Team Building In The Workplace

Citing Italian research which finds that random job promotion is more effective than merit-based promotion, our Top Small Company Workplaces media partner, Inc. Magazine, asks, Should job promotions be random?

The four experts Inc. brings on in its article are split – two for the idea, two against. While I'm not of the caliber of these four folks, I can still help break the tie: it's not a good idea.

Why? Because it goes against one of Winning Workplaces' six building blocks, or characteristics – based on leading workplace research, not just what we think – of a high-performance organization: Rewards & Recognition. We define this building block as follows:

Employees are sufficiently rewarded and recognized, in monetary and non-monetary ways, for their contributions and accomplishments.

I also think it goes against another building block: treating employees with Trust, Respect & Fairness. Is it respectful or fair, after all, for a promotion to go to an employee who hasn't demonstrated the skills, training, or just plain nose-to-the-grindstone chutzpah sought by leaders or managers as ideal to spurring even greater company growth?

Two other factors worth mentioning under this promotion model:

Potential for increased turnover and recruiting/training costs if the randomly promoted employee doesn't work out.
Potential for increased tension of employees who work under the randomly promoted employee if they don't feel he or she rose to the new position through merit.

What's your take on promoting employees randomly as part of your overall workplace team building activities?