Promotions

Jan 03, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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A New Year’s promotion is a nice reward for someone’s hard work and commitment. It represents an upward step in the organisation to which he belongs.
Back in time – way back in time – it used to be the tradition whereby promotions were often announced at the start of the New Year after the incumbents would have been acting in their positions for a few months.
Promotions were a new year’s tradition. Workers and non-workers actually looked forward to the announcements of promotions.
The practice of announcing promotions and announcing them at the start of the New Year has had practical benefits. The recognition accorded by promotions acts as a motivational tonic. Promotions elevate persons in the eyes of the public. They also are a way to help young people to see the value of pursuing a long-term career within an institution.
There was a scene in the blockbuster movie, Saturday Night Fever where the protagonist, Tony, was rewarded with a small weekly increase by his boss who saw him turn down a better offer from another employer.
Tony was excited by the raise he received. But when he told his father about the quantum of the increase, the father was not impressed. However, for Tony, the increase meant more than its monetary value. As he said, it showed that he was appreciated, that his work meant something.
There are many Guyanese workers, outside of the sugar belt, who had a difficult Christmas. Many of them could not provide for their families this Christmas. People could not afford to provide the usual treats for their families.
The Disciplined Services usually enjoyed a thirteen-month bonus under Presidents Jagdeo and Ramotar. Almost all of them have grown dependent on this extra month salary to help provide for their families. The Granger administration claimed that the bonus was discriminatory against other public servants. Soldiers and police have not enjoyed the monthly bonus since the APNU+AFC came to office. This has left most soldiers and police in the humiliating position of being short of cash for the holidays. It was sad to see policemen bumming business owners for food items and cash during the holidays
However, many of these ranks, along with soldiers, were smiling at the New Year. Many of them or their colleagues were promoted. The pay rise will not compensate for the loss of the thirteen-month bonus but their promotion is a source of pride, enough to soothe the humiliation of a cash-short Christmas.
It is a good practice to publicly announce promotions. The announcement of promotions brings respect to persons holding public office. It earns them the admiration of their community. Private firms used to announce their promotions in years gone by, but not anymore.
Workers look forward to regular promotions. It is the traditional way of climbing the corporate ladder. Regular promotions are way of assuring workers that they have a future in a company.
Promotions have gone out of style. They have been replaced by connections. These days, political connections, can land you a big job within the government, one which you do not have to apply for. Also, it has become the practice to advertise externally to fill an internal vacancy rather than simply promoting someone from within. This is also another way of handing out jobs to friends and cronies and bypassing persons within the firm.
The superseding of persons who have worked for a long time within an organisation results in a loss of morale. Workers care less because they know that no matter how good they perform, they will have to compete with someone from outside of the firm for a higher position. Gone are the days when someone could have hoped to work his way from the bottom right to the top.
This is one of the reasons why persons are changing jobs so regularly. They reach a certain point in the organisation and cannot go any further, and so they quit and go elsewhere where the pay is better.
One of the biggest obstacles to upward movement in the public service is the large numbers of retirees, some of whom are not highly qualified but are receiving super salaries because of their political connections. The retirees are blocking promotions of young staff.
The President recently announced that he has no more need of some of his advisors. Yet, these persons, all of whom have reached the age of public service retirement, are going to be placed in executive positions. Their reassignment to executive posts will mean that someone else will lose out on those positions. He has not announced any persons who will be elevated to replace those advisors.
Promotions therefore can help to bring greater satisfaction in the workforce. The government should consider rewarding more persons with promotions at the start of the year. It is far better policy of rewarding staff than simply giving them an arbitrary increase in pay along with all other workers.

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