Many Deserving Promotions Remain Stunted in Downturn by L.M. SIXEL
HoustonChronicle.com4.17.2009
The promotion freeze
If the pay freezes, benefits freezes and 401(k) contribution freezes aren't bad enough, now you can add another: the promotion freeze.
In an effort to cut costs, companies are cutting where they can. And a growing number are forgoing promotions.
The Hay Group recently surveyed 2,000 companies including 550 in the United States and found that 10 percent of companies have frozen promotions.
Another 12 percent are considering it, said Tom McMullen, who heads the compensation practice group for the human resource consulting firm in Chicago.
People are being held in place, he said, which means there isn't a lot of upward movement. It doesn't bode well for someone coming into the work force.
It seems like companies have battened down the hatches and are in survival mode, said John Challenger, CEO of the Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.
Were seeing more and more policies like these that are trying to ride out the storm he said.
However, if companies are cutting back on their promotions, they're not exactly talking about it. A check with several area companies found few signs of an overtly frozen work force.
But university career placement directors report that experienced employees aren't moving up the career ladder as usual in the big companies that recruit on campus. That, in turn, makes it harder for new graduates to get on board.
Challenger speculated that the trend likely stems from the recent round of freezes in pay and bonuses that many companies have instituted.
It's hard to have promotions if no one is getting a raise, he said.
It may be the way companies are handling pay increases when employees change jobs, he said, imagining this conversation: Well move you into this job, but we wont give you the pay raise that typically goes with it.
Walking a fine line
But some companies have to walk a fine line so they don't lose their best talent, said Sheryl Dawson, CEO of the Career Partners International office in Houston, which does recruiting, outplacement and leadership
development for its client companies.
Companies don't want their top performers to leave because of worries about their future, said Dawson, co-author of the book Job Search: The Total System, which is in its third edition.
And many times after a layoff, empty spots have to be filled, she said. For some, that could mean promotions.
Slower to fill openings
Kathy Rapp is one of the lucky ones. The recruiter who specializes in filling human resource jobs was promoted this year and now heads up Texas for her company, HR Search Firm.
Rapp said that what shes seeing more of these days is that organizations are moving more slowly on filling openings.
People have to be patient with their job search right now, she said. Organizations have the luxury of taking some time, and what used to take three months can now take four to five months.
Rapp has begun to see signs of life out on the horizon. Hiring seems to have loosened up in the past three weeks, she said, once organizations ended the first quarter and saw that things weren't quite as bad as they
feared.
So what can you do?
One idea is to use the time to brush up on your skills. Or maybe go back to school and finish your degree.
I think there is a logjam of talent sitting in organizations, McMullen said. Eventually it will be released, and when it is, having new skills can make it easier to move up the ladder.
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