Transfer & Promotion Policy

UNIT 19
Structure
19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 19.8 19.9

TRANSFER, PROMOTION AND REWARD POIJCIES

Objectives Introduction Need for a Transfer Policy Types of Transfer Promotions and Promotion Policy Reward Policies and Processes Vehicles for Rewards Need for Continual Retraining on Transfers or Promotions Let Us Sum Up Clues to Answers

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19.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this Unit you should be able to understand the: purpose of and reasons behind transfers and promotions, changes in organisational structure necessitating transfers and promotions, a . requirement of retraining on transfers or promotions in view of changi-ng technology, automation and electronic revolution.

exigencies arising out of expanding activities, and

19.1 INTRODUCTION
In order to conduct business effectively, certain changes need to be made in the organisation's structure. This necessitates the regrouping of jobs, changes in departmental functions, repositioning of jobs and status, grade-wise changes in departmental fbnctions, elevation or lowering job categories and the physical relocation of employees, jobs and departments. Moreover, the expansion of business and the introduction of new products, services, processes and methods of operations, necessitate the creation of new jobs and promotion of employees to positions with greater scope and responsibility. Shifiingof pksonnel is also necessitated by employee-turnover, vacancies created by resignationwand dismissals, and when suitable persons are promoted or transferred to fill the vacant posts. Change in employee status and job is also necessary to satisfy employee aspirations and needs. Such movements of employees within a hotel establishment, is a usual phenomenon reflecting internal mobility. However, in a certain context, transfer is also used as a convenient device to punish and remove an undesirable employee or officer from his or her present post, as other disciplinary actions require lengthy procedures under the rules. This Unit -takes into account the various issues listed above.

19.2 NEED FOR A TRANSFER POLICY
A transfer is a change in job assignment. It may involve a promotion or demotion, or no change at all in responsibility and status. It is a change in assignment in which the

employee moves to another job approximately the same level of asponsibility, demanding the same skill and at about the same level of pay. Transfer is to be distinguished from promotion and demotion which imply an ascending or descending change respectively in the hierarchy of positions. A transfer may be either temporary or permanent, depending upon the need, and may occur within a department, between departments and divisions, or between plants or officers within a departments and divisions, or between plants or officers within a company/organisation. Many a times, transfers are used to fill a vacancy or shifi employees who are not giving their best to the company. At thesame time, in many cases promotions come with transfers. Two main conditions generate transfer si~ations: An individual employee may request a transfer in seeking his or her preference a d benefits. Organisations may initiate transfecs as a requirement for more effective operations, or as a solution to human relations problems. It is to be appreciated that transfers are made for a number of reasons and are initiated by either the supervisor or the subordinate. If transfers are left entirely to the discretion of e er supervisors or the subordinate or employees, a number of problems are likely to occur, such as favouritism or victimisation. For example, a few employees would get transfers as and when they want, while the request of many others would be turned down. On the other hand, some may get transferred repeatedly, causing them great inconvenien'ce. Supervisors may transfer their subordinates arbitrarily, just to get rid of then?. Some employees, for various reasons, may ask for transfers repeatedly. Some departments may get the reputation of being easy to transfer from, whereas others may be regarded as exactly the opposite and so on.

Transfet, Promotion and Reward Policies

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The absence of well-formulated transfer policy will undoubtedly breed a 'state of uncertainty among the employees. In case where a union exists to protect the workers there may be an increase in the number of grievances and a continuous turmoil and conflict will exist between the employees and the firm. To avoid these problems which would cause considerable inconvenience and disruption in an organisation, it is imperative that the personnel department should evolve a transfer policy. Only a systematic policy can ensure a reasonable consistency of treatment throughout the organisation. A transfer policy should consist of the following elements:
1)

A clear delineation of the conditions and "circumstances" under which an employee can be transferred, i.e., what types of transfers (such as those discussed above)' would the organisation permit, both in terms of the organisation's technology and job-relatedness, and from an individual's point of view.

s 2) The trderability of both jobs and individuals ~ e e dto be examined in terms of job descriptions, interdepartmental divisions and plants, and between streams of specialisation either on the job or individual background and training. Therefore, policies on@ese aspects must be clearly stated.

3)

The third aspect is a consideration on the basis for transfer; should rt be on the basis of seniority and merit test - especially if it is a production job - or should it be on the basis of seniority alone, assuming minimum ability to handle the job. Finally, in the pay scales and exact wage and perquisites that the transferee would receive in the transferred job, if there is any difference it should be specified.

4)

The personnel department should be the monitoring unit facilitating line personnel to redeploy manpower depending on the exigencies of work-situation, or helping employees on compassionate grounds, within the framework of the transfer policy. Thus, transfer policy will help effective employee redeployment and protect, to some extent at least, employees from arbitrary transfers.

is one of the important intended consequences of job reassignment. Position reassignments have motivational force and an impact on employee attitudes. Transfer policy in an organisation is very important as transfers can affect the employee's attitude towards work, either positively or negatively.

