Promotions are like Santa Claus
Not too long ago, in a pretty good career place, I discovered a very popular technique for some companies; the Fake Promotion. Let me explain, a fake promotion, is a promotion with a useless title that usually includes terms like Manager, Director, Team Leader, Super Duper, The Omega Specialist, etc.; but nothing else.
We all dream of the moment when someone recognizes our hard work, and this is one of those moments. Your boss, and sometimes his/her supervisor will realize that they have a valuable employee on their hands, but he/she is incredibly underpaid, therefore they go for these “Fake Promotions” to keep us happy.
But Promotions are like Santa Claus, you can believe all you want, but if that Fat Jolly Bastard don’t bring you some toys, he won’t be getting any cookies next year, because you stop believing (we could use the analogy of “The boy who cried wolf” also, but let’s save that one for some other day). Promotions with no monetary or benefit increment are as useless as a new pair of “Business Socks”, they will make you feel good for a couple of days, but that’s it.
I’m not complaining, but I like to share with the new generation, that though these Fake Promotions are a big compliment, I advise everyone to let their superiors know that they are not naive enough to fall in love with your company because of your new title, and though you are flattered, you will continue your search to achieve your goals, monetary or otherwise.
This may be a good time to ask for a raise, you may not get it, but after all, it was their idea to promote you, not yours.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I agree with you, it’s nice to get that extra ‘pat on the back’ but in the long run if it doesn’t help push you along in the career, after a while it becomes a moot point.
A lot of places right now are on wage/hiring freezes and I think some companies may be trying to keep their strong employees happy with the ‘promotions’ that they can give out, but it only goes so far.
June 29th, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Funny. There are so many careers that now start with the title “Manager” next to them. It is so difficult to know at what level of expertise/salary/rank is someone just by looking at their title.
I guess I will promote myself today.
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Promotions may be better judged by level of responsibility and risk for the company. To me, that is a neutral way of evaluating if it is really a promotion without looking at the contractual aspect of it. Then we can look at the financial aspect and see if it is a fair situation or not.
Added responsibilities, even if at the same pay level, may serve the employee as a chance to learn skills — on someone else’s dime. It is better to make business mistakes when someone else is paying. After you learn the skills you will be in a better position to switch to a company that needs and values ($$) your new skills — or go on your own without fear of making those mistakes for which the company paid.