What things do you look for when promoting from within an organization?

[LRE67]

I work for a small (non union) manufacturing company (125 employees).
Whenever a position opens up (because of retirement, resignation or termination), the goal has always been to try and fill that position by promoting from within the organization. the obvious things are taken into consideration, such as:

Senority
Dedication
Motivation
Experience
Work Ethics

But what other factors should we be looking at? Does anyone have some type of aptitude test that could be given or even some practical advice based on experience that they would like to share?
Over the years, some of these promotions turned out rather well, but then some......not so good.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jim Wynne]

I work for a small (non union) manufacturing company (125 employees).
Whenever a position opens up (because of retirement, resignation or termination), the goal has always been to try and fill that position by promoting from within the organization. the obvious things are taken into consideration, such as:

Senority
Dedication
Motivation
Experience
Work Ethics

But what other factors should we be looking at? Does anyone have some type of aptitude test that could be given or even some practical advice based on experience that they would like to share?
Over the years, some of these promotions turned out rather well, but then some......not so good.

Thanks in advance.

I don't think the criteria should be much different from what would be applied to an outside applicant. The advantage to hiring from within, aside from promoting goodwill, is that you should know something about the candidates' work habits, personality traits, attendance record, etc.

 

[Wes Bucey]

FWIW:
A hallmark of a well run organization is that the top management doesn't wait for a vacancy, but actively works with ALL employees continually, grooming them for more responsibility and authority, often creating higher job levels for qualified in-house personnel.

Another hall mark of well run organizations is that going outside for upper level employees is primarily a function of expansion or branching out into areas where no in-house expertise is available. Those same companies have a plan to bring in and train beginners, often avoiding bad habits learned elsewhere, as in-house employees move up in rank.

So, if the in-house grooming process is working, the organization already has ample bench strength in its roster for a smooth transition when a vacancy occurs.

 

[Mikishots]

I work for a small (non union) manufacturing company (125 employees).
Whenever a position opens up (because of retirement, resignation or termination), the goal has always been to try and fill that position by promoting from within the organization. the obvious things are taken into consideration, such as:

Senority
Dedication
Motivation
Experience
Work Ethics

But what other factors should we be looking at? Does anyone have some type of aptitude test that could be given or even some practical advice based on experience that they would like to share?
Over the years, some of these promotions turned out rather well, but then some......not so good.

Thanks in advance.

An available position that they can move into. Unless, of course, more money can be considered a promotion.

Where I used to work , a promotion was bad news unless it was accompanied by a raise. Otherwise, it was just a title change and more responsibility. I'm all for more work, but hey...I gotta eat too.