Hong Kong employees ranked ‘Supervisor liking you’ as the most important factor in determining promotion. ‘Luck’ and ‘Good performance reviews’ came in second and third. Employees also rated ‘Working long hours’ and ‘Length of time since last promotion’ as the least important factor, according to the latest Job Promotions Report by jobsDB.
Taking a regional perspective, a total of 10,389 employees from seven Asian countries rated 'Good performance reviews,' 'Supervisors liking you' and 'Leadership ability' as the most important factors in determining promotion prospects. From an enterprise point-of-view, 493 hirers listed their most important factors as ‘Good performance reviews’, ‘Leadership ability’ and ‘Exceptional work’ , but saw ‘Luck’ and ‘Having friends or relatives higher up’ as the least important.
Hong Kong people don’t think they are promoted fairly
Hong Kong employees felt that the promotion decision-making process is not fair in terms of consistency, objectivity and opportunity to appeal. That view is held almost equally by those promoted as by those not promoted, meaning even those who were promoted feel they got their somewhat unfairly. Accordingly, HR departments should make their procedures more transparent to employees to enhance motivation and job satisfaction.
Justin Yiu, General Manager, Jobs DB Hong Kong Limited commented on the findings, “There is a big gap between the perception of employees and hirers on the decision criteria for job promotion. Some work needs to be done by HR departments to ensure that everyone fully understands what exactly hirers are looking for, such as having measurable key performance indicators, objective criteria and a clear system for choosing candidates, instead of just supervisor recommendations. That way employees can do their best to impress and win that promotion.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
