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Jessica Collins
BUSI643: Workforce Planning and Employment
September 7, 2025
Respectfully submitted to: Dr. Mary Jo Odom-Dull
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Introduction
A sound promotion policy is important in every organization. This policy outlines career
advancement and establishes fair guidelines for employees to abide by in order to achieve the
status they want. It cultivates a positive work culture because it gives clear pathways of growth
for employees. People do not have to worry about being passed up for promotions if their work
performance is above standard; so, work drama is excluded.
An Effective Promotion Policy
It is important to have a policy in place that creates a scalable output by employees that
continues to ensure company growth as well as professional growth. A promotion policy
excludes biased language so that it avoids any type of discrimination amongst employees and
those who rise through the ranks. Essentially, the policy provides opportunities for everyone
and as long as employees qualify for the promotion, they should get it. First and foremost, the
best way to expressively promote someone is based on their performance. Performance-based
promotions are a sure-fire way to ensure those who are working hard for an organization are
rewarded for their efforts. But it does not stop there. People must also obtain the skills needed
to be leaders who can teach those beneath them the skills required to be successful in their
position. “Promotions are central to individual career success (Moutafi et al., 2007; Seibert &
Kraimer, 2001), and organisations seek to identify and develop employees with the potential for
higher levels of responsibility and leadership positions” (Kordsmeyer et al., 2024, p. 1049).
Matthew 20:26-28 says, “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (King James Bible,
1769/2021).
What makes someone a great leader is their ability to put others needs before their own. They
listen to their team and ultimately become a servant leader for those around them.
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A good promotion policy outlines the type of promotions available in the workplace.
Promotions can happen vertically, laterally, or cross-functionally. Each promotion has its own set
of criteria and pathways for employees to partake in. With these different promotions, there
should also be eligibility criteria and a step-by-step process for how to achieve the status, or
atleast how to qualify for the promotion. Another distinguishing factor for promotions is
whether it is done internally or externally. External hires/ promotions might be easier for the
company if they take on someone who has already held that position before. However, “internal
job changers have an advantage in terms of person/organization fit because they are already
familiar with the relationships among organizational members as well as culture, policies, and
procedures of the organization” (Judge & Kammeyer-Meuller, 2022, p. 100). This type of
promotion increases motivation and retention in the workplace.
Two major things that are overlooked for promotion are feedback and development.
Many people think they are doing great jobs inside the workplace but when they get overlooked
for a promotion, no one tells them why. Keeping an open line of communication with employees
is essential. Also, when someone is not quite ready for a promotion, but that is their end goal-
who is putting in the effort to develop them to help them achieve the next level of success? “As
a basic communication strategy between employees and superiors, feedback can profoundly
impact employees’ perceptions and behaviors” (Li et al., 2023, para 1). Lifelong learning in a
position is a must. Continuous improvement for oneself is a leadership defining trait. “Feedback
seeking has a meaningful impact on learning. It can contribute to deeper reflection of the self
and one’s behavior as the feedback generated includes information that is oftentimes
specifically aimed at improving one’s skills or performance” (Crans et al., 2022, para 2). There
are many things that contribute to a promotion, all the way down to the core of an individual.
Are they going to make the organization better, or are they just in it for the money? That is who
you want to give a promotion to.
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References
Crans, S., Aksentieva, P., Beausaert, S., & Segers, M. (2022). Learning leadership and feedback
seeking behavior: Leadership that spurs feedback seeking. Frontiers in Psychology, 13,
890861. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.890861
Kordsmeyer, T.L., Speer, A.B., Wilms, R., Rainer, K. (2024). Longitudinal effects of employees’
big five personality traits on internal promotions differentiated by job level in a
multinational company. J Bus Psychol 39, 1049–1065 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-
023-09930-7
Judge, T. A., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2022). Staffing organizations (10th ed.). Burr Ridge,
IL: McGraw Hill.
King James Bible. (2021). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
Li, Z., Qin, H., Zhang, X., Zhang, Q., & Tang, L. (2023). Linking superior developmental
feedback with employee job satisfaction? A conservation of resources perspective.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3211.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043211
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