Promotion Definition in HRM
In layman’s terms, promotion is when an employee is transferred to a new job role or position with more responsibilities as well as better pay.
Promotion to employees loosely, in lighter way, relates to what Santa Claus is to children – a source of excitement, anticipation, and a reward for hard work and dedication.
Having said that, effective promotion strategies are the key to promoting employee engagement, productivity, and happiness. Don’t worry, we’re here to equip you with some effective ways to promote your employees.

Let’s explore:
- What is Job Promotion?
- Importance of Promoting Employees
- Types of Job Promotions
- Benefits of Job Promotion
- How to Promote Employees?
What is Job Promotion?
When an employee gets promoted, he or she moves to a better role/position/department with new responsibilities, higher pay, a higher rank, and more privileges than before within the company.
Say, for instance, a Junior Content Writer gets promoted to Content Manager based on how well s/he does the job or after working a certain number of years at a junior level. The question here- why is it important to promote employees? Let’s find the answer in the next section!
Importance of Promoting Employees
Employee promotions can reap ample benefits for both organizations and their workforce alike. While it recognizes employees for their dedication, time, and efforts, it also helps organizations build a strong and reliable workforce.
Promotions lead to increased employee satisfaction, healthy competition, future leaders, and productivity. We will discuss the benefits of promoting employees clearly in the coming sections.
Types of Job Promotions
Three common types of promotions are as follows:
– Horizontal
Horizontal promotion means promoting an employee within the same department or job role. For example, promoting a junior copywriter to a senior copywriter.
– Vertical
This is a promotion in which employees advance their positions which leads to changes in skills, duties, and experience. For example, an SEO executive getting promoted to the role of senior SEO manager.
– Dry
Dry promotion means when an employee gets a promotion but no salary increment.
Benefits of Job Promotion
You can gain the following benefits just by promoting employees fairly. Have a look:
● Encourage Employees:
A promotion fosters a sense of pride and commitment among employees, thereby encouraging them to strive for excellence in the time ahead.
● Increases Performance:
Promotions without a doubt lead to even better performance. It motivates employees to put their best foot forward and deliver quality work.
● Enhances Loyalty:
Promoted employees are also more inclined to stay committed to the company in the long run.
● Improves Retention Rates:
Promotions also aid companies in keeping their high-performing employees happier, thereby retaining them effortlessly.
● Attracts Top Talent:
Companies that value the hard work of their people and recognize them accordingly attract top talent.
How to Promote Employees?
Here’s how you should promote your employees:
– Analyze
Check the employee review records from the past to see who is interested and eligible for a promotion. You should also have continuous communication with your people to understand if they are happy with their job or if they think they are ready to move up to a new one with more responsibilities.
– Determine
Look at the job itself and figure out which way of promoting works best. For instance, if you need to promote someone to a managerial position, it should be completely based on experience and skills. But if you are just rearranging a department and giving people new jobs with new duties, you can consider a dry promotion.
– Establish
Make sure to have criteria that establish who can apply for the promotion. The criteria should state the minimum number of years worked for the company, skills and experience, and qualifications. Make sure that all of your employees have a clear understanding of the criteria.
– Announce
Post the job and let employees know about the promotion opportunities. A lot of companies consider internally first before looking for people from outside. This is a vital step if your business believes in promoting from within first.
– Interview
Check all applicants and pick the best ones. Make sure that every applicant meets the job’s basic standards. Remember, it’s important that every suitable candidate gets a fair evaluation.
– Decide
Once you know who you want to promote, make them an offer privately. Allow them enough time to make up their mind and ask them not to talk about it with anyone else at work. Once they say yes, talk about the job with the rest of the team. Thank them for their hard work and skills and let them know what they can do to improve.
And that’s how you should be promoting your employees– isn’t it simple?
If you want to make it more seamless and easier, you can invest in one of the simplest HR software, HROne. From providing real-time performance analytics to facilitating continuous communication, HROne can expedite your entire performance and promotion process in several ways. Partner with HROne to ensure fair, transparent and data-driven promotions in your organization.