Unfair promotion in work/favoritism

StThomasMore · Nov 9, 2012

Recently someone in my work, who has not been with the company for even a year, has been promoted to a senior title. A few weeks back someone else, who was with the company only 6 months also got promoted to senior. There are also a large amount of people, who have worked with the company for years, some 5-10 years, who have not gotten promoted at all. Yet these people know much more than the promoted people and have much more experience.

The first time I saw this happened I was angry, but got over it. Now its happened again, and I'm really not happy. I myself am the type of personal that volunteered to do extra for my boss and my work, and yet it seems all of this goes unnoticed. Then the person, who has done nothing extra, all of a sudden gets a promotion, and this person doesn't even know as much as I do at my job. I had asked one of the Leads who works there, and she told me that they promoted him because they "liked his resume the best". Almost like it was some pot luck shoot of the supervisor choosing the resume he thought looked the best.

So, on top of this guys promotion, he also gets a raise, 4 dollars anhour above our wage from a person who hasn't even been here a year at the company!

Talk about demoralizing your workers and giving them no incentive to do better. I'm done with that now for sure.

I'm so upset about this I decided to go back to school to enroll to be an LPN.

Blayz · Nov 9, 2012

Well that sucks. Can't empathize though, never been promoted myself. When I want more money or something different, I get a new job somewhere else.

Mystman · Nov 9, 2012

I don't know what line of work you're in, and the specifics of the positions involved, but often the skills that are useful for one job, might not be the best skills for another job.

Say you're a hard worker and really good at doing X, and some new employee comes along, who is only mildly skilled at doing X. Then management needs to promote someone to go do Y. If the new guy is better at Y than you, or even just as good, management should promote the new guy. That way X is still being done by someone who is really good at it (you!), and Y is also properly done.

Or put in in a different way... a promotion should not be seen as a reward for the person who is best at their current job. A promotion is a reward for the person who would be best at the open position. It can suck if apparently your boss thinks that some new kid is better suited for a higher position than you. but he may be right.

HitchSlap · Nov 9, 2012

People most often get promoted because of the intangibles, the "kwan."

StThomasMore · Nov 9, 2012

Mystman said:
I don't know what line of work you're in, and the specifics of the positions involved, but often the skills that are useful for one job, might not be the best skills for another job.

Say you're a hard worker and really good at doing X, and some new employee comes along, who is only mildly skilled at doing X. Then management needs to promote someone to go do Y. If the new guy is better at Y than you, or even just as good, management should promote the new guy. That way X is still being done by someone who is really good at it (you!), and Y is also properly done.

Or put in in a different way... a promotion should not be seen as a reward for the person who is best at their current job. A promotion is a reward for the person who would be best at the open position. It can suck if apparently your boss thinks that some new kid is better suited for a higher position than you. but he may be right.

So being good at your job can be a double edged sword. And working harder in that position just digs your hole deeper for staying in that position because they more rely on you.

Promotion should be based on hard work and merit. 4 people have left because they couldn't stand the favoritism that was going on. I also notice a lot of the people promoted are the same ethnic group as the supervisor is too.

Promoting a new guy is a great way to ruin your group of workers moral. People are complaining. When that one new guy who got the promotion who had been with the company only 5 months, there was a exodus of workers who got angry and confronted HR.

Either way, I'm not putting the effort I used to now. I will just go a medium effort for now until I become an LPN next year.

usexpat97 · Nov 9, 2012

So being good at your job can be a double edged sword. And working harder in that position just digs your hole deeper for staying in that position because they more rely on you.

First, unfair promotion/favoritism is, by definition, unethical. Unless possibly if it is the owner of the business doing it, in which case it is not so much unethical as it is stupid.

It is a free market. It would be nice if people promoted you because you were the best for the job and they worked with integrity, but in the real world, we are driven by free market forces. When you work hard, what you need to make sure of is that you are acquiring a skill set and some references you can count on. Then be prepared to go where you need to go. You're not going to be able to wise up the higher-ups by threatening to leave--you just have to cut to the chase and do it. And it is through the hard work and smart work that you have the skills that make you desirable to other employers. There is nothing unethical about first and foremost working for yourself. You can be sure they are.

If Not For Grace · Nov 9, 2012

People get promoted for all kinds of reasons-not all good.

Sometimes it just plain brown nosing, or who they know, or other times you promote a "problem" just to get it off your plate.

