Unit 4
Promotion and Transfer
Promotion is the appointment of existing members of staff to another post or office at a higher grade than the one previously held. This may be the result of either a successful application for an advertised vacancy, or, where appropriate, personal promotion.
Academic staff
An annual exercise is conducted to consider applications for promotion to the office of Professor, Reader, or Senior Lecturer. The exercise requires submission of specified documentation to support applications, which is then considered by specially convened promotions committees. Each office has designated criteria against which applications are evaluated. The exercise is rigorous and decisions are driven by academic judgment.
Academic related staff
Progression to a higher grade, other than by means of a successful application for an advertised vacancy, occurs only where the duties of the underlying role have changed enough to merit regrading. The updated role description (form PD33) is assessed by Human Resources using the HERA role analysis scheme to determine the new grade. Details of the scheme are published on the Human Resources Division website.
Contract research staff
Promotion within the scope of an existing research project requires a recommendation, supported by the research sponsor and head of institution, that the responsibilities undertaken by the member of staff matches the generic role profile for the higher grade. Promotion to Senior Research Associate requires approval by the relevant Faculty Board.
In cases where promotion is sought to higher grades, evidence is needed of achievement equivalent to the research/scholarship criteria used to consider applications for promotion to the equivalent grades of Reader (Principal Research Associate) or Professor (Director of Research).
A sound promotion policy means a policy, which is fair, impartial and enjoys consistency. It should state management’s intention regarding filling of vacancies from within the organization (i.e., by promotions) or recruiting from outside or from both. In most cases, the superior/higher vacancies in an organization are filled through external recruitment, while the lower-level vacancies are filled by promotions.
A promotion policy should provide a well-defined and clear-cut promotion chart. Management should state clearly the base of promotion, i.e., whether seniority is considered or merit, or both. Seniority means the length of service and is counted from the date of employee’s appointment in the organization.
Merit refers to a person’s qualifications and his competence. There has always been a great controversy with regard to the question whether promotions should be based on seniority or merit, or both. Each base has its own advantages/ merits and disadvantages/demerits.
The various requirements are:
(a) Showing ratios of internal promotion to direct recruitment
(b) Identifying the network of the related jobs and the promotional channels for each job.
(c) Developing the procedural norms for determining employees’ seniority and deciding upon whether it should be considered plant wise or occupation wise.
(d) Developing relationship between disciplinary action and promotions.
The usual policy is to take merit into consideration. Sometimes length of service, education, training courses completed, previous work history, etc., are factors which are given weight while deciding on a promotion. Although promotions are made on the basis of ability, hard work, co-operation, merit, honesty, many informal influences are powerful determinants of a promotional policy.
For higher posts, persons are picked by the top executives:
(i) Who think and feel just as he does;
(ii) Who value loyalty to him and to the organisation; and
(iii) Who have social, political, economic and religious interests similar to his own.
Top executives tend to choose those who are carbon copies of themselves.
Seniority versus Merit- “Seniority” refers to length of service in the company or in its various plants, or in its departments, or in a particular position. Under straight plant-wise seniority in all jobs, promotions go to the oldest employees, provided that he is fit for the job. Occupational seniority may be within a department, within a division or in the entire plant.
Seniority offers certain rights and benefits.
These are:
(a) Some rights are based on competitive seniority among employees. Rights to promotion, transfer, lay-off and recall are such examples.
(b) Other benefits have nothing to do with one man relative to another, e.g., a man may be entitled to have 15 days’ casual leave in a year, a pension after 30 years and a certain amount of sick leave after 6 months’ service.
Areas of Promotion Policy:
1. Promotion Policy Statement should cover the following-
i. Internal sources of personnel promotion or external source through recruitment
Ii. Promotion policy with regard to direct recruits
Iii. Increase in pay and benefits on promotion
Iv. Promotion of consistently good performers in the absence of vacancies
2. Basis for giving promotions–
i. Performance appraisal system/Confidential reports
Ii. Promotion based on length of service, performance or both
3. Prepare formal and systematic promotion channels for the benefit of employees. Example- Promotion charts/Opportunity charts/Dead end jobs
4. Provide training for career advancement,
Example- On-the-job training, job rotation, under study, special assignments etc.
