SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 160,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: Which system of promotion seems the fairest and most just to you as a leader?
- Seniority-based meritocracy –people should pay their dues for a time, then be promoted based on ability: 51%
- Meritocracy — people should advance as quickly as their abilities allow: 48%
- Seniority — people should pay their dues and demonstrate loyalty if they want to advance: 1%
Clearly, all of you place a heavy emphasis on merit-based promotions, but there’s still that “paying your dues” requirement in there. I’ll bet when you’re the one getting promoted, you want it to be all about meritocracy, but when others seek promotion, that’s when the “you have to pay your dues” component kicks in. Yes, seniority is important, but it is merely a proxy for determining whether someone is committed to the organization and whether they understands the nature of your business. Once people have achieved those two requirements, meritocracy should truly kick in as the deciding factor on a promotion.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of ThoughtLeaders and author of “One Piece of Paper.”