A buddy of mine just got promoted at work. A number of people got promoted that day and the day started with a small group of people, orange juice and champagne!

Later in the day there were two more meetings, each one larger, where the newly promoted were again recognized and champagne toasts followed. How cool is that? These people were moving into Corporate Director positions in their firm (kind of like being selected for General, or at least Colonel, in the Marines).

The big boss talked to them about the new expectations people would have of them and the importance of stepping up. The boss went on to say that the promotion is not a reward for past performance but an indicator of future performance. And not just in the new job. These newly promoted were being told they had a future with the firm that goes beyond the next few years and the new role.

I could make a number of comments about this but the primary one is this. How often does someone get promoted because they have been there a while and have not screwed anything up? The promotion is a higher paying (and much with much more organizational impact – often negative) service award. I saw it a few weeks ago and I know I will see it again in 2010.

I hate New Years resolutions but this one might not be too bad – Don’t promote people into a job you know they will not do well.

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