5. Communicate the Policy to the employees through union agreement, circulars, manuals, intranet etc.
6. Use of Personnel Records for taking decisions on promotion.
Elements of Promotion Policy:
Promotion from within is a very good policy. It is useful for both employees and organisation. Every organisation, therefore, needs a formal and systematic programme of promotion. The promotion programme can be said to be a promotional policy.
A sound promotion policy should be invariably based on merit, but seniority should also be taken into consideration. In addition to the relative emphasis on merit and seniority, there are certain other elements which must be duly incorporated in a sound promotion policy.
Considering the need for promotion, every organization should formulate its promotion policy. Promotion policy is a statement or an understanding which provides guidelines for making promotion decisions. The promotion policy should be a comprehensive one which should provide guidelines on all important issues related to promotion.
From this point of view, a promotion policy must deal with the following elements:
1. Promotion Policy Statement:
Promotion policy statement should specify whether a particular position will be filled by internal promotion, or it will be filled by open competition involving both internal and external candidates. If it is to be filled-up by open competition, whether some kind of preferential treatment will be given to internal candidates and in what forms.
2. Promotion Routes:
The organization must define the channels for promotion of different categories of employees — unskilled workers, apprentices, technical personnel, and managerial personnel. For each category of employees, it must define the ladder up to which they can ride.
For example, promotional ladders for different categories of employees may be as follows- for unskilled and semi-skilled workers, entry is made into ‘labour pool’ and, thereafter, upgrading takes place on the basis of seniority or a combination of both seniority and ability.
The skilled craftsmen are recruited as helpers and apprentices and, thereafter, upward mobility occurs up to the positions of foremen, inspectors, or production coordinators. Entry in clerical jobs is through appointment as clerks, typists, or stenographers, and subsequently, promotions are made to higher positions such as that of secretaries or administrative assistants.
In professional jobs, entry is made as assistant engineers and promoted as engineers, senior engineers, project managers or even managers. Jobs in managerial positions are filled-up by individuals who enter as management trainees or assistant supervisors, finally they are promoted to middle level management positions and ultimately to top management positions.
3. Promotion Procedure:
Promotion policy should spell out the procedure which will be followed in promotion and the personnel who will be involved in promotion decision. Generally, the promotion process is initiated by HR department and is completed in association with line managers. For example, Udai Pareek has observed that “top management critically review the promotion system developed by HR department and ensure objective promotions of senior managers.
It is the line management function to carry out periodical potential appraisal of the executives, participate in developing critical attributes (CA) of various roles, recommend promotions according to the policy, and provide feedback to HR department on the working of the system. HR department helps line management in promoting competent workers.”
4. Basis of Promotion:
Promotion policy should spell out the basis on which the promotion will be made- whether it will be based on merit or seniority, or a combination of both. If there is combination of both, the policy should indicate their relative weight in the promotion of various grades of employees. Further, guidelines should be provided how the merit and seniority should be determined. The basis for promotion is critical issue in any promotion decisions.
When promotion policy is formulated, it should be communicated to personnel concerned because if the policy is not communicated, there may be suspicions and misgivings about promotion policy which is detrimental to the organization.
Guidelines Promotion Policy:
A sound promotion policy provides decision-making criteria so that consistency of action can be maintained across the organization, and thus it obviates the need for frequent repetition of an extended decision-making process.
It provides basic guidelines as to certain questions like:
(i) Whether vacancies are primarily to be filled up from within an organization or by recruitment from outside?
(ii) Is any preferential treatment to be given to direct recruits?
(iii) Would it be sound to deny promotion to otherwise qualified personnel?
(iv) Whether an increase in pay is to be given? If so, when and how much?
(v) What should be the criteria of promotion – seniority or merit and ability? etc.
The promotion policy laying down the criteria, standards, measures, weightages, and the process and procedures for evaluation and communication must be specified and explained clearly. It should be in writing and must be understood by all so that there is no chance of suspicion on the part of any employee.