Do not work for "men", either work for the paycheck and "give em 8" a fair amount of work for an agreed wage or work because you feel what you do "gives back" or "helps someone" in some way

OR

Better yet find something you love to do that is your passion and figure out a way to get paid for it and you will never work another day in your life. An LPN sounds like a good way to help and give back. GFU

FaithLikeARock · Nov 9, 2012

Bear with me, this gets relevant. I attended a seminar about Women in Leadership, which cited a recent study about women in the workplace, which examined why women don't get promotions as often as men. In a poll of men and women in all levels of those companies, across the board, women were rated as being the hardest workers, the most dedicated, and in general the "best" workers in their current position. Those numbers got higher the farther you went up (even though the samples of men went higher as you went up). The only place when men performed better were in "aggressiveness" or "networking" - essentially the categories required in getting a promotion. Men were found to be more forward, which might explain why they are more likely to get promoted, even though women were considered decidedly better workers. There was some cause for error because it could also be discriminatory preference (more higher ups are men, and men are more likely to hire men) but for the most part, that was the correlation.

That might be your issue. No doubt you are a hard worker, but these new folks may be more forward about their end goal - getting a promotion. It's not necessarily an ideal role, but it does make some sense. Higher positions tend to take on more leadership duties, and leadership requires some assertiveness. Lower workers who exert those characteristics that liken them to leaders are more likely to get promoted than people who may work very hard, but generally don't exert their goals.

Try being more assertive. I don't mean tip your bosses desk over and throw coffee in his face. Be forward about what you want, and start finding leadership opportunities you can practice in your current position. Keep working hard, but make sure it is obvious that you are seeking a higher position. Whatsmore, don't be afraid to ask. That was one of the first things my grandpa taught me when I joined the workforce - the only way you'll ever get promoted or ever get a raise, is if you ask. It might be that simple. If you suck, you won't get it. But if you are good, they might've just been waiting for that. Generally you don't get promoted without asking unless you are so absolutely incredible that a superior recommends you.

That is my advice to you sir. I am but a humble 22-year-old, so take it as you will. But that is what I have learned from my elders in my short time working.

StThomasMore · Nov 10, 2012

FaithLikeARock said:
Bear with me, this gets relevant. I attended a seminar about Women in Leadership, which cited a recent study about women in the workplace, which examined why women don't get promotions as often as men. In a poll of men and women in all levels of those companies, across the board, women were rated as being the hardest workers, the most dedicated, and in general the "best" workers in their current position. Those numbers got higher the farther you went up (even though the samples of men went higher as you went up). The only place when men performed better were in "aggressiveness" or "networking" - essentially the categories required in getting a promotion. Men were found to be more forward, which might explain why they are more likely to get promoted, even though women were considered decidedly better workers. There was some cause for error because it could also be discriminatory preference (more higher ups are men, and men are more likely to hire men) but for the most part, that was the correlation.

That might be your issue. No doubt you are a hard worker, but these new folks may be more forward about their end goal - getting a promotion. It's not necessarily an ideal role, but it does make some sense. Higher positions tend to take on more leadership duties, and leadership requires some assertiveness. Lower workers who exert those characteristics that liken them to leaders are more likely to get promoted than people who may work very hard, but generally don't exert their goals.

Try being more assertive. I don't mean tip your bosses desk over and throw coffee in his face. Be forward about what you want, and start finding leadership opportunities you can practice in your current position. Keep working hard, but make sure it is obvious that you are seeking a higher position. Whatsmore, don't be afraid to ask. That was one of the first things my grandpa taught me when I joined the workforce - the only way you'll ever get promoted or ever get a raise, is if you ask. It might be that simple. If you suck, you won't get it. But if you are good, they might've just been waiting for that. Generally you don't get promoted without asking unless you are so absolutely incredible that a superior recommends you.

That is my advice to you sir. I am but a humble 22-year-old, so take it as you will. But that is what I have learned from my elders in my short time working.

I'm male. Both me and my co-workers have asked him. What does he tell us? "Be patient", "I'm trying to find the right time", "Just continue what your doing and we'll see later on", "I'll keep that in mind". When he promoted this new guy, like I said, many other workers were angry and confronted others about it. The 2 people who got recently promoted never asked him.

The guy who got promoted today never asked the boss about getting promoted. In fact, he only knows how to do one thing in the department. The other guy who got promoted a month ago isn't even an employee and is still a temp for only 4 months! Yea, really honest when they say they like to promote from "within" in their job mission statement. When the temp got promoted the boss whispered to him jokingly to "keep it a secret". Yea, real nice work ethic right there.

Lastly, these last 2 people are the same ethnic group as the boss is and come from the same area. Is this just a coincidence too? I don't think its sexism because one of the persons who looked over everyones resume was a woman, who has a high position. However this woman barely comes into the workplace and is totally disconnected from whats happening here. She's only concerned with how pretty the resume looks it seems.

