The way to the top should be through hard work, talent, etc. , but this not always the case. Sometimes I look at people at the top and wonder how they even got there. It seems a lot of people at the top of the organizational hierarchy are there because of their connections. Some of the most brilliant and capable people never make it to the top because they do not know the right people. A lot of people in leader roles are not qualified and make it to the top easily because they know or are related to someone important. This is unfortunate for organizations and does not benefit them in anyway. I also see a lot of companies that promote on the basis of seniority. This does nothing to motivate employees either. Just because someone is more senior does not necessarily mean that they are more qualified for the promotion. For this reason, companies should have and enforce clear guidelines for promoting that are based on qualifications and capabilities.
3 comments:
Oooooooooh...
This is one of my pet peeves. It's so true that it's often "who you know" rather than "what you know."
A similar problem I have is that to advance in many companies, one has to do a healthy dose of self-marketing. Unfortunately, for some... marketing themselves means back-stabbing and putting others down. I've grown up in a family that promote working hard and being humble. My biggest issue with year-end reviews was that I could never go in there and toot my own horn. I would just try to get my work done as efficiently as possible, help those that needed help, and do my best. Unfortunately, it seems that "nice guys finish last" a bit too much nowadays. :(
Despite being unnatural, I've learned to be more assertive in exhibiting my skills and what I offer the company. Fortunately, I still can not put someone down to do so. ;)
I agree with your point. Well i gave a phone interview and the interviewee did not even have my resume with him as i asked him to refer to certain thing on my resume. Which meant that he was taking the interview just cause he was asked to and that he had already selected someone, which i would like to believe he had connection with.
And of course being promoted on the base of seniority is no motivation to any employee. This would actually demotivate employees and make them not work hard.
It is annoying and frustrating when someone who is obviously unqualified for a position gets the title simply because they had connections or because they just happened to be a warm body to fill the position at the time. This was actually a problem with a couple of non-profit organizations I have belonged to before where the head of the club were elected simply because they ran un-opposed. This usually turned out to be pretty bad since the person is usually not the best fit for the job or unqualified. Of course, in these cases, the person always thinks that they are the best candidate for some reason.
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