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"Seniority is the best policy of promotion." Explain.
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When the promotion policy is designed, another problem arises and that is what should be the criterion or basis for promotion seniority or merit. Let us examine the merits and demerits of each basis.
(I)Seniority Basis—Seniority refers to length of service in the company or in its various plants or in departments or in a particular position. If seniority is adopted as the basis of promotion the senior most person in the lower grade shall be promoted as and when there is any vacancy in the higher position. The promotion will be an automatic process i.e. a matter of course. Seniority is decided by the organisation and every employee knows his place in the promotion list. Seniority is widely recognised as the basis of promotion in almost all types of organisations, particularly in organisation where trade unions generally emphasise on seniority rather than merit as the basis of promotion.
The merits of this basis are as under:
(1) Measurement with these criteria is straightforward, clear, simple and easily understandable.
(2) Seniority is in conformity with our culture in which seniority is respected in all walks of life seniority has wide acceptability among workers.
(3) It provides a feeling of security and assurance to employees. It reduces uncertainties and anxieties.
(4) It reduces labour turnover. As employees become senior, their chances of promotion also increase. This prevents them from leaving the organisation.
(5) It reduces chances of favouritism or dispute regarding promotion.
However, the basis of seniority for promotion has following demerits :
(1) Emphasis on seniority leads to the promotion of inefficients also. Oldest is not the ablest.
(2) It discourages workers to work hard or put extra efforts because they know that it will bring them no results. It affects the morale of meritorious workers and they leave the organisation to find better prospects outside.
(3) Under this system, management loses control over employees. The management can provide no incentives or punishment when employees are sure of promotion by seniority, they disrespect authorities.
(II) Merit or performance—Basis Merit*means ability to work. If merit is adopted as the basis of promotion, the most able person in the lower grade, no matter he is junior most in the company, shall be promoted. It encourages all employees to improve their efficiency. Merit may be determined by job- performance and by analysis of employee potential for development through written or oral examinations or personal interviews or their records of performance. Thus ability ignores the value of experience. Management personnel always insist on "merit" as the basis of promotion. Merit basis has following merits:
(1) Promotion on the basis of ability or merit encourages the efficient workers.
(2) This system gives total weightage to efficiency and awards no value to the length of service.
(3) Promotion on the basis of merit induces every worker to work hard.
(4) This basis is beneficial to both—organisation and employees.
It seems that the basis of merit is the best. But in practice, the merit basis creates many difficulties. The demerits of this basis are as follows:
(1) This awards no value to the length service.
(2) This may be misused by the management. Practice of favouritism and nepotism are prevalent in this system.
(3) Merit means different things to different employers and employees. Some may treat obedience and flattery as merit while others may treat work performance and sincerely as merit.
(4) If there are some cases of favouritism in promotion, there will be conflicts and general dissatisfaction among the employees.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that neither seniority nor merit can be sound criterion for promotion. In the interest of efficiency, justice and for satisfaction of employees, a compromise between seniority and merit should be worked out. Seniority should be given due weightage but fitness i.e., merit should not be forgotten. Promotion should, therefore, be given on the basis of merit-cum-seniority. This will afford the employees due recognition for their length of service while at the same time provide built- in-incentive for better performance. According to Paul Pigors and Charles Myers, "Seniority should be considered, but only when the qualifications of two candidates for a better job are, for practical purposes, substantially equal."
