Promotion Secrets: How The Corner Office Was Won

PROMOTION SECRETS: HOW THE CORNER OFFICE WAS WON Getting promoted is a cornerstone of career development and a reward virtually all employees and job seekers want. But promotions have long been shrouded in mystery. How do managers and executives really decide who gets the corner office-and who gets left behind? HOW ARE PROMOTION DECISIONS MADE? In March 2011, Penn Schoen Berland conducted 303 online interviews with senior business executives at U.S. companies with at least 1,000 employees. Meanwhile, 3 times out of 10, only one person is considered for a promotion in large organizations. 79% SAY THEIR COMPANY HAS A FORMAL PROCESS FOR PROMOTIONS. 21% SAY THEIR COMPANY LACKS SUCH A PROCESS. 29% CONSIDERED ONE PERSON FOR THEIR LAST PROMOTION. 27% CONSIDERED THREE PEOPLE. 18% CONSIDERED TWO PEOPLE. A similar percentage of executives prefer performance interviews over gut instincts. 11% CONSIDERED FOUR PEOPLE. 74% SAY PERFORMANCE 10% CONSIDERED FIVE PEOPLE. REVIEWS ARE MORE IMPORTANT. 26% SAY GUT INSTINCTS TAKE PRECEDENCE. 5% CONSIDERED SIX OR MORE. WHEN ASKED FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN THEIR MOST RECENT PROMOTION DECISION, EXECUTIVES RANKED THESE AS THE TOP FIVE: HAS EXCELLED IN CURRENT POSITION LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL STRONG INTERPERSONAL SKILLS JOB-RELATED SKILLS HISTORY OF STRONG PERFORMANCE REVIEWS HOW DIFFICULT ARE PROMOTION DECISIONS? According to the survey, most promotion decisions are predetermined: When asked how easy their last promotion decision was... 40% "SOMEWHAT EASY" DID NOT ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY WANTED TO 44% PROMOTE. ALREADY KNEW WHO THEY 38% "VERY EASY" 56% WANTED TO PROMOTE WHEN CONSIDERING CANDIDATES. 18% "SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT" OF THOSE WHO ALREADY KNEW THEIR PREFERRED CANDIDATE, 96% DID PROMOTE THAT PERSON. 4% "VERY DIFFICULT" WHAT ROLE DOES FAVORITISM PLAY? Fascinatingly, while many executives say favoritism occurs in large companies, few admit to playing favorites themselves-even anonymously: 92% SAY FAVORITISM OCCURS IN MOST LARGE ORGANIZATIONS. 84% SAY FAVORITISM TAKES PLACE IN THEIR ORGANIZATION. 75% HAVE WITNESSED FAVORITISM AT THEIR CURRENT ORGANIZATION. 23% SAY THEY HAVE PRACTICED FAVORITISM AT THEIR ORGANIZATION. 9% ADMIT TO HAVING USED FAVORITISM IN THEIR LAST PROMOTION DECISION. HERE'S WHAT THREE EXECUTIVES SAID WHEN ASKED TO DEFINE FAVORITISM: "PROMOTING A PERSON WITH LESS LEADERSHIP ABILITY BECAUSE OF HIS/HER SEXUAL PERSUASION, RELIGION, SIMILARITY TO THE BOSS, AND BEING POPULAR FOR THE WRONG REASONS" "A PERSON GETTING PREFERRED TREATMENT BASED ON WHO THEY "PROVIDING EMPLOYEES WITH PREFERRED WORK AND/OR PROJECTS, PROVIDING THEM WITH PREFERRED HOURS, ALLOWING FAILURES TO SLIDE WHILE OTHERS ARE HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD" KNOW" WHILE MOST COMPANIES HAVE FORMAL PROMOTION PROCESSES AND CLAIM TO VALUE OBJECTIVE JUDGMENTS OVER GUT INSTINCT, EXECUTIVES BELIEVE FAVORITISM PLAYS A KEY ROLE AS WELL. CRISP360 Source: Georgetown University