

Never promote your best salesperson - proshman
http://www.alaisterlow.com/never-promote-your-best-salesperson/

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freehunter
Here's an issue at hand: I hear a lot of people complaining at various
conferences I attend that they are the best at their job at work, and put in
overtime and extra effort, but can't seem to get promoted. They're not getting
promoted, obviously, _because_ they're the best. Their company cannot afford
to have them leave their current position.

The other side to that, though, is not that they necessarily _want_ to be
promoted, they just want more compensation and/or new challenges. A maximum
wage for a job isn't acceptable if it's going to drive your best employee out
of your office. If you can't promote someone who deserves it, compensate based
on skill, not job title. And if Joe is your go-to guy who is a wizard at Java
but is bored, try delegating some of his easier work elsewhere (is it _really_
critical to have it tomorrow?) and encourage him to come up with some
solutions on his own, to problems _he's_ facing at work.

"Never promote your best person" is a good idea, and certainly it looks like
the numbers back it up. But if they want or deserve a promotion, look at the
reason why they want or deserve a promotion, and give them more of that.

