Turning down promotion

The year is coming to an end and there will be performance reviews in most companies.
This perhaps will have the most hardworking employees rewarded and promoted to new roles.
However, much as a promotion is rewarding, to some employees they would rather remain in their positions.
Paul Wayero, a monitoring and evaluation consultant says an employee might turn down a promotion because they feel comfortable with what they are doing.

Therefore, he says, a promotion would not be anything sufficient in their needs and their only need might be increasing their pay to motivate them work harder.

Career growth requires proper grounding for purposes of building rich experience that make employees exceptional authorities and reference points.

Therefore, according to Wayero, there is need to reward hardworking employees in their spheres without necessarily promoting them.

“Pay them in comparison to their work. To some people sufficient payment is better than positions,” he says.
New appointment or promotions, according to Wayero might also have limited flexibility, which comes with a lot of pressure yet some might not be willing to take it in.
The pressure, he says, might come in different formats such as meeting business targets or driving the business in a new direction.

“When you have to carry the business on your shoulder it becomes difficult. So some employees will weigh it and eventually fail to see the value,” says Wayero, who also believes that new appointments come with longer hours in office, which might not suit the programme of most employees.
However, turning down a promotion must not be mistaken for arrogance or pride; it must be done in a manner that is not taken out of proportion.
It is common knowledge that majority of employees will jump to news of a promotion, so it will be hard for your boss to understand why you would turn it down.
Therefore, make sure your boss understands fully why you would not want that promotion.
When Peter Mwambu, then a sales person, was offered a promotion as a supervisor in an advertising company, he thought through the promotion before finally turning it down because he felt he wasn’t ready for the new role.
His boss felt let down but he offered to support Mwambu to mentor him for the role in future by assisting him develop skills necessary for the job.
Mwambu was honest and he could have saved himself from a lot of trouble, which according to Wayero, could perhaps have made him lose his job because he could have taken on a job whose roles he would not handle.
“Some workers will not admit they are weak. They gamble their way into trouble and the possibility of damaging their career is so high,” he says.
Like Mwambu, he says, it is important to communicate how your current position benefits you and the organisation.
According to Mwambu, he had no business accepting a promotion because he was unsure he would do anything different from what he was doing.
“My boss understood. What was the importance of the promotion yet I was going to do the same work I was doing,” he says.
Scheming for promotions is a common practice but in most cases schemers cannot be honest enough to do self-assessment to gauge whether they can handle the responsibilities that come with it.
Therefore, Wayero says, much as the boss will respect your decision and withdraw the offer; it is unlikely that he will offer you one in future.

Issues
Not ready. A person might turn down a promotion because they feel they are not yet ready.

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