The point of the matter is working hard sometimes isn't the best thing to do. In fact it can work against you. Brown nosing, coasting and making pretty resumes with cool looking borders and margins is what you should do. And be sure your the same ethic group as the boss is too. That really helps

ImperialJohn · Nov 14, 2012

StThomasMore said:
Recently someone in my work, who has not been with the company for even a year, has been promoted to a senior title. A few weeks back someone else, who was with the company only 6 months also got promoted to senior. There are also a large amount of people, who have worked with the company for years, some 5-10 years, who have not gotten promoted at all. Yet these people know much more than the promoted people and have much more experience.

The first time I saw this happened I was angry, but got over it. Now its happened again, and I'm really not happy. I myself am the type of personal that volunteered to do extra for my boss and my work, and yet it seems all of this goes unnoticed. Then the person, who has done nothing extra, all of a sudden gets a promotion, and this person doesn't even know as much as I do at my job. I had asked one of the Leads who works there, and she told me that they promoted him because they "liked his resume the best". Almost like it was some pot luck shoot of the supervisor choosing the resume he thought looked the best.

So, on top of this guys promotion, he also gets a raise, 4 dollars anhour above our wage from a person who hasn't even been here a year at the company!

Talk about demoralizing your workers and giving them no incentive to do better. I'm done with that now for sure.

I'm so upset about this I decided to go back to school to enroll to be an LPN.

I think that's tough but a lot of people lucky to have a job right now.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20) springs to mind.

Do the managers of the company know that the employees in question wish to move up the ranks and progress and are they doing anything themselves to work towards and achieve that?

StThomasMore · Nov 15, 2012

ImperialJohn said:
I think that's tough but a lot of people lucky to have a job right now.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20) springs to mind.

Do the managers of the company know that the employees in question wish to move up the ranks and progress and are they doing anything themselves to work towards and achieve that?

yes they do.

Take a worker who has worked with the company for 7 years. But doesn't have seniority title. Someone new comes in, and gets promoted to seniority after 7 months. This person doesn't know 1/4 of what the other person does who has been there seven years.

Now how is this person supposed to feel to see the people that he himself has trained, get promoted ahead of him?

ImperialJohn · Nov 16, 2012

StThomasMore said:
yes they do.

Take a worker who has worked with the company for 7 years. But doesn't have seniority title. Someone new comes in, and gets promoted to seniority after 7 months. This person doesn't know 1/4 of what the other person does who has been there seven years.

Now how is this person supposed to feel to see the people that he himself has trained, get promoted ahead of him?

I also would not feel good but the other individual could have been more qualified as a leader.

To be a leader within a company the knowledge and ins and outs of how to do the day job are largely irrelevant. Barrack Obama may not know how to fly an F-22 or F-35 but he is commander-in-chief and leader of the US. He doesn't need to know all the in's and out's, but does have ultimate responsibility for decision making, decisions made and leading people.

The CEO of Hewlett Packard may not know how to build a desktop computer or repair one but doesn't need to know.

Have they been on any leadership training courses?

keith99 · Nov 16, 2012

My very first job out of college was with Schlumberger. A company where pretty much (E.g. Legal and accounting where the exceptions) everyone in management and research started as a field engineer.

BUT

My first 2 weeks with the company were working with a field crew (2 skilled workers and an engineer). Then 10 weeks training then back to the same place where I was now supervising those 2 skilled workers.

The difference?

I had a degree in geophysics. Most in my place had a degree as an EE, one ME out of our class of 12.

Happens all the time. What one learns on the job is far from everything.

StThomasMore · Nov 17, 2012

keith99 said:
My very first job out of college was with Schlumberger. A company where pretty much (E.g. Legal and accounting where the exceptions) everyone in management and research started as a field engineer.

BUT

My first 2 weeks with the company were working with a field crew (2 skilled workers and an engineer). Then 10 weeks training then back to the same place where I was now supervising those 2 skilled workers.

The difference?

I had a degree in geophysics. Most in my place had a degree as an EE, one ME out of our class of 12.

Happens all the time. What one learns on the job is far from everything.

The difference?

You got the 10 weeks training rather than the others, handed to you on the silver platter. Thats the real difference.

No, a person should work with the company for a few years before any type of promotion. The person may have a certain degree, or a thing on their resume that might look nice, but they might be horrible at what they do, have bad work ethic, and bad work merit.

Promoting a new guy is the worst thing to do for employee moral. Especially someone who hasn't even been with the company for even a year. That's why you get so many idiots in management positions in the first place. They get handed so many promotions on a silver platter, never really earned, and when they really get into that position, they are like a deer in headlights.