It is also helpful to communicate the rationale of promotion decisions to those who were superseded even though their seniority was considered. So, a promotion policy may lay down that if a senior person is not selected for promotion, he will be told the reason for his suppression.
Benefits of Promotion Policy:
The formation of a formal and sound promotion policy in any organisation offers the following advantages:
(a) It increases job satisfaction and improves their morale.
(b) It develops employee’s loyalty by assuring his promotion within the organisation.
(c) It attracts good and efficient employees from outside also.
(d) A sound and well-organized promotion policy, if followed in a no partial manner removes the chances of subjectivity in promotional decision.
(e) It Increases the effectiveness of the organisation too.
(f) The policy of promotion from within is economical for organisation also.
(g) The efficiency of the employee and production of the organisation also increases.
Drawbacks of Promotion Policy:
The policy of filling up higher posts from among the internal candidates may be associated with the following drawbacks:
(i) Better qualified outsiders may not be reached by the management. Moreover, the person promoted to a senior job may not possess the required qualities.
(ii) The mobility of manpower is restricted. Once a man joins an organisation, he will stick to that organisation. Employee turnover to a certain extent is good for the health of the organisation.
(iii) In promotion, there may be clash between factors like seniority and ability. The decisions may lead to favouritism.
(iv) Further growth of the business is hindered by the limited talent of the insiders. The entry of fresh talent into the organisation will be restricted.
(a) To recognize and reward the efficiency of an employee.
(b) To attract and retain the services of qualified and competent people.
(c) To increase the effectiveness of the employee and of the organisation.
(d) To motivate employees to higher productivity.
(e) To fill up higher vacancies from within the organisation.
(f) To impress upon those concerned that opportunities are available to them also in the organisation if they perform well.
(g) To build, loyalty, morale and sense of belongings in the employees.
First requirement of a sound promotion scheme is that it must provide for a uniform distribution of promotional opportunities throughout the organisation. This means that the ratio of internal promotions to external recruitment must be the same at various levels in all departments. If this ratio differs greatly from one department to another morale of employees may be seriously impaired in the department notorious for its low ratio of promotions.
Second requirement of a sound promotion scheme is that it must tell employees in advance what avenues for advancement exist. Companies generally make use of various types of charts for this purpose. These charts variously known as ‘promotion charts’, opportunity charts’, or ‘fortune sheets’ do not promise or guarantee the promotion of any individual.
They merely point out how various positions in the organisation are related to each other. There are two broad categories of these charts: three position charts and multiple chain promotion charts.
In three —position charts each position is related to other positions—one from which employees are promoted and another to which promotions are made. In multiple chain promotion charts each position is linked to several others from which promotions can be made and to several others to which incumbents may be promoted.
Third requirement of a sound promotion scheme is that there should be some definite system for the selection of employees who are to be promoted from within the promotion zone. This, of course, calls for the choice of promotion criteria.
In the absence of a contract to the contrary the employer has the right to establish any criteria for evaluating promo ability if they are reasonable, pertinent to the job and are not applied in a discriminatory manner. The two criteria often used for making promotion decisions are merit and seniority.
Fourth requirement of a sound promotion scheme is that all promotions should be finally sanctioned by the concerned line heads. The personnel department may only propose the names of potential candidates and send their history records to the department making the requisition to fill vacancies.
In this way, the staff position of the personnel department does not intrude upon the authority of the department served. In addition, subordinates are impressed favourably by their line superior’s concern for their progress.
Finally, a sound promotion policy must provide for a suitable system of follow-up, counselling and review. Say, month or two after the change the personnel department should hold a brief interview with the promoted employee and his new superior to determine whether all is going on well.
All promotions should be made for a trial period so that if the promoted employee is not found capable of handling the job he can be reverted to his former post and his former pay scale. Since the number of potential candidates is very often more than the number of promotional openings, some candidates are bound to lose in the competitive struggle.
