I have just been forwarded an email from a friend who works at a reputable, global company. This company is widely quoted as saying that talent management is a priority and people are their greatest asset.
The email was sent by HR to all managers within a department and was informing them of their new promotion practices. This is a sentence from the email:
‘Our approach to considering candidates will still be peer group coach meetings to grade, box and rank all of those that wish to be considered for promotion.’
Grade, box and rank? How does this make highly qualified, super talented and ambitious employees feel? My eggs, minced beef and chicken drumsticks in the fridge are graded, boxed and ranked.
Companies must be so careful to practice what they preach. If I were to be graded, boxed and ranked, I would not feel like a valued, appreciated human being. In fact, I wouldn’t really bother about being promoted anymore – I would look to leave. I think this company’s talent management strategy needs some fine-tuning.