Berger Leadership Blog

A Harvard Business Review survey of more than 400,000 people across the U.S. found that when employees believe promotions were managed appropriately, they are more than twice as likely to work harder and stay engaged in their current organization. The survey, conducted throughout the last year, proves that effectively promoting people throughout your company can greatly enhance your organization's success.

The survey also found that these people - who believe that promotions are handled effectively -€“ are five times as likely to think leaders act with integrity.

With this in mind, before promoting an employee, the Harvard Business Review recommends:

• clarifying team members' aspirations;
• encouraging team members to apply for new positions within your organization (even if you have someone specific in mind; you might be surprised);
• sharing the "why" behind your promotion decision; and
• circling back with those who applied for the promotion but didn't get it.

This survey makes clear the importance of getting promotions right across our organizations; a bad manager can be toxic to our workplaces. On that note, Marcel Schwantes, principal and founder of Leadership From the Core, writes in a recent Inc.com post four "dumb things" managers - or those in a leadership role -should avoid doing. His list includes:

1. bullying their employees;
2. not giving positive reinforcement;
3. taking credit for their employees' work; and
4. having little to no concern for their employees' work-life balance.

While pay and work perks are valuable to employees - strong and effective leadership is a requirement. Our job is to make sure we are the best leaders for our teams possible and that we appoint managers that adhere to the same high standards. Follow me on Twitter (@BDanBerger).