A Promotion is something that every employee thrives for and works towards. But it is NOT something that is every employee’s right. It comes only to those considered deserving by the employer. The organization hierarchical structure is explained to an employee when s/he joins the organization. This is a mandate governed by HR to show the growth path to an employee that s/he can achieve in the organization.
If an employee works hard and achieves the desired targets as per her/his position/role in the organization, s/he graduates to a level higher in the hierarchy. This graduation comes with a Promotion Letter. A Promotion Letter is written by a senior representative of the organization and given to the employee who has been promoted. This letter serves a dual purpose – one informs the concerned employee that s/he has been promoted and second, motivates her/him.
A Promotion Letter is a very crucial influential letter in the life of an employee. So the tone of the letter should be inspirational and motivational. Ensure that careful use of adjectives is being done while drafting the letter. The letter should precede the promotion announcement. It is not a very good idea to take an employee by surprise in such cases. A promotion should be informed to an employee, a buy-in taken from her/him and then announced to the entire organization.
A Promotion Letter should be short and precise. It should include the current position of the employee, new position, who s/he will be reporting to, promotion effective date and any added perks/benefits that will come with the promotion.
DOS AND DON’T’S OF PROMOTION LETTER
- A Promotion Letter should always come after the decision of promotion has been discussed with the concerned employee
- Since this letter works as an inspiration and motivation for the employee, careful use of adjectives must be ensured
- A Promotion Letter should always be written on the company letterhead
- It should be short and precise
- It should give details of current position being held by the employee, new position that s/he will hold, person s/he will be reporting into and any monetary benefits that s/he is entitled to because of the promotion
- A Promotion Letter should always be typed to give it “the official look”
- A copy of the letter should be signed by the employee and returned to the organization as acceptance of offer
- A copy of the letter should also be put up on the staff notice board to inform all the employees of the organization
- Before handing over the letter to the employee please make sure that there are no grammatical or punctuation errors