Rowland refers to them as “also rans”. Generally, also rans accept the outcome philosophically. For the few who do not, counselling services should be provided by the management. Review of a promotional decision by higher management may also sometimes become essential to satisfy employees to accuse management of being unfair and unjust.
Promotion is the reassignment of a higher-level job to an internal employee with delegation of responsibilities and authority required to perform that higher job and normally with higher pay. This career transition brings career opportunities as well as career challenges. Here are some of the problems associated with promotion:
1.The promotion challenge: Moving to a higher level in the hierarchy and understanding what success looks like at the new level, including issues of focus, delegation, credibility and leadership.
2.The leading-former-peers challenge: Managing a team of former peers with the inevitable dilemma of establishing authority and altering existing relationships.
3.The diplomacy challenge: Moving from a position of authority to one in which influencing others and building alliances is critical.
4.The on-boarding challenge: Joining a new organization and needing to quickly understand and adapt to a new culture, new people and a new political arena.
5.The international move challenge: Leading in an unfamiliar culture while at the same time moving one’s family and creating a new support system
Transfer is a process of placing employees in positions where they are likely to be more effective or where they are to get more job satisfaction.
In transfers, there is no change in the responsibility, designation, status or salary. It is a process of employee’s adjustment with the work, time and place. Transfer may also be made as a disciplinary action.
According to Edwin Flippo, a transfer, “is a change in job where the new job is substantially equal to the old in terms of pay, status and responsibilities”.
Transfer is a movement of the employee from one job to another job or some other place without change in status, responsibilities and salary.
Transfer means a change in job assignment. It refers to a horizontal or lateral movement of an employee from one job to another in the same organization without much change in his status or pay package.
Transfer causes a shift of individual from one job to another without there being any marked change in his responsibilities, skills and other benefits.
Transfers must be ordered based on certain company-specific principles or dogma. Transferring an employee without adhering to policies or norms may lead to deteriorated industrial relations. The management might think of issuing transfer orders, treating each case on its own merit.
Transfer may be made to achieve the following objectives:
1.To meet or fulfil organizational needs – To fulfil organisational needs arising out of change in technology, volume of production, production schedule, quality of product etc., an employee may have to be transferred.
2. To satisfy employee needs – Sometimes employees themselves demand transfer due to their personal problems like ill health, family problem native attractiveness or non-co-operation from boss or fellow workers. To satisfy their needs employees may have to be transferred.
3. To adjust the workforce – Employees for excess or surplus in one department may have to be transferred to other department or section where there is shortage of workforce.
4. To reduce monotony and to make the employees versatile – If the employees have stayed on a job continuously for a longer duration, to reduce their monotony and to widen their knowledge and skill, employees are transferred.
5. For effective use of employees – If the management feels that the service of the able employee is to be used in different branches of the same organisation, then such employees will have to be transferred.
6. To punish Employees – If employees are found indulged in undesirable activities like fraud, bribery, duping etc., such employees are transferred to remote places as a disciplinary action.
7. To give the relief to the employees – Employees who are overburdened and doing complicated or risky work for long period are relieved from such work by transferring such employees to a place of their choice.
8. To improve employees background by placing them in different jobs of various departments and units.
Aswathappa (2006) proposed the following five types of transfers:
1. Production Transfer:
Employees are posted in different departments, based on their interests and qualifications. This also depends on the work load that a department possesses. However, this load keeps fluctuating, and the demand for manpower keeps changing with time.
For departments with surplus manpower, lay-off is a solution. However, a better solution is the interdepartmental transfer to balance the manpower allocation. In simpler terms, production transfer refers to the transfers ordered to avoid such unavoidable lay-offs.
2. Replacement Transfer:
When an employee leaves a department for a particular reason, the department needs a replacement. In such scenarios, especially in demanding situations, a senior employee might have to function in place of the junior employee, till the time a replacement is found. Senior employees are required to work in place of junior employees even in situations of declining production. Thus, replacement transfer also helps in reducing the organizational need for lay-off; particularly for long-service employee.
