Promotion wasn't offered out

[LisaDav]

Hi All,

Please can you let me know if being too sensitve about this subject.

Fistly, I work in a customer services role, and its a team of 3. In Sept 2 of those people decided to leave for new jobs, ever since that time, I have covered their workloads and been incredibly stressed over it. Almost 3 months on, they have finally found the right candiate, and they start Monday.

I have also been in discussion with my manager, and they advised me last week, there will be a Senior Role within the team coming up soon which involves more responsability. I thought, Great, this is exactly what I've been working towards. I turned up to work today, and have been told someone internally has got the job.
I am very disappointed about this, and these are the reasons why.

• The job wasn't offered for anyone else to apply, it was just given.
• This person who has been given the role has openly admitted they give harder work to other people so they don't have to deal with it.
• They often miss/decline calls.
• In the past 2 years, I have helped to resolve hard cases, helped train people, and have consistantly done 8x more work than he does.

I have asked why this wasn't offered out, and the response was "It just wasn't on this occation".
If the job was offered out, and I didn't get it, fair enough! I would accept that, but the fact that this person has continually done nothing in the last 2 years and get a promotion to a higher grade than me is ridiculous!!

All of my colleagues have slammed the decision too, and think its utterly terrible and doesnt show a great example. Most of them now believe "You do no work, and you get promoted for it".

Again, if the job was offered out to everyone and were able to apply, If I didnt get the job, I would be able to accept that. But they have given the role to someone who has continued to complain "I haven't progressed" but never shows any initiative, is just given the job just to shut him up.

AIBU to be abit annoyed by this?

Do you have an HR Dept? All the kobs in my last company had to be advertised to comply with the law?

This happened in my last candidate and they called it preferred candidate. I questioned it and was told that this person had a development plan that included the role and had the skill fit necessary. In the end there was nothing I could do. I've left now but speak to HR and also speak to your manager about your long term plan. It's horrible and in my case it was more a case of the person being a senior managers daughter!

Company not candidate

It’s possibly illegal. Where I work all jobs must be posted externally for two weeks and at least 3-5 candidates must be interviewed. Can you get in touch with ACAS?

It is not illegal - they can give jobs to whoever they like. It may not be fair, but it definitely isn't against any law.

All jobs have to be advertised whetecI work too - internally if they reckon there's a strong enough field, externally if there isn't or no one gets appointed, and internal candidates are able to apply for jobs advertised externally.

In my entire industry a promotion is something you are given if you are capable and meet the criteria. There may or may not be a vacant role. I find the idea of applying for promotions very strange.

I've also never come across any rules about what needs to be advertised and for how long and I've worked at a senior level and recruited and promoted many people.

All you can do OP is ask what's required of you so that you can progress at the next opportunity and see what the company are willing to do to help you achieve your goal. Approach it with professionalism and not negativity as it won't get you what you want.

It's not illegal whatsoever. Annoying, but nothing illegal or unlawful about it as long as it's not due to discrimination.

This happened in my last candidate and they called it preferred candidate. I questioned it and was told that this person had a development plan that included the role and had the skill fit necessary. In the end there was nothing I could do

Do you have one to ones OP?

If so, do you discuss your goals and long term plan?

If so, next time you have your one to one make sure it’s recorded that you would like to progress and ask exactly what you should be doing to ensure that next time a more senior post comes up you’ll be given it (seeing as they obviously don’t actually interview or offer it out). If they can’t tell you what to work on in the meantime or support you to progress I’d definitely look for another job as you’re unlikely to get any further in this company.

I will add, there’s every chance you don’t really know the ins and outs and reasons why this person was given a promotion, there could be several confidential reasons. Maybe they’ve applied for a more flexible working pattern and this role is the only one that meets that? Maybe they have some kind of disability that makes their current role difficult and the promotion role has less of some duty that’s hard to fulfil for them health-wise (and bear in mind people often have invisible health issues so there’s no way for you to categorically state that they don’t).

