These employees end up desperately unhappy, struggling to survive and at the same time costing the company money in lost productivity, lowered morale, and less innovation.
Alternatives to Upward
Many people are beginning to question the relentless pressure to move "upward". They want more out of a job than just a paycheck. They are looking for personal satisfaction. This desire for self-fulfillment may provide a means of reducing the tremendous cost to businesses of the Peter Principle, of promoting managers beyond the level where they can succeed.
There are only two alternatives to upward. They are downward and sideways.
Lateral transfers are becoming more common, and more acceptable. Employees are allowed, and in some cases encouraged, to move from one department or division to a related position in another. This can be a good move for the employee who gains a broader base of knowledge and becomes more valuable. They also have an opportunity to explore new areas of the company in search of work that they would enjoy more and, consequently, be better at.
Lateral transfers are also good for the company. They are one way to retain valued employees. They bring fresh, innovative, and potentially cost-saving ideas into a division, without the full cost associated with a new hire from outside. They also help to more widely disperse the institutional knowledge base.
The concept of downward movement, demotion, is less well accepted and less often used. That is unfortunate, because it holds the promise of even greater benefit for both the company and its employees.
Demotion By Any Other Name
The word "demotion" has a very b negative connotation in any hierarchical organization. The unrelenting pressure to move upward forces people into positions that they don't want and can't handle. A few employees are smart enough to see that they don't want the position they are being offered a promotion into, but most end up accepting the promotion and then finding they don't enjoy it or can't handle it.
For the few who were smart enough to decline an inappropriate promotion, there are constant questions from co-workers: "why didn't you get the promotion?", "why didn't you want the promotion?" and "look what happened when you didn't accept that promotion and they gave it to so-and-so instead." There also are often repeated attempts to promote the person, despite their declining the previous offer, as the person remains apparently qualified.
The real problem lies, however, with those who should have declined the promotion and didn't, either because they didn't realize it was beyond their capabilities or because they wanted the position for another reason, the prestige, for example.
Unhappy Employees Are Not Top Producers
Someone who has been very successful in their job probably enjoys the work. However, their success in the position makes them a candidate for promotion to a new, "higher" position, the duties of which they may not completely understand. Many times, when they accept the promotion, they struggle a little at first as they learn new things, but then they begin to master the new job. Soon they are ready to be promoted again.
Other times, when they accept the position they discover that they are not capable of doing what needs to be done in the new job. They get negative performance feedback for the first time in their career. Their supervisor offers them coaching or additional training. These help some, but ultimately are not enough. The employee begins doing some parts of the job, but not necessarily the most important ones. They make incorrect decisions, because they just don't know any better. They stifle the people in their group so that none of them can become a threat. They temporize and procrastinate because they lack confidence. They are unhappy in the job. The company is unhappy with their performance. Yet neither knows what to do to fix the situation.
