A lot can be said in favour of promoting from within an organization. However, we need to be aware of the potential for disaster in this scenario and be prepared to take steps to empower ourselves to succeed.

A policy of promoting people from within, whenever possible, offers staff the motivation to aspire to positions of greater responsibility within the organization. Companies adopting this policy benefit in areas such as succession planning, staff retention, preservation of the history and knowledge of the organization, and substantial savings in the cost of recruitment. This should be a win-win situation. Unfortunately, there can be pitfalls in this ideal scenario, and it all comes down to expectations and investment in people.

When a company interviews for a position, the recruitment officers look for candidates who, in their opinion, can do the job at hand. If the person is recruited externally, work references are checked to verify that the candidate’s knowledge and experience match the requirements of the vacancy. In some cases, the same applies for internal candidates, but not always.

If the person is recruited internally, there exists the possibility that the person applying for the position has previously indicated that he/she aspires to advance his/her career, and has been identified by management as having the potential, rather than the actual knowledge and experience, to do the job. Therefore, once appointed, this person may need some support in order to succeed.

There are expectations on both sides. The company, having appointed this candidate on potential, expects the person to deliver, regardless of his/her lack of knowledge and experience. The new appointee expects that his/her manager, knowing that he/she has never held this type of position before, will offer him/her some support, underpinned by a structured skills development plan which includes the necessary mentoring, coaching, training, job shadowing, etc.

At this point, if the organization does not have a policy of supporting staff in this situation, or even worse, if the policy exists but the direct line manager does not personally subscribe to this policy, things can go horribly wrong. The person could be left there to sink or swim - literally being set up for failure. This potential disaster can only be avoided by the person’s commitment and determination to succeed and his/her resourcefulness in finding a solution.

If you find yourself in a sinking situation, do not wait for management to identify that you are sinking and come to your rescue. Do not expect them to offer training, coaching, mentoring or job shadowing. Seek it out for yourself. Having survived the sink or swim syndrome on numerous occasions and witnessed it happening to others for many years, I share with you some survival techniques:

• Research the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in your new position;
• Approach someone who has already mastered these competencies, and ask them for guidance in drawing up your development plan;
• Approach someone who displays the management and leadership characteristics that you aspire to, and ask them if they would be willing to mentor you;
• Source the training and development courses you need; approach the company for sponsorship and, if they won’t invest in you, be prepared to invest in yourself.

Find a way to swim by empowering yourself to succeed, rather than empowering others to sink you.

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