Stop Promoting the Wrong People

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Jack Perry Jr, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

Interpersonal relationships are essential attributes that employees must have in order to take an organization to the next level. The fact is that, for employees working together to deliver their best, it is very important that they share a special bond. The strong association that exists among individuals working together in the same organization is referred to as an interpersonal relationship.

The honesty and forthrightness of individuals towards one another is vital for a healthy interpersonal relationship and consequently, for a positive ambience at work.

Before an employer makes a decision to promote an employee, it is mandatory for them to consider the interpersonal relationships of the employee with others. This is true if your mission is to make the individual a better person while you also uphold and improve the reputation of the company.

When you promote employees to positions of authority without the proper positive and emotional habits to develop good interpersonal relationship skills, you may end up doing more harm than good to that employee.

People who don’t have interpersonal relationships create an atmosphere of never knowing the relevant things they need to know, just because they are being avoided. In fact, promotions to positions of authority made over a bar, napkin or golf game are not favors; they are mostly potential career killers. The person being promoted may become blindly loyal to you and even end up alienating themselves from the rest of his or her peers. They may not see the train wreck coming when you departed the organization and have no more influence over their fate or career. As a result, they may be left on their own, floating in the deep end surrounded by poor relationships.

Many damages may be done rather than the good intention of promoting them in the first place. Therefore you need to know the basic importance of interpersonal relationships at your workplace before deciding to do a harmful favor for that beloved employee of yours.

With that said, here are the reasons why interpersonal relationships are crucial when considering a promotion for an employee.

Around eight to nine hours is expended by an individual in his organization and it is practically impossible for him to do all the jobs alone. We need people to discuss with and share our feelings with. Human beings aren’t like machines who can work at a stretch. We are social animals and we need friends around us to motivate us to function well.
Working in an organization without friends can make an individual prone to stress and anxiety due to isolation. People like this don’t really enjoy their work and so this makes them absent at work. As an employer, you need to study the relationship of your employees with one another because individuals who work alone usually find their job monotonous.
You can never overemphasize the essentiality of having trustworthy fellow workers whom secrets can be shared with without any fear of leakage. These are the sort of friends who give honest feedback to fellow employees, thus, paving the way for intermittent introspection and self-improvement—which in turn is a good asset for the organization.
It is hard for a single brain to take on all the decisions alone. Your organization needs to promote someone who can discuss a variety of issues with other employees, thereby evaluating the merits and demerits to reach a solution that is advantageous not only to the employees, but also to the organization. To reach better ideas and strategies, employees can always come to a table and brainstorm together. New ways in which things can be done need to be discussed on an open platform where everyone has the freedom to express his/her views.
An employee who lacks interpersonal relationship skills will find it hard to cope in such environment since such a person doesn’t have a regular rapport base with other employees. It is hard for a healthy relationship to exist in an organization if there isn’t a regular basis of interaction among the employees. This is mostly rampant in organizations where some employees feel superior over others due to their higher ranking and thus, tend to ignore interpersonal relationships, forgetting that it takes teamwork to take an organization to its peak.
Promoting the wrong people who have no interpersonal relationships with others have a direct negative effect on the organization’s culture. These types of people are usually the reasons behind misunderstandings at the workplace, thereby leading to negativity. An organization that harbors conflict never leads to anywhere reasonable. In fact, lack of interpersonal relationships spoil the work environment.
When you promote someone who lacks interpersonal skills, you have successfully promoted someone who lacks motivation or hard work. It is a luxury to have a superior employee/co-worker who does not only tell us our mistakes, but appreciates our good works as well. Every organization needs people who aren’t just mere colleagues, but also mentors in all areas. When you promote a man who appreciates hard work, you promote a nation. A pat on the back travels a far distance in extracting the best out of every individual.
It is very important to promote employees who support one another, rather than ones who love to do it all alone. Roles and responsibilities must be delegated as per interests, educational qualifications and specializations of employees. An individual working alone is overburdened and never finishes tasks within deadlines. Interpersonal relationships go a long way in boosting the productivity of an organization through reduced completion time and of course, better results. However, the opposite is the case when you allow someone who isn’t a team player to take the position of authority in your organization. Since such person is monotonous, he or she tends to dish out responsibilities monotonously.
The bottom line, is that promoting employees to a position of authority can be great when done in the right manner. However, it can be an excruciatingly devastating experience for both the employee and the organization when done poorly. Hence, before making the decision to promote an employee, try to scrutinize his or her interpersonal relationships with others. Don’t be hasty to promote someone because you have a special interest in them. Decisions made at any point in time tend to make or mar its driven purpose. Help yourself out by weighing the pros and the cons, knowing your onions and promoting the right people who would assuredly take your organization to a greater height even in your absence.

Good luck!