A degree does not and should not earn a promotion. Promotion should be based on hard work, good ethic, initiative, loyalty to the company, and good work merit and honor.

I don't care how many degrees someone has. No one deserves to be promoted right away in the first few months of employment, unless they are some super rarity, honor kid, star performer/fast learner/genius in working that just outshines everyone else. Maybe those top 2% yes I could understand. But some regular guy who just happens to be on the radar at the lucky time , no. So much status quo obsessive crap going on that we forget what true hard work and merit really is

keith99 · Nov 19, 2012

StThomasMore said:
The difference?

You got the 10 weeks training rather than the others, handed to you on the silver platter. Thats the real difference.

No, a person should work with the company for a few years before any type of promotion. The person may have a certain degree, or a thing on their resume that might look nice, but they might be horrible at what they do, have bad work ethic, and bad work merit.

Promoting a new guy is the worst thing to do for employee moral. Especially someone who hasn't even been with the company for even a year. That's why you get so many idiots in management positions in the first place. They get handed so many promotions on a silver platter, never really earned, and when they really get into that position, they are like a deer in headlights.

A degree does not and should not earn a promotion. Promotion should be based on hard work, good ethic, initiative, loyalty to the company, and good work merit and honor.

I don't care how many degrees someone has. No one deserves to be promoted right away in the first few months of employment, unless they are some super rarity, honor kid, star performer/fast learner/genius in working that just outshines everyone else. Maybe those top 2% yes I could understand. But some regular guy who just happens to be on the radar at the lucky time , no. So much status quo obsessive crap going on that we forget what true hard work and merit really is

Well it is now clear, your position is not based on reason but envy.

Go back and read my post. The field workers were good guys and hard workers, but they could not have completed my degree if their life depended on it.

And without that knowledge they could not have done the job of a Field Engineer as soon as the first thing went wrong.

Hard work counts. BUT it is not everything. Ability and education count and often are a more clear divider.

ThatRobGuy · Nov 21, 2012

Without knowing all of the details about your situation, I can't say for sure which side I'm on.

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I experienced some backlash from a few co-workers when I got promoted above them even though they'd been there longer. I work in the IT field and I got promoted to Lead Developer about 2-3 years ago (I had only been there 4 years at the time). There were people who'd been there 10 years who weren't too happy about it. In certain cases, tenure doesn't = skill.

What were their experience levels when they got hired in? If it's a case where the newly hired person had 10 years experience at another company in the same field when they got hired in, their promotions might be justified.

ThatRobGuy · Nov 21, 2012

StThomasMore said:
No, a person should work with the company for a few years before any type of promotion.

So you'd be okay with the idea of keeping a more skilled person at a lower rank than a mediocre employee for a few years just because the mediocre employee has been there longer?

If that's the type of environment you're looking for (tenure valued over ability), I would suggest that you go find a union gig.

muslimsoldier4life · Nov 21, 2012

If you wanna get promoted based on hard work, then you should be in blue collar work; if you wanna get promoted based on "tangibles" that don't involve busting your butt, then go work in an office.

Now ask yourself this: are any of these guys vets? Allot of vets are being hired after departing, and a good portion of them have leadership experience arleady in their lives and may not have the "technical" aspect of your particular job down.

lisah · Nov 21, 2012

Usually when people are hired and soon promoted, that was the intention when they were hired. They only had to prove they were capable.

ThatRobGuy · Nov 22, 2012

lisah said:
Usually when people are hired and soon promoted, that was the intention when they were hired. They only had to prove they were capable.

Well said...

Another way to look at this point, if employers always had to pay new hires (even ones with experience) less than all of the existing employees just to keep them happy, then they'd never be able to get new talent in their company, they'd never be able to get any new talent in the door during a time of need.

My company did something similar a couple years back. We had a time where we lost a lot of people and it was essentially down to me and two other experienced folks and a couple dozen people who had only been there for 2-3 years. When they started the recruiting process, we need seasoned high-level developers who could hit the ground running. It didn't make those couple dozen folks too happy when they hired in 5 people at a higher level than them, but without hiring in those 5 experienced people, we would've been screwed.

Unfair promotion in work/favoritism

Christian Democrat

Well-Known Member

Atheist with a Reason

PROUDLY PRIMATE

Christian Democrat

kewlness

Legend-but then so's Keith Richards

Let the human mind loose.

Christian Democrat

ImperialJohn

Guest

Christian Democrat

ImperialJohn

Guest

sola dosis facit venenum

Christian Democrat

sola dosis facit venenum

Part of the IT crowd

Part of the IT crowd

muslimsoldier4life

Guest

Humanist with Christian Heritage

Part of the IT crowd

Similar threads