How HR can help stop a promotion from leading to a resignation

You know the line in John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane” that goes, “Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone”? Well, some HR pros are singing along—only for them, the thrill of promoting is gone.

As traditional employee loyalty appears to diminish, some HR pros might think promotions will help retain workers. But they can actually lead to “a nearly two-thirds increase in the risk a person would leave,” according to research from payroll services provider ADP. In fact, 29% of employees quit within a month of their first promotion.

One business professor shares how HR pros can help stop a promotion from leading to an employee’s resignation.

Why might employees quit? Two factors may contribute to this trend, said Victoria Grady, associate professor of organizational behavior at George Mason University’s business school. Employee promotions are more visible than ever before, she said, thanks to job updates on LinkedIn. Recruiters may notice these and use them to inform who they pursue.

“The perception when someone is promoted [is], ‘Wow, they must be a really good employee, they must be great,’” Grady told HR Brew.

Managers may also have difficulty identifying employees who truly want to be promoted—and not just for a pay bump, she said. “Sometimes [managers] promot[e] people just for the sake of promoting, so it’s a box check.”

Understand your employees. When employees, who aren’t interested in taking on a new role or responsibility are promoted, Grady said, HR misses an engagement and development opportunity.“[Now they’re] managing a whole bunch of people.”

“Get to know your people, get to know your employees, understand who they are, and understand what they want,” she said. “If they don’t want to be promoted, then don’t waste your time, because none of us want to spend time trying to help an employee do something that they didn’t even want in the first place.”

She added that HR pros should “give employees the opportunity to show you whether or not they want to be or have interest in taking on a leadership role.”

Support promoted employees. Employees, especially those at larger companies, are often thrust into leadership without the support they need to become good leaders, Grady said. This may make them more likely to quit.

When employees are promoted, Grady suggested that HR leaders help them “feel valued in their role [and] provide them with the support that they need to to do their tasks.”

“It’s difficult [figuring] out what it means to be a manager, so that is a missed opportunity for developing our employees to not only give them support, [but also] educational opportunities and training opportunities to really understand their changing role,” she said.