Or it could be nefarious, nepotism, etc. You really don’t know, and the fact that they’ve just said ‘this is just the way it is’ is shit. Do they always do this with promotions? Doesn’t sound like a good place to work. At my job when a promotion comes up it’s offered to everyone equally to apply for and the process is very transparent which is how it should be to avoid situations like this which are discriminatory and cause a lot of bad feeling and tension amongst staff.

I’d be pissed off too, but if you are planning to stay definitely make an appointment to speak with your manager or HR and seek clarity around their hiring practices and get it documented on your one to one that you want to progress and have sought advice on how to do it.

Can those suggesting it is or may be illegal, please reference the law that is being broken?

Actually, reading what you’ve said again, if he’s so shit at this role maybe they think he’d be better suited to a new one with less if the things he’s crap at and a different set of duties? Some managers are very conflict avoidant and scared to get rid of people who aren’t performing so do daft things like promote them instead to see if they’ll perform better in a different role. He’s obviously doing poorly at the job he originally had, maybe he’s causing more headaches and they don’t wanna lose you from this position as you’re much better at it. By excelling at your position you may have shot yourself in the foot by making yourself indispensable. A promotion isn’t a reward for good behaviour and effort, it’s a business decision based on what mix of people in which roles will make the business the most money.

It's not illegal but it's poor practice

"At my job when a promotion comes up it’s offered to everyone equally to apply for and the process is very transparent which is how it should be to avoid situations like this which are discriminatory and cause a lot of bad feeling and tension amongst staff. "

It doesn't always make sense to offer all promotions out to everyone. If someone has clearly been 'acting up' into the role and it's felt they are suitable then it makes far more sense to promote them rather than open it up, which just causes even more bad feeling and tension as people apply thinking they have a fair shot when the reality is management already know who's going to get it. And it just stops people from going over and above if they get no reward for it.

And situations like this are not discriminatory (although reasons behind it might be, but difficult to prove).

You are doing the work of 3 people? Theres no way they'd want to promote you out of that job because then they'd have to get in at least 2 people to replace you. Unfortunately it sounds like you've become way too cost-saving to them in the position youre in right now to want to move you anywhere else.

I had this in my company several years ago. A position came up, I went for it, I missed out to a colleague. No surprise he was more Qualified than me. A few months later the same position but in a different area of the Uk came up, I didn’t apply as it meant I would be in a different country 3-4 days per week. I was asked to apply but declined. Several colleagues applied but did get to interview. They did not appoint anyone. They ran another round of interviews, again I was asked to apply, I declined, they didn’t recruit.
I was brought in and again asked to apply, with an offer of 28k more salary. I spoke to dp and decided to give the interview ago.
I didn’t hear anything for weeks so assumed I’d been unsuccessful. Then had a call one evening after a board meeting and was told my colleague in the area closest to my home, had agreed to take the position I’d applied for in the other country and I would be taking on his. Brilliant!

Until I found out my other colleagues had been applying but not got anywhere. I was between 15-28 years younger than them.
I had some problems off them as I was now managing them, so my manager met with them all, and explained that my skill set was what they were looking for. I could do 100% of the job where they were looking at 50-60% of the job.

So what I’m saying is yes I was that person to get it, but I had skills and experience that they were not aware I had. Which made me more profitable to the company.
I’m not saying 100% that this guy in your company is in that position, but possibly he may be.
Speak to your line manger and HR, ask them what skills and experience you need to climb the ladder. Ask to attend training course, and throw yourself at it. Because that’s what I was doing behind the scenes- asking if there was any work I could do for anyone to take off their hands, signing myself up and attending every course or training day available, getting to know the organisation inside out. Believe me, it’s boring at times, but it really pays off!

ADastardlyThing it’s better practice to open up applications even if someone has been acting up, you might be passing by an excellent candidate for someone mediocre; just because you’re acting into the role doesn’t mean you’re the best person for it!

