A mini case study
One of Jack’s employees, Samantha, is one of his best. She always goes above and beyond to meet the customer’s needs and Jack frequently gets compliments about her from her co-workers, his peers and manager, as well as from customers. However, Jack is worried. Samantha lately has been talking about the need to grow and move up into another role during their one-on-one meetings. Jack tries to avoid the discussion, after all there are limited opportunities for advancement in their department. Someone has to leave for someone else to be promoted, and that isn’t going to be happening anytime soon from what Jack can tell. Samantha is getting persistent though and sent Jack an email stating that she wants to talk about the potential for advancement during their next one-on-one; otherwise she feels like she should start job hunting in order to move ahead. Their one-on-one is scheduled for 3 days from now.
What should Jack do?
Here is what Jack might do: Jack is getting hung up on the fact that a promotion is not possible within the department. But that is not necessarily all that can be done to satisfy Samantha! Samantha wants to grow with the group and wants more opportunity. This can be accomplished easily enough in an organization where promotions are not possible. Jack should work with Samantha to outline potential projects she might lead to develop her team leadership skills. For example, she might work to improve processes within their department, lead the planning of a company event, or work with another department to support a project they need to accomplish. She might also serve as a mentor within the company.
Jack should be honest with Samantha and let her know that while there are no promotional opportunities at the moment, he would like to support Samantha’s professional development and leadership skills by providing her the opportunity to lead and support some projects. This will enable Samantha to be more visible throughout the organization and build her skills in a variety of areas.
