PROMOTION Meaning, Definition, Purposes and Principles

Table of Contents:-

Meaning of Promotion
Definition of Promotion
Purposes of Promotion
Principles of Promotion

Meaning of Promotion

Promotion is very commonly used in every organization. When an employee moves to a higher position because of his good performance, this movement from a lower to a higher level position is called a promotion. Promotion occurs when internal employees are entitled to a higher post in the same organisation and are selected for the same. Besides that, a company can also hire candidates externally for the vacancies available in the organisation.

Promotion/marketing communications is a process of communication, by which the producers of the products or services draw the attention of the consumers or prospective consumers towards their products and services. Consumers are informed and reminded about the products and are requested and persuaded to purchase their products. Such communication may be made either along the product or well in advance of the introduction of the new product into the market.

Promotional communication has a triple purpose to perform i.e., to inform, to persuade and to remind, which are being fulfilled at the different stages of the product life cycle.

For example, in the introduction stage promotion’s main function is to inform, in the growth stage to persuade and in the maturity stage remind and persuade. Promotional communication is not always directed towards the ultimate consumer. It can be for industrial customers, institutions or sometimes for middlemen. Promotion is an important tool for both profits as well as non-profit organisations.

Definition of Promotion

According to Paul Pigors and Charles A. Myers, “Promotion is the advancement of an employee to a better job in terms of greater responsibility, prestige or stats, greater skill and especially in of salary”.

As per Arun Monapps and Mirza Salyadain, “Promotion is the upward re-assignment of an individual in an organisation’s hierarchy, accompanied by increased responsibilities, enhanced status and usually with increased income though not always so”.

According to Yoder, “Promotion provides incentives to the initiative, enterprise and ambition minimise and unrest; attracts capable individuals, necessitates logical training for advancement and forms an effective reward for loyalty and cooperation, long service, etc”.

Philip Kotler states, “Promotion compasses all the tools in the marketing mix whose major role is persuasive communications”.

According to Stanton, “Promotion includes advertisement, personal selling, sales promotion and other selling tools”. Thus, promotion includes every activity which inspires people to buy the goods and services of the company. Promotion is that marketing communication activity that attempts to inform and remind individuals and persuade them to accept, resell, recommend or use a product, service, idea or institution.

Purposes of Promotion

The promotion of an employee takes place to achieve the following purposes:

1) Utilizing Employee Skills

The best way to make an organisation effective and successful is to ensure the best use of the skills and knowledge of the existing employees of the organisation. It will not only lead to the successful growth of the organisation but will also result in employee satisfaction.

2) Fostering a Competitive Spirit

Promotion is one of the best ways to develop a spirit of competition among the existing employees. It creates great enthusiasm in the employees working at the same level to work hard, gain knowledge and achieve a higher level of the job.

3) Encouraging Employee Self-Development

Promotion leads to the self-development of the employees. Employees try to gain new knowledge to get promotions to a higher level; this knowledge in turn helps them in self-development.

4) Fostering Contentment Among Employees

The promotion gives a sense of job satisfaction to the employees working in an organisation. They feel themselves to be an integral part of the company and feel comfortable in the prevailing environment of the organisation. There is a sense of belongingness. This facilitates the development of a relationship of loyalty between the employees and the organisation.

5) Encouraging Employee Engagement

Promotion inculcates a zeal and interest in the existing employees in different training and development programmes. This helps them to gain more knowledge about various fields of the same organisation.

6) Recognizing and Rewarding Employees

Promotion is a form of reward which is given to the employees based on their past performance, dedication, loyalty, etc. The promotion encourages them to work hard and they put their best efforts toward the well-being of the organisation.

7) Assisting with Problem-Solving

Promotion helps in reducing several problems created by the union leaders. When these union leaders are promoted to some responsible positions, the sense of being ‘accountable’ restricts them from indulging in any kind of problem for the organisation.

Principles of Promotion

Promotions are not done on a random basis. An organisation cannot pick any of the employees and promote that employee according to their wish. Certain criteria have to be followed to promote the most deserving and eligible candidate who can work in the interest of the entire organisation.

Thus, there should be a proper layout or policy that should be followed by the organisation to carry on the promotion procedure. It is known that personnel at different levels of an organisational hierarchy make different demands on a promotional system.

Normally, organisations prefer those promotional systems which make provision for the placement of existing and trained personnel. This helps fill the vacancies with the most suitable candidate within the organisation after careful judgement by the company’s top management. Thus it can be said that formulating a promotional policy is essential for the selection of efficient employees in an organisation.

A good promotion policy should be based on the following principles:

1) Uniformity

Promotional opportunities should be uniformly distributed throughout the organisation. Uneven distribution of promotional opportunities may make the employees disrespect the promotional policies of the organisation. Thus, the promotional opportunities at different levels and departments should be in equal ratio to the external recruitment.

2) Consistency

A promotion policy must include regular promotions. Promotions should be given by the organisation from time to time so that employees get motivated to work hard. A larger gap between two promotions may discourage an employee, diminishing the enthusiasm to work in the interest of the company.

3) Fair and Impartial

Promotion policy should be unbiased and fair i.e., there should be no scope for any doubts or suspicion in the minds of other employees. Management should be completely responsible for the selection of the most suited individual for the promotion.

4) Planned Activity

The promotion policy should be well-planned. Promotion charts may be prepared by the management to assess the organisation’s employees’ efficiency. Moving in a planned manner will help in correct assessment avoiding any kind of chaos or misunderstanding on the part of the management.

5) Definite Basis

The promotion policy should be based on any of the following criteria either merit-based promotion or seniority-based promotion. The management can also follow merit cum seniority criteria for the smooth functioning of the organisation as well as the employees. But the basis should be specific and mentioned.

6) Right to Appeal

The promotion policy must provide the employees with the right to question the fairness of the promotion given to the existing employees by the management.

7) Sanction

Different departmental heads should be given the right to propose the names of potential candidates having good performance records for the vacancies available in the organisation. In this way, other departments cannot point out the bias on behalf of the management. Thus, all promotions should be first sanctioned by the concerned departmental heads and then finally by the management. Thus, it will lead to the uninterrupted working of the organisation.

8) Follow-up

A sound promotion policy must involve regular follow-ups and counselling of the promoted employee. A brief interview should take place between the promoted employee and the new superior to see whether everything is going well or not. Promotions can also be made for a trial period so that if case promoted employee proves to be inefficient he can be reverted to his previous post and previous pay scale.