would struggle to do the 16 hours a month needed).
The hours would also be s
t, 1400-2300 Monday to Friday. Yeah the weekends off would be nice (unusual in retail!), but I could go weeks/months without seeing people at home. It would also mean doing less hours as a Special (which I love, think I would struggle to do the 16 hours a month needed). MissChief said:
I've been looking to make some more money but don't really want to leave the company I work for but getting a different job in the company is nigh on impossible.
Basically EVERYTHING is done above board, applications are received and vetted by someone in HR who, if they know any of the applicants, have to pass the hiring and whittling down to someone else. That all sounds legal and fair I hear you say!? And sure, it is. But it also means that they can't approach anyone who they believe or know they would be suited to the job. Gone are the days when you could be called into the managers office and be told that you're being promoted or being moved to a position of more responsibility. They are even banned from asking team managers for recommendations or advising individual staff members to apply as this could be seen as favouritism.
Is it like this in all big, national and multi-national companies these days? Are the days of busting a gut in these places and being rewarded gone for fear of tribunals and unhappy staff raising complaints through HR or is my workplace unusual in this respect?
(Scratches head)Basically EVERYTHING is done above board, applications are received and vetted by someone in HR who, if they know any of the applicants, have to pass the hiring and whittling down to someone else. That all sounds legal and fair I hear you say!? And sure, it is. But it also means that they can't approach anyone who they believe or know they would be suited to the job. Gone are the days when you could be called into the managers office and be told that you're being promoted or being moved to a position of more responsibility. They are even banned from asking team managers for recommendations or advising individual staff members to apply as this could be seen as favouritism.
Is it like this in all big, national and multi-national companies these days? Are the days of busting a gut in these places and being rewarded gone for fear of tribunals and unhappy staff raising complaints through HR or is my workplace unusual in this respect?
I would say that assuming you are very good at your job - and have clear potential to do higher up positions very well - then your companys attitude on paper seems strange.
However - would it be any good to look at what opportunities are available outside your current company that would fit in well with your skills, abilities etc.
Also its worth (imo) looking at where you want to go in the future - what skills and experience do you need to get to be where you wish to be in say (for example) 5 years in terms of your career.
Would a very silly company that would be prepared to lose very good workers because said workers weren't able to develop their career at that company due to HR rules.
If it was me id try and discuss with my management my aims/ambitions in terms of career development - stressing your preference of achieving your aims/ambitions at the current company if possible.
Haven't looked at your profile so don't know what your industry/type of work is - but perhaps if your able to mention the type of work you do - there may be others on here reading this who are in the same line of work and might be able to offer specific advice related to your industry.
Best of luck anyway
It's all become so 'corporate' if you know what I mean. No one can be encouraged to apply because it could be seen as favouritism. An example is a new team being created in escalated customer complaints but it's for the weekends. They've managed to recruit 3 people for a supposed team of 12. One of those is the team leader! The whole thing about not encouraging people to apply or asking for recommendations is costing the business or staff members thinking it's not worth applying for because they won't get the job etc. It's not a great situation to be in. (Before you say it I can't work weekends!)
My 'skills' aren't really in huge demand as they're kind of unique and based around a general knowledge of lots of different things rather than a huge amount of knowledge about a small number. Also as I'm on nearly £18k thanks to yearly rises, 4% this year, even getting my foot in the door somewhere else would probably be less and I can't really afford that!
I work in the technical department for a large ISP and Satelite TV Company. I deal with a lot of escalated issues and am often the 'go-to' person for advice and recently dealt with a great many complaints about a transfer from one email platform to another. I guess it's one of those situations where I'm appreciated by those around me who I help on a daily basis but the company as a whole, those not in my immediate vicinity wouldn't miss me in the slightest!
Thanks for the reply though Alex.
My 'skills' aren't really in huge demand as they're kind of unique and based around a general knowledge of lots of different things rather than a huge amount of knowledge about a small number. Also as I'm on nearly £18k thanks to yearly rises, 4% this year, even getting my foot in the door somewhere else would probably be less and I can't really afford that!
I work in the technical department for a large ISP and Satelite TV Company. I deal with a lot of escalated issues and am often the 'go-to' person for advice and recently dealt with a great many complaints about a transfer from one email platform to another. I guess it's one of those situations where I'm appreciated by those around me who I help on a daily basis but the company as a whole, those not in my immediate vicinity wouldn't miss me in the slightest!
Thanks for the reply though Alex.
Edited by MissChief on Sunday 11th August 03:18
I work for a big corporate, US head office etc, and we always will advertise internally before externally and help people progress.
We have international and domestic sides to the business, when the domestic side was facing several redundancies last year, we interviewed them all for international placements and saved them all from redundancy. Although a sideways move, most felt it was a promotion due to gaining experience.
We have international and domestic sides to the business, when the domestic side was facing several redundancies last year, we interviewed them all for international placements and saved them all from redundancy. Although a sideways move, most felt it was a promotion due to gaining experience.
MissChief said:
Is it like this in all big, national and multi-national companies these days? Are the days of busting a gut in these places and being rewarded gone for fear of tribunals and unhappy staff raising complaints through HR or is my workplace unusual in this respect?
I would say it's quite unusual.Although I now work for a small consultancy (not been there long), my background is 20+ years in very large multi-nationals. I can't say I've ever seen what you're describing take place in the companies I was at, nor experienced it when I was hiring, promoting and facilitating inter-departmental moves.
HR aren't supposed to be the ones choosing the candidates (unless asked to short-list them by the manager who's looking to employ someone) so perhaps they're just being overly cautious?
One of the businesses I was with (US based) was hugely into training us to be absolutely spot-on with all selecting and interviewing but we still didn't have HR worrying, to the extent you're describing, about favouritism.
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