Question

Based on the case study Changing a Promotion System (Pg. 531 – Pg. 532), determine what you believe are the three (3) primary weaknesses in BioGlass Inc.'s promotion policy. Next, describe two (2) solutions to address the identified weaknesses. Then, provide one (1) method for preventing similar problems in the future. Support your rationale with specific examples of such strategies.

Answer 1

The primary weaknesses in BioGlass Inc's promotion policy are:

1. Communication: There is no clear definition of KASO's, they should clearly define KASO's which should include skills, knowledge, academic qualifications and abilities required to perform a certain job. They should consider promotion only when these demands are met. From the case study, it is clear that Tom was not evaluated properly for the promotion. He was rather given promotion due to his loyalty and good sales record.
2. Promotion based on seniority: Bioglass gave promotion to Tom based on his seniority and did not consider the fact that he did not have previous experience in managing teams. BioGlass should have given more weightage to prior experience and merit to avoid this failure.
3. Promotion without evaluating other candidates: Tom was the natural choice for the position. The company had a bias in their mind while selecting Tom. Had they evaluated other candidates, they might have not suffered this failure.

Two solutions to address this weakness:

1. Company should give weightage to previous experience, merits, skills, knowledge etc. when considering for managerial position. For this purpose, it is important to clearly define Job description.
2. Have a system for Internal Job posting where other internal candidates can also apply, all of the candidates will be evaluated for a particular role. This will help in identifying the right candidate by making the process fair and transparent.

One method to prevent similar problems in future is employing specialized staffing process and management training program for the selected candidate. The program should prepare the candidate to take up managerial roles without much hiccups and should ensure smooth transition.