The audit can be simple-a random sampling of several promotions at different levels in the company that notes how they were handled, how the individual was finally selected, how those rejected were handled, and so forth. A president can reinforce observance of policy by complimenting the manager who handles a matter well, while some serious discussion may be in order if corrective action seems necessary.
Appeal or Recourse
When a man is refused a job he feels qualified to handle or if he feels he was never considered at all, he inevitably has a negative reaction. This makes him more receptive to outside offers or spurs him to search for another job. Some of this reaction can be dissipated if the individual knows he can state his feelings without personal penalty and a quiet investigation can be made if warranted. Since, in some cases, the last person he is willing to talk to is his boss, the appeal probably must be to a third party, outside his chain of command. A designated personnel specialist with access to top management is a logical person to seek in a large organization. An assigned member of the president's staff may be suitable in a small organization.
Business Information
Imparting business information is seldom considered an essential ingredient of career advancement. It should be. It may well be more important than training programs and career discussions. The individual in a firm who understands the business he is in, the strategy used, the market, and the competition or lack of it can do his own job more creatively and can contribute ideas upward that influence the work of his department. With such influence comes personal involvement, and his goals begin to shape themselves around the goals of the firm.
In the absence of such information and understanding, he must be guided by the direction and counsel of his manager to a far greater extent. This leaves him with fewer choices and possibly a lessened interest in the company. To help impart business information in an interest-arousing fashion, such devices as summit meetings to plan important projects, meet key goals, or solve major problems broaden opportunities for involvement. Debates on issues where there are difficult choices of strategy to make and membership on task forces or study teams that can make recommendations on specified matters above and beyond the scope of the individual's own job lend further interest.
Career Shifts
If an employee considers the desirable role of management to be a facilitating one, management's major interest is one of self-preservation and continuity of its function. It wants to attract and keep men who will perform in an outstanding fashion.
Does this mean, then, that the president of a company should strive to hold every employee for his full career-hire a man from college and finally retire him at 60 or 65? By no means. In this mobile age, not only is it becoming less likely in most cases that a company can do this; it's also probable that it should not do so.
There is much to be gained from a fresh look at a situation and from an avoidance of inbreeding. The gain is both to the man and to the institution. So it is probable that a man should be encouraged to seek a change of pace or position or firm at certain points in his career. If such moves are temporary, the organization must find a way to give the employee some options concerning" his accruing benefits so that neither the firm nor the man is penalized economically.
Following are some suggested career shifts that might well be encouraged.
Back to School
This is especially important for specialists in areas of rapidly changing technology. A complete break with the firm, a relinquishing of one's job and devotion of full time to study is likely to be more rewarding than night school, part-time courses and the like. Most specialists need to get away and rethink their field and their commitment to it. They need enough time to be thoroughly refreshed mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Government or Other Nonprofit Position.
An exchange program might well be worked out to give some employees in the nonprofit sector of the economy an appreciation of the value of the profit motive, while permitting those in business and industry to understand the problems of government, hospitals and other nonprofit institutions. Each area has its advantages, each its frustrations. Much learning and improvement to both participants might result from such an exchange.
Teaching
For managers going stale on their jobs, a stint at teaching in a high school, junior college, vocational school, or college might be a real godsend toward bridging the generation gap, updating personal know-how, and becoming a better manager. Again, doing it full time for two to three years is more likely to pay dividends than teaching an evening course-
External Consulting
The opportunity to sell one's services to other companies as well as to one's own employer may be especially desirable for specialists. It kills in-breeding and gives the individual an awareness of his personal value and the value of his specialized knowledge. It can help build favorable relationships with other companies, especially firms which can't afford specialization in depth and may not, in fact, need it for very long periods of time.
Contract Employees
For employees who leave to seek other opportunities but who possess valuable know-how, there exists the opportunity to bring them back into the firm for specific short assignments on a contract basis. It may well be that this practice will increase in the future as career specialists choose their home ground and then offer their services to a number of employers rather than just one. The employee is then truly his own career manager and the firm buys his services on an as-needed basis.
Re-evaluate Five- to Ten-Year Men
The employee need not be the sole initiator of career changes. If any employee has been on his job for longer than five to ten years, he might well be earmarked for a serious discussion about possible changes in responsibilities at a suitable time. Expensive? Probably not as expensive as letting him get stale so that creative work drops off dramatically, not only in his personal efforts but in those of others over whom he exerts considerable influence.