19.3 TYPES OF TRANSFER
As you know transfer is a change in job assignment. One might be transferred from one job department to another .or from one city to another city. The transfers in an organisation can be categorised as: i) Personal Transfer Persona! transfers are those occasioned by desires of the employee and are primarily in his or her interest. The reasons for such requests could be to: 1) 2) To correct erroneous placement, relieve the monotony of a job, acquire better working conditions or join friends/spouse/ family, provide an outlet from blind alley jobs, avoid interpersonal conflicts, consider the interests of agehealth, education of children, housing difficulties and to join immobile dependents,

3)
4) 5)

7)
8)

avail of training elsewhere to facilitate later advancement or promotion, seek financial gains like high frequency or overtime payments, or the feeling that opportunities for advancement are better in another department.

In such cases there is a need for some probing because if it is found that a number of employees want a transfer from a unit, the real issue may be a difficult supervisor, a promotion or some other ulterior motive. In such cases simple transfers would not solve the problem and other measures such as counselling might have to be taken. ii) Organisation Initiated Transfer A company may initiate transfers for the following reasons: 1) The need for temporary adjustments for the convenience or benefit of the organisation or the employee, such as leave replacement or very short assignments. requirements necessitated either by volume of output or separations.

2) To meet emergencies or changes in operations, to deal with fluctuations in work
3)
4) 5)

To make use of the increasing versatility and competence of key employees.
Where there is more than one shift and shift assignments are not rotating, transfers are also made fiom one shift to another on the same type of work.

To manage new responsibilities, etc.

The nature of transfer should be taken into account while determining the type of transfer, keeping in view the purpose for which it i c made. One major type, the

a times, as higher level manager moves on, he or she gets the personnel under him or her transferred along to the new position. They are ,transferred along as every higher level manager usually forms a team consisting of personnel working under him or her and prefers to work with the team in new environment to get a good result and also the personnel know the working manner and pattern of the manager which makes working easier in the new position also.

Transfer, Promotion.bd Reward Policies

19.4 PROMOTIONS AND PROMOTION POLICY
As stated earlier in the Unit, promotion is an upgradation or advancement in the organisation and is very different from transfer. Though many a times promotion and transfer go hand in hand. A promotion policy is required by an organisation to check favouritism in promotions and also employee discontent regarding career advancement. i) Promotions

Promotion or upgrading maintains organisational effectiveness through maintenance of employee morale and favourable attitude towards the organisation. Promotion of employees also enables the ~Tganisationto utilise expertise to the optimum level by providing adequate opportunities to those who have developed it through training and experience within the organisation. Promotion should be fair and on the basis of merit of the employees, as promotion is a great morale booster for an employee. Promotions are a major incentive for hard work and better performance. They usually mean more power, salary and perks along with the responsibilities of the job.
A few characteristics of Promotion are that it is:

a recognition of a job well done by an employee, a device to retain and reward and employee for his or her years of.service to the company, to increase individual and organisational effectiveness, to promote a sense ofjob satisfaction in the employee, to build loyalty, morale and a sense of belongingness in the employee, and to impress upon others that opportunities are open to them also. ii) Promotion Policy As mentioned earlier, promotion is the incentive for getting motivated and staying motivated. Sometimes favouritism is shown or else some employees are discriminated against on the basis of sex, age and so on, and are overlooked when promotion time comes up. Also if an employee is being constantly bypassed for promotion, no matter for what reasons, the employee will tend to be resentful, angry and hurt. So, it is very important that all the promotions in an organisation are properly monitored and for this there is the need of a promotion policy. Organisational policy on promotion helps to state formally the organisation's broad objectives, and to formulate both the organisation's manpower and individual career plans. Such documents are being increasingly issued by organisations in keeping with the changed environment of employee awareness and the increasing emphasis on career planning. One of the first requirements of a promotion policy is a statement of the ratio of internal promotions to external recruitment at each level, the method and procedure of selection (tradptest, interview), and the qualifications desired. Such a statement would help individuals as well as manpower planners to project numbers of internally available candidates for vacancies. In some organisations, such a ratio is fixed by a collective bargaining agreement, or in government and public sector it is laid down in rules.

Block-2 Human\pesource Development

The second exercise is to identify the network of related jobs and the promotional channels of each job, taking into accouht job relatedness, opportunities to interact with higher-placed executives to foster job learning, and qualifications - both academic and work experience required. Such an exercise will help in succession planning and also help aspirants to acquire the necessary formal qualifications or on-the-job training, and encourage them to attend suitable external development programmes. The network of related jobs can be established by job analysis. This process would also help in identifying promotion channels and steppbg-stone jobs, which once finalised should be made known to the employees concerned. Such channels and training leading to promotion are well defined in organisations. While exercising the right of promotion, 'the criterion of seniority (length of service) has to be given the highest weightage along with eligibility and suitability. , Seniority is given very heavy weightage in government and this has led to the law also providing for its consideration. To show favouritism or partiality to one set of workers regardless of merit will be considered to be unfair and under the law, trade unions or officers associations can take it to courts as an '>Industrial Dispute". It is pretty common in government and also frequently resorted to even by of!fice