3. Versatility Transfer:
Some organizations believe that the workforce needs to have multiple skills capable to perform multiple tasks. People can achieve multiple skills only by working in different departments. In learning organizations such as ordnance factories, banks, and many private companies, people get the scope of working in different departments and can learn different systems, procedures, and rules and regulations.
They gain the necessary skills to attend to the activities in the departments, and ultimately become versatile. People who pick up their tasks quickly emerge to become the company’s assets. During rush periods, they are able to contribute greatly to achieve business goals. Versatile transfer may comprise production transfer or replacement transfer.
4. Shift Transfer:
In order to enhance capacity utilization, industrial organizations, operate in multiple shifts—generally morning, evening, and night shifts. Some organizations allot employees to staggered shifts as well. Employees are engaged in all the shifts on a rotational basis. Requests of employees for transfers on a particularly shift are also entertained, considering the importance of ground of requests. However, conformance to law and administrative procedures are essential requirements to avoid employee unrest.
5. Remedial Transfer:
After induction, employees are placed in a department and jobs are assigned to him/ her, and their performance and behavioural dispositions are recorded. Some employees may emerge as good performers, while many others may emerge as underperformers. In course of time, an employee’s inclination to work is also observed. The objective of remedial transfer is therapeutic in nature, that is, to rectify the wrong placement.
In other words, remedial transfer is an act of transferring an employee to a more suitable job after they have failed to perform well in their present position. Poor performance could be attributed to reasons such as an employee being uncomfortable in his job as he may not possess good relations with his senior or suffer from ill health.
A sound personnel policy requires that there is a clear policy regarding transfers. If there is arbitrariness in the policy, the superiors can misuse the “transfer” of subordinates for their personal reasons. Similarly, subordinates can also misuse the policy by asking for transfers on trivial issues.
They may want transfers to jobs which are fairly easy e.g., a person working in a bank may ask for transfer to a remote place where his workload will be very less as compared to the job in a big metropolitan city. Organizations find it very difficult to find solutions to such problems. Hence, every organization should formulate a systematic transfer policy containing rules, regulations and circumstances where it will be allowed.
For successful transfer policies, it is a must to have a proper job description and job analysis. Care should be taken to ensure that frequent or large-scale transfers are avoided by laying down adequate selection and placement procedures for the purpose. Entire organisations should have a just and impartial transfer policy.
The policy should be known to each employee. The responsibility for effecting transfers is usually entrusted to an executive with a power to prescribe the conditions under which requests for transfers are to be approved.
Every organisation must frame a systematic and sound transfer policy. It must be clear and unambiguous.
Organizations should have a just and fair transfer policy which should be communicated to each employee. Otherwise, superiors may transfer their subordinates arbitrarily if they happen to dislike them. This may cause frustration among employees.
Similarly, subordinates may also request for transfer even for petty reasons. Most of the employees may ask for transfer to risk-less and easy jobs and places. The responsibility for effecting transfers is usually entrusted to an executive with power to prescribe the conditions under which requests for transfer are to be approved.
For a transfer policy to succeed, it is necessary to have a proper job description and job analysis.
According to Prof. Subba Rao, a systematic transfer policy should contain the following features:
(i) Specification of circumstances under which an employee will be transferred in the case of company-initiated transfer.
(ii) Specification of a superior who is authorized and responsible to initiate a transfer.
(iii) Jobs from and to which transfers will be made based on the job specification, description and classification etc.
(iv) The region or unit of the organization within which transfers will be administered.
(v) Reasons to be considered for personal transfers, their order of priority etc.
(vi) Reasons for mutual transfer of employees.
(vii) Norms to decide priority when two or more employees request for transfer like priority of reason, seniority.
(viii) Specification of basis for transfer like job analysis, merit and length of service.
(ix) Specification of pay, allowances, benefits etc. that are to be allowed to the employee in the new job.
(x) Other facilities to be extended to the transferee like special leave during the period of transfer, special allowance for packaging luggage, transportation etc.
Transfer programs-
- Go to your Worker Profile in Workday and ensure that all your Education, Certifications, Job History, Professional Affiliations, Languages and Skills are updated. Once updated, this information will automatically populate into your internal applications without further data entry required from you.
