Passed Over for Promotion. Will it really happen in the next 6 months?
What really happens when you were up for promotion but it didn't land? Was it you or them? There's always a re-org. Then what?
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Client: I’m a high performer on my team. I’m working on an important part of the business and have supporters across the organization and in the C-suite. But I was passed over for promotion this cycle. My manager told me: “Sorry, you were close. [Insert excuse here.] I’m confident we’ll get you promoted in 6 months.” Do I believe him? What do I need to do differently?
Over the years, I’ve heard many reasons people were put up for promotion and then passed over. Some popular ones include:
I just got a new manager. My previous manager left the company or went to another team.
I was put on a new team due to a re-org recently. My peers haven’t had a chance to get to know me well yet.
The company has a promotion and hiring freeze due to budget.
They wanted to see you be in your role longer.
We needed to see just a little bit more impact.
But, what really happened? And more importantly, what should you be doing differently now? Should you believe them that the promotion will happen next cycle?
Is there a business need?
Unlike Individual Contributor (IC) level promotions, management and leadership promotions mostly only occur if there is a business need. As in, there needs to be a scope for you to take on at your new level and an appropriately sized team for you to manage. They must believe that you’ll have a higher impact in exchange for the additional responsibilities and compensation you will receive.
This is not like school, where generally everyone graduates from one grade to the next. In a corporation, there is no mandate to promote, especially above the Director level. And so, you have to position yourself where there is a business need for your promotion.
Here are a few scenarios where there is a clear business need:
A position has just been vacated (e.g. retirement, reorg, leaders leaving)
The company is growing, and your area and team are growing alongside.
The company plans to add headcount to a strategic area of investment (e.g. it’s not making money but it’s expected to become the next growth engine)
So while it might “look like” every cycle or year a few folks are promoted regardless, this isn’t true. Most companies will do more promotions in years when they are growing or expecting to grow, and less, if not no promotions in a downturn.
In the past two years, after a dramatic growth period during COVID-19, the technology industry has gone through a downturn with layoffs and then a drastic shift in investment toward GenAI. This has led to changing business needs (and investment areas), which may affect your potential for promotion.
If you have good reason to believe that your promotion was delayed due to the business environment, then it’s not about doing more. Instead, hold your course, and just keep doing what you’re doing, and the promotion will come.
Should I risk a new manager or team?
I have always disliked scenarios where a change of management or reorg results in someone missing out on a promotion. The reason is this: if someone is a VP, when they take on a different team or get a new manager, their level isn’t going to change. Right? So in the same vein, if someone is performing at the VP level and is ready for the official promotion, why would a new manager change their performance? Nevertheless, this is a common scenario because when relationships and power change, the promotion dynamics change. What can you do?
In general, the more you can demonstrate performance agnostic of your manager, the better. Not just because your manager may leave, but also because having others outside of your direct management chain endorse and support your work is perceived as less subjective and biased.
The stronger your ties with other leaders, and the more formal the process, the less you have to worry that you’ll miss the promotion again (but it’s worth validating this assumption since you did miss it this time). On the other hand, if a new manager or team means you’re essentially starting over, then I would consider if starting elsewhere might give you a faster trajectory. Here are a few factors that shift the balance toward leaving:
Your manager or team were the only people who were aware of your accomplishments, and you have little to no support outside of them. You are now in a completely new environment with new politics.
The new manager and you don’t immediately get along
The type of work the new project requires does not play to your strengths or will likely take many months or years to see any impact
This is not the first time you were up for promotion and then they delayed it by moving you around.
The company is generally not doing very well and has few promotion opportunities coming up.
If you have multiple of these in your context, then seeing whether there is another role out there could be a worthwhile investment.
It never feels good to be in a spot where you were passed over for a promotion. To decide whether to stick it out another 6-12 months, take some time to reflect on where the business is, and how you are doing relative to others. Then put yourself in a mindset of abundance before taking the next steps!