4 ms·

Assuming all 4 people want a promotion, there are only 2 slots. It doesn't take a genius to understand that there isn't a solution to fit all ;) The job of the

Assuming all 4 people want a promotion, there are only 2 slots. It doesn't take a genius to understand that there isn't a solution to fit all ;) The job of the manager is precisely to get them to swallow the pill. Classic excuse "We didn't get enough promotion slots this year, we will get more next year". More importantly the initial assumption is wrong, not everybody care about promotion. Some employees expect to be promoted or want to climb up the corporate ladders, some don't. If you can figure those with little aspiration and those with long teeth, that's a good way to direct promotions and maintain a team for longer. Second thing is to figure out who's likely to leave looking for a promotion elsewhere (both willing and capable to get a job at the next level). A promotion with a 5-10% raise is the best way to make them feel valued and forget about looking elsewhere (even though they could get 30-50% by switching companies). Last but not least, who's strategic for the team and yourself as the manager? Some people may have rare skills hard to replace, some people may have knowledge of the legacy systems and company internals, some people are just dead weight, some are on really important projects that you need done, others are not. Any combination thereof. Estimate whom to keep in priority.

luckylion 6y ago
> Assuming all 4 people want a promotion, there are only 2 slots. It doesn't take a genius to understand that there isn't a solution to fit all That's the point: which two are promoted? The ones that did more work or the ones that did less work? > More importantly the initial assumption is wrong, not everybody care about promotion. "Let me take your hypothetical situation and inject a bunch of fantasy to solve it". That's basically "I just cast a magic spell at the trolley so I don't need to decide. Check Mate
- user5994461 6y ago
  You should realize that the trolley was never a trolley. I don't know you but I will take a guess that you're young and on the initial ramp up in your career? HN is certainly filled with high competent high achievers. That's not the case for everybody though. Many employees are happy to chug along and get a regular paycheck, doing work but preferably not too much work. Either way, careers will slow down significantly after a decade (if you go up aggressively enough), you're senior and paid relatively well, there is no easy path up anymore. You don't mind much whether you will get this year's award and 5% raise that comes with it, that's no factor in deciding what to do of your life and where to work.

luckylion 6y ago

> Assuming all 4 people want a promotion, there are only 2 slots. It doesn't take a genius to understand that there isn't a solution to fit all That's the point: which two are promoted? The ones that did more work or the ones that did less work? > More importantly the initial assumption is wrong, not everybody care about promotion. "Let me take your hypothetical situation and inject a bunch of fantasy to solve it". That's basically "I just cast a magic spell at the trolley so I don't need to decide. Check Mate

user5994461 6y ago
You should realize that the trolley was never a trolley. I don't know you but I will take a guess that you're young and on the initial ramp up in your career? HN is certainly filled with high competent high achievers. That's not the case for everybody though. Many employees are happy to chug along and get a regular paycheck, doing work but preferably not too much work. Either way, careers will slow down significantly after a decade (if you go up aggressively enough), you're senior and paid relatively well, there is no easy path up anymore. You don't mind much whether you will get this year's award and 5% raise that comes with it, that's no factor in deciding what to do of your life and where to work.