A cornerstone of effective management is knowing when to promote team members.
At a macro level, a strong company culture is built by nurturing and developing talent from within. Therefore, a well-planned promotion system benefits both individuals in your organization and the company as a whole.
Common Proxies Most Leaders Use, And What They Miss
Typical employee reviews benchmark performance based on evaluation metrics of the team members’ current role, evaluating promotion readiness on inputs like tenure, competence scores and expressed ambition, which is helpful but doesn’t quite capture the full picture of what lies ahead.
The core problem with solely using these inputs is that they only measure the demands of the current role, not necessarily the next one.
Potential then becomes the catch-all category used to bridge the gap, despite being loosely defined. So while most organizations default to past performance as an indicator for future capability, if the performance being evaluated is tied only to the demands of someone’s current role, it can create a false sense of readiness for what the next role will require.
What The Signal Actually Looks Like
High performers tend to self-select into the behaviors of the next role before a manager formally recognizes it. This doesn’t necessarily mean employees are putting in more hours or taking on additional responsibilities firmly outside the scope of their current role. Instead, operating at the next level relates more to the quality of their work, how they carry themselves in high-stakes moments and how effectively they can problem solve before an issue hits the desk of a supervisor.
For managers, an actionable rubric for what to watch over a 60- to 90-day window includes:
1. Are they solving problems that weren’t directly assigned to them but impact the overall team’s output?
2. Are they identifying and addressing points of friction within their workstream?
3. Are there decisions holding up without your involvement?
In my experience, when it comes to employee engagement, people who are given the opportunity to apply and stretch their skills consistently outperform peers in similar roles. This fact should further incentivize managers to create more opportunities for those reporting directly to you to operate in an elevated capacity.
Consistency And Visibility Are Both Required
Consistency on part of the person under promotion consideration is of course important, but equally significant is the visibility of their work outcomes. Here, visibility means that upper management can effectively see when the individual is performing at the next level. The responsibility of visibility falls on the company; proper evaluation pathways must exist so that managers have awareness when high performers excel.
Consistency without visibility means a high performer no one can see gets ignored. Visibility without consistency allows for a person who may not be ready yet to get promoted.
What Leaders Can Do Differently
Effective leaders consistently create conditions for their team to apply their skills at the next level or “stretch” their capabilities, so to speak. Much of creating these conditions relies less on formal development programs and more on establishing a clear operating behavior.
Three specific things leaders can do to promote an environment like this include:
1. Before your next talent review, consider how you are helping develop your employees. Ask yourself: Have I given this person a real opportunity to operate at the next level, even briefly? If not, you’re assessing potential in a vacuum.
2. When you see next-level behavior, name it publicly. This reinforces what you want to see more of. It’s important to note that other team members will likely also be watching and taking cues.
3. When making the promotion call, ask whether the pattern was already there. You may be making a decision based on expectation.
A promotion should be grounded in demonstrated readiness, but that does not mean expecting someone to perform a larger job indefinitely without the title or compensation. Leaders should create intentional opportunities for employees to stretch, observe how they respond and act when the pattern is clear.
