SENIORITY VS. MERIT: Which should you use for promotion?
SENIORITY VS. MERIT: Which should you use for promotion?
Promotion
at work is made either on the basis of seniority
or on the basis of merit or both. Seniority
is a privileged status attained by an individual who has served in a position
or worked for an organization for a long period of time.
On the other hand, meritocracy is a system in which talented and hardworking personnel are chosen for promotions based on achievements, not because of their seniority.
Seniority
represents many benefits, including a deep understanding of organization culture,
vision, and goals. Moreover, senior employees have experience on their side,
which is a critical element especially in the selection of high leadership
positions. It is often assumed that the more senior you are, the more suitable
you are to lead a team. which isn’t always true.
That
comes along with its disadvantages. Seniority prevents brilliant personnel from
getting the motivation to improve their performance if they’re eligible for
higher positions. This will lead to labor turnover. In the end, the overall
production of the section/division will be affected.
That’s why if promotions are based purely on seniority, employees may not be as motivated to perform exceptionally, so it is essential to consider a merit-based promotion system to build an environment that will benefit the organization in the end. (Ref: Shaffick Hamuth https://bit.ly/30hgec2)
“We
can now easily be understood that seniority by itself is an incomplete
criterion. Much of the clamour for its recognition as the sole criterion is
based on the distrust of management. But in the interest of efficiency, equity
and a contented workforce, the management should work out a compromise between
seniority and merit. Only when coupled
with merit does seniority meet the two-fold aim of affording the employee due
to recognition for his years in service while at the same time providing him
with a built-in incentive to qualify himself for advancement. Thus, there is
always the problem of balancing one in relation to the other.” – (Ref: P.C Tripathi and P.N Reddy, Principle
of Management pg.213)
Source:
Shaffick Hamuth https://bit.ly/30hgec2
Esraa Gaafar https://bit.ly/33MvOyG
P.C Tripathi and P.N Reddy, Principle of Management pg.213