Good Promotion Policy

Organisations adopt different bases of promotion depending upon the nature of the job , size and management of the organisation . Generally , they may combine two or more bases of promotion . The well established bases of promotion are seniority and merit .

Promotion Policy. seniority and merit suffers from certain limitations. To be fair , therefore , a firm should institute a promotion policy that gives due weightage to both seniority as well as merit .To strike a proper balance between the two , a firm could observe the following points :

Establish a fair and equitable basis for promotion that is Merit and Seniority or both .
A promotion policy thus , established should provide equal opportunities for promotion in all categories of jobs , departments and regions of an organisation .
It should ensure an open policy in the sense that every eligible employee is considered for promotion rather than a closed system which considers only a particular class of employees . it must tell the employees the various avenues for achieving vertical growth through career maps , charts etc.
The norms for judging merit , length of service , potentiality etc must be established beforehand .the relative weightage to be given to merit or seniority or both should be spelt out clearly .
Mode of acquiring new talent should specified to all employees so that they can prepare themselves .
Appropriate authority should be entrusted with the responsibility of taking final decision on promotion .
Detailed records of service , performance etc., should be maintained for all employees , to avoid charges of favoritism , nepotism etc.
It should be consistent in the sense that is applied uniformity to all employees irrespective of their background .
Promotion policy should contain alternatives to promotion when deserving candidates are not promoted due to lack of vacancies at a higher level . These alternatives includes up gradation , re designation , sanctioning of higher pay or increments assigning new and varied responsibilities to the employees by enriching the job .
A provision for appeal against arbitrary actions of managements and its review should be there .
Promotion initially may be for a trial period so as to minimize the mistakes of promotion .
Promotion policy , once it is formulated , should be communicated to all employees , particularly to the trade unions leaders . It should be reviewed periodically , based on the experience and findings of the attitude and moral surveys .