5 ms·

I think it's totally doable, but you need two important things 1) a good exit process 2) a good promotion process 1 brings serious culture issues/questions wi

I think it's totally doable, but you need two important things 1) a good exit process 2) a good promotion process 1 brings serious culture issues/questions with it. See horror stories from people who went to grad school in the 80s and 90s where year two cut rates were 50% or worse. I don't know how you deal with this, but it will certainly deeply affect your work environment. 2 is easy on the face, but requires huge buy in. Realistically you're looking at a 2-10x increase in this person's compensation over a very short time frame or you'll lose your training investment as they jump ship.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago
> Realistically you're looking at a 2-10x increase in this person's compensation over a very short time frame or you'll lose your training investment as they jump ship. This is actually a very helpful risk-mitigation strategy. If you hire someone with less experience at a lower salary expecting to train them and it turns out they're terrible, all you have to do is not promote them. Once they realize they won't be promoted here but on paper have some experience that can get them a higher paying job elsewhere, they'll promptly disappear on their own without you having to fire them and all that goes with that.
- Misdicorl 8y ago
  I'd definitely worry if I were relying on this strategy. 1) What about the employees who won't or can't jump ship? These are the ones that are most important to push along in terms of company health. 2) I'm not a huge fan of the implicit 'firing'- the employee may feel a sense of responsibility to the company and slowly become more and more upset as theyre passed over for promotions. 3) I'd worry about the easy slippery slope towards terrible culture this would allow. A manager thats allowed to keep on sub-par staff because they're cheap might start stringing them along to keep the cheap and mediocre work. "Sure the promotion is coming, we just need to find the money in the budget next quarter...". Its hard to have insight into these issues from a level above the manager, and the manager has huge incentives to do it. So best not to create a structure where it can happen so easily.
  - AnthonyMouse 8y ago
    All of those are solved by just being candid about their actual chances of promotion, and then actually firing them if they don't take take the hint after a certain period of time (or if their performance gets to the point of justifying being fired for cause). Assuming it's even a problem to just leave them where they are indefinitely. There are a lot of people who make bad managers but fine low level workers.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago

> Realistically you're looking at a 2-10x increase in this person's compensation over a very short time frame or you'll lose your training investment as they jump ship. This is actually a very helpful risk-mitigation strategy. If you hire someone with less experience at a lower salary expecting to train them and it turns out they're terrible, all you have to do is not promote them. Once they realize they won't be promoted here but on paper have some experience that can get them a higher paying job elsewhere, they'll promptly disappear on their own without you having to fire them and all that goes with that.

Misdicorl 8y ago
I'd definitely worry if I were relying on this strategy. 1) What about the employees who won't or can't jump ship? These are the ones that are most important to push along in terms of company health. 2) I'm not a huge fan of the implicit 'firing'- the employee may feel a sense of responsibility to the company and slowly become more and more upset as theyre passed over for promotions. 3) I'd worry about the easy slippery slope towards terrible culture this would allow. A manager thats allowed to keep on sub-par staff because they're cheap might start stringing them along to keep the cheap and mediocre work. "Sure the promotion is coming, we just need to find the money in the budget next quarter...". Its hard to have insight into these issues from a level above the manager, and the manager has huge incentives to do it. So best not to create a structure where it can happen so easily.
- AnthonyMouse 8y ago
  All of those are solved by just being candid about their actual chances of promotion, and then actually firing them if they don't take take the hint after a certain period of time (or if their performance gets to the point of justifying being fired for cause). Assuming it's even a problem to just leave them where they are indefinitely. There are a lot of people who make bad managers but fine low level workers.