It happened at my workplace, a woman was acting manager for six months or so, they opened it up and advertised the post, ended up with an external candidate who was far better suited in terms of their experience, qualifications and personality. It was a difficult pill to swallow for the acting manager but she took it professionally and eventually left for a job she was more suited for. The new manager was/is the best the team has ever had and has done things with the organisation the original lady couldn’t have dreamed of.

Until I found out my other colleagues had been applying but not got anywhere. I was between 15-28 years younger than them.

That can be a tricky dynamic indeed. We had a couple of promotion positions available and five of us applied, those of us who’d been there the least amount of time were appointed as we had more relevant and advanced qualifications, were more enthusiastic and really prepared for the interviews/role whereas the older staff who’d been there longer had assumed they’d get it and winged it a bit. They were devastated and claimed it was due to all kinds of nonsense reasons like the manager fancying us 😒 rather than admitting we were better candidates and performed better at the interview. I’ve been on the flip side too where someone who seemed less experienced than me got a role I thought I’d be perfect for. It’s swings and roundabouts, but it’s a real test of someone’s professionalism being able to congratulate the successful candidate and work alongside them respectfully with no hard feelings. Those who can’t stomach it usually leave soon after.

There is no legal requirement to advertise a job like this one, unfortunately. I would agree that it is best practice to advertise to get the widest possible pool of candidates to choose from.

Sorry, OP. That must have really stung, I do understand how you are feeling.

“* The job wasn't offered for anyone else to apply, it was just given.”

That’s what happens with promotions. If I get given a promotion I don’t consider if it was offered round to all and sundry first.

“* This person who has been given the role has openly admitted they give harder work to other people so they don't have to deal with it.

• They often miss/decline calls.”

This is exactly what more senior staff can and should do. Delegation.

Your final point - that you work harder and have trained others - is the only one that’s relevant. Sounds like you are an asset to the company. Maybe it’s an attitude thing.

I said if it's felt they are suitable, if there are question marks of course it would be wise to open it up.

There is no 'best practice' or better practice approach (if you're speaking in HR 'best practice' terms) for internal promotions afaik, as it all depends on many factors.

deadgood missing or declining calls in a customer service role is not delegation it is misconduct
Also passing on stuff you can't be arsed to do and only doing the easy stuff is not delegation it is laziness. Delegation involves assigning work based on the relevant skillset of the team to achieve a faster and more efficient goal. That is not what op os describing.

A sort of similar thing happened to me, and it was for my role at the time!

I was on a FTC, coming to an end. The person I was covering for decided not to return to the job, and I was basically told it was mine.

At the same time, someone in a different team (in a lower grade if it’s relevant) had been on long term sick. He was also disabled. When he returned, it suddenly turned out that he had ‘expressed interest in the role’ and as a longer standing employee had priority, so my outcome would depend on his.

My manager told me later (off the record obviously!) that the actual reason was his manager basically didn’t want him in the team any longer, because he just couldn’t do his job, kept making mistakes which had big repercussions elsewhere. Instead of going through any disciplinary palava, it was ‘recommended’ he go for my role at the end of the contract. I had to give him a sort of induction to help him decide.

When he eventually decided he wasn’t interested they offered it to me again on my last day, but I declined.

I wonder if it’s something similar, in that he’s a longer employee or has a protected characteristic not known to everyone else, and isn’t suited to his current role.

In my most recent job, semi senior roles have been created to stop a valuable employee/managers mate from leaving. Eventually, we had 2 teams (about 10 staff each) with 4 team managers, 2 team leaders and 2 ops managers.

IME sometimes companies want to keep the person that does 3 people’s jobs in the same place, as that type of person is hard to find.

What is that more senior role? Is it simply more of the same but at a higher grade or is it a management position?

@mimibunz

It’s possibly illegal.

Except it's not.