Promotion policy

If you promote an employee, you need to make clear the terms and conditions of that promotion, for example, whether it will be subject to a probationary period. You also need to consider what will happen if it doesn’t work out.

Fast track to the top

Promotion is an important part of career development. If your staff have a clear route to promotion, they are more likely to have job satisfaction and stay with you. Of course, not everyone can be promoted but at least your high flyers will have something to aim for. However, beware that things often go wrong. Sometimes, employees are promoted but then they fail to perform to the required level in their new, more senior role. After all, it’s a new job for them with greater duties and responsibilities so there’s no guarantee it will always work out.

Our Promotion Policy makes clear that not only will promotion be on the basis of the best person for the job but also what will happen if the newly-promoted position doesn’t work out, i.e. that you have the right to revert the employee back to their previous role (and their previous salary level) should it subsequently transpire that they are not capable of performing their new duties or a conduct issue arises which makes them unsuitable for the newly-promoted position. Make sure that you first comply with the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence, i.e. you can prove the poor performance or misconduct which has resulted in your decision to revert them back to their previous role and you have a formal meeting with the employee to discuss your proposal before taking a final decision (one that ideally complies with the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures).