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Again, this is a situation where there is a conflict of interest that could happen whether there is a romantic relationship between the two employees. Would HR

by spuz 14y ago

Again, this is a situation where there is a conflict of interest that could happen whether there is a romantic relationship between the two employees. Would HR really have the ability to stop such a promotion knowing that at the same time they must keep and relationship confidential? In the UK, I've never been asked by a company to disclose any office relationships. Usually such relationships are had in the open even between different level employees.

danso 14y ago
Answer: Yes As for your own experience, note that you've observed open relationships between different level employees. Keith's was not open....so not sure what point you're trying to make. Put it this way: if everyone knows that senior manager Alice is in a relationship with first year employee Bob...how easy do you think it is for Alice to pull the strings to make sure Bob gets promoted past his merit? Sure, it can happen, but people aren't as likely to not notice it. And so Alice just may not try to pull the strings.
mturmon 14y ago
Significant promotions have input from far up the management chain, as well as from HR (independently). There will be a board that meets to debate the qualifications of this year's crop of promotion candidates. As the promotion gets more senior, the board will be less ad hoc and more formal, with members from farther across the organization, chosen by highly placed engineers/managers. So, the board has considerable power. If the relationship is not open, the board may end up with members with conflicts of interest (COI). The promotion process at my large (5000 employees) California-based organization was changed a few years ago so that HR has input into every promotion, even junior developers. The board used to have pretty much the last word, but now HR has independent input into the decision, partly to put a check on potential COIs like the one I mentioned above. (There are other reasons too.) There was considerable grumpiness from engineering management, and there is foolishness resulting from the change. HR: "From what you sent us, it seems like the candidate has a significant role in project X, but not a highly significant role...could you provide additional material to document a highly significant role?" I assume lawsuits from unhappy employees were the reason for these changes. Large organizations are really afraid of large settlements and bad PR from employee lawsuits. All these questions would be decided by a jury, in a setting ripe for David vs. Goliath thinking.

by spuz 14y ago

danso 14y ago

Answer: Yes As for your own experience, note that you've observed open relationships between different level employees. Keith's was not open....so not sure what point you're trying to make. Put it this way: if everyone knows that senior manager Alice is in a relationship with first year employee Bob...how easy do you think it is for Alice to pull the strings to make sure Bob gets promoted past his merit? Sure, it can happen, but people aren't as likely to not notice it. And so Alice just may not try to pull the strings.

mturmon 14y ago

Significant promotions have input from far up the management chain, as well as from HR (independently). There will be a board that meets to debate the qualifications of this year's crop of promotion candidates. As the promotion gets more senior, the board will be less ad hoc and more formal, with members from farther across the organization, chosen by highly placed engineers/managers. So, the board has considerable power. If the relationship is not open, the board may end up with members with conflicts of interest (COI). The promotion process at my large (5000 employees) California-based organization was changed a few years ago so that HR has input into every promotion, even junior developers. The board used to have pretty much the last word, but now HR has independent input into the decision, partly to put a check on potential COIs like the one I mentioned above. (There are other reasons too.) There was considerable grumpiness from engineering management, and there is foolishness resulting from the change. HR: "From what you sent us, it seems like the candidate has a significant role in project X, but not a highly significant role...could you provide additional material to document a highly significant role?" I assume lawsuits from unhappy employees were the reason for these changes. Large organizations are really afraid of large settlements and bad PR from employee lawsuits. All these questions would be decided by a jury, in a setting ripe for David vs. Goliath thinking.