When Is a Promotion Not a Promotion?

I'm basing this post on a statistically significant national sample of ... oh well, all right, it's really based on the experience of three friends of mine, but that counts, doesn't it?

Back at the dawn of time, a "promotion" meant three things: more responsibility, a "better" title, and a higher salary. These days, "promotion" appears to mean only two out of three, and the higher salary isn't one of them.

In the past six months, three of my friends have been "promoted" to "better" positions with important new responsibilities. Which is great, except that they still have to do their old job, too.

I realize that times are tough out there, and that every business that's trying to stay in business is looking for ways to do more with less. But "human capital" is not the same as economic capital: it gets tired; it gets cranky; and it wants recognition for the hard work it is putting in.

Do the human resources departments that come up with the fancy new titles think that we're so gullible that we'll be caught up in the excitement of the new business cards ("Look, honey, I'm a senior director now!"), that we won't notice that we are now doing two jobs for the price of one? I'd like to think that they're smarter than that, and I'd hate to think that they're that cynical.

In at least one case, I believe that the corporate situation was dire. If "asking" your employees to take on double jobs (I'm putting that "ask" in quotes, because, especially in this job market, if you're "asked" to do two jobs, can you really say, No?) is truly a stop-gap emergency measure, then the company owes it to those employees to say so: "I know that what we're asking isn't fair. But here's why I think we'll have turned the corner in six months, and here's what I'm going to do for you then." Most people can handle six months at double-time (or whatever the time frame is -- as long as they know what the time frame is). What people can't handle is uncertainty. Is this "emergency" measure going to last a week, a month, a year? Or will the company conveniently "forget" once the moment of urgency is past?

No matter what your business, your employees are your greatest strategic resource. You deserve their loyalty and hard work, and I guarantee you'll get it -- as long as you give them your loyalty and appreciation.