- On your Workday Home page, click on the Careers Application.
- Click the Apply button. Observe that the information from your Worker Profile populated in to the application fields. While it is very helpful to upload a resume and cover letter, these documents are not required. The updates made to your job history, education, and skills will serve as the internal application for managers to review.
- A performance appraisal or two letters of reference should be uploaded at the time you are submitting your application. However, if you do not have these documents readily available, you may bypass this step. You may be asked to provide a performance evaluation or letters of reference if you progress to interview or reference check stages.
- Answer any additional questions at the bottom of the application. Click Submit.
- Continue to monitor job opportunities on the employment website for suitable positions of interest.
Intradepartmental Transfer Process
Based on the needs of the area as determined by the manager, the department has the authority to transfer employees to positions within the department to maintain efficient and productive workflow and results. We strongly encourage managers to make an internal announcement regarding the opportunity, but it is not necessary to post it as an opening.
Interdepartmental Transfer Process
Employee Responsibilities: Prior to initiating a transfer, it is recommended that the interested employee advise his/her immediate supervisor that he/she is interested in other opportunities outside of the department. The employee must identify a specific job requisition number or area of interest to facilitate the transfer process. In all cases, the employee must complete an on-line application and submit a copy of the last performance evaluation or letters of reference to the Office of Human Resources. Employees may also be required to take clerical tests, such as grammar or typing, as a part of the application process.
Hiring Manager Responsibilities: If a hiring department has knowledge of an employee outside the department who is interested in its opening, at a minimum the department is expected to notify Human Resources and should also refer the employee to the Office of Human Resources so that eligibility for transfer may be determined. Each hiring manager is responsible for conducting the final interview(s), verifying past employment/references and, ultimately, extending the formal offer of employment.
Human Resources Responsibilities: Interview or refer an employee whose knowledge base, skill set, and work history match the position referenced by the employee. It should be noted that only employees deemed qualified and suitable are forwarded to the hiring manager for review. While information related to the position status is limited, the Office of Human Resources will, upon request, attempt to provide feedback when the information is available and deemed reasonable and practical to communicate. The Office of Human Resources will re-verify the eligibility on a periodic basis, typically 90 days after the initial transfer approval.
Reference Checks
To facilitate the reference check process and safeguard the rights of employees seeking interdepartmental transfers, a hiring supervisor who is considering making an offer of employment to an employee from another department should ask the current supervisor to verify the performance and attendance record of the employee.
There may be extenuating circumstances in which an employee requests that his/her current supervisor not be contacted before an offer or acceptance. In all cases, information provided to the hiring manager should reflect only the documented strengths or accomplishments, developmental areas, and corrective action or disciplinary notices as recorded in the employee’s personnel file.
Compensation
Hiring managers are expected to discuss and confirm the employee’s current salary grade and rate of pay with both the employee and the Office of Human Resources prior to extending an offer. Hiring managers may grant a salary increase, within university guidelines, for a promotion (a move to a job in a higher salary grade). In general, no salary increase is provided for a lateral transfer (a move to a job in the same grade) because there is no increase in the level of responsibility. When an employee transfers to a job in a lower salary grade, the manager should consult with the Office of Human Resources. Typically, the employee’s salary will be reduced because the level of responsibility has decreased.
Notice of Transfer
If chosen for an open position, the employee should notify the current supervisor of the transfer. A date of transfer will be agreed upon by the managers of the affected areas and the employee. Generally, employees in non-exempt jobs should anticipate at least two weeks formal notice and employees in exempt jobs should anticipate at least four weeks. In all instances, adequate notice of transfer must be given to avoid the risk of disrupting the workflow in the employee’s current area.
References:
- Personnel and Human Resource Management – A M Sharma (Himalaya Publishing House)
- Personnel Management and Industrial Relations- R S Davar (Vikas Publishing House)
- Human Resource Development and Management- Biswanath Ghosh (Vikas Publishing House)
- Personnel Management – C.B. Mamaria, S V Gankar (Himalaya Publishing House)
- Human Resource Management – AShwathappa
