Surprise! Your Manager CANNOT Guarantee You A Promotion!

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Hey folks, we are going to experience dev subreddit and the topic is going to be about uh managers promising promotion. And so this uh developer was saying they've been at a company I think for 2 years now. And uh I think this is a pretty typical sort of thing where uh someone says their manager is promising them a promotion like hey you know finish finish this project and you're going to get promoted and then what happens is that they don't get promoted. Uh and I've I've had different flavors of this exact same Reddit post where people talk about it out of frustration rightfully so, right? where they're like, I, you know, someone was dangling this impossible project in front of me and I did it and I did more and then I still didn't get promoted and like this is and yeah, like the the frustration is obviously warranted.

Um, but I wanted to talk a little bit about this because um, it's like you're probably in your career you'll you'll encounter this multiple times uh, unfortunately. And um, there there's like a secret that's not it's not really a secret, but I don't think maybe people uh, see it or understand it necessarily. So, I'll share the secret with you. Um, and for some of you, you're going to say, "Well, no Nick. um but and others maybe just haven't really realized but um managers can't guarantee promotion like end of story. That's that's it. Um unless your man I responded on this uh Reddit thread and I said basically like unless your your manager owns the company like they can't guarantee a promotion. It's it's simply not in their control to do that.

Which sounds kind of ridiculous because I realize that even, you know, when I talk about this kind of stuff on this channel and other content, uh you'll hear me saying things like, "Hey, make sure you're aligned with your manager on expectations because they're the one who's going to be um you know, an essential part of your of your promotion." Like basically, if they're not bought into it, you're not going to get promoted. But the the sort of the missing link is that it's a um it's a necessary thing but it's not sufficient if that makes sense. It is not the only thing that needs to happen and that's like I said because your manager does not actually get to decide that what they can decide to do is represent you in those conversations in promotions and reward conversations and sort of uh you know go go to bat for you.

they can they can say hey I believe that this person is justified for these rewards or this promotion here is the evidence so they can go on your behalf to represent you put you forward for that but at the end of the day a manager cannot guarantee a promotion and if you're like I don't know if you're new here um I'm telling you this as someone who's been an engineering manager for 13 years at a startup up that grew into a company that was uh they IPOed after I left for uh I don't know how much but they got bought back to private for $2 billion. Um so that was you know I was employee number seven or eight there. So got to see being an engineering manager in that environment. I've been an engineering manager at Microsoft now for over 5 years. Um, same thing both situations.

Managers do not get to guarantee promotions because it is literally not something that we have the ability to guarantee. And unfortunately, managers use this kind of thing. And unfortunately, sometimes managers are implying what I'm telling you, which is like, I will, you know, go represent you. But that's not what they say because they use words and phrases like, you know, deliver this project. This is what you need to get done to get promoted and and then people ultimately get disappointed when it doesn't happen. You know, one of the just to give you an example of like why promotions can't be guaranteed by managers, just one simple example. Um, so say let's take Microsoft for an example. And this is obviously different at different companies. I'm just giving you a one-off. Uh Microsoft has one at least in the Microsoft 365 side of the company. We have um it's split into quarters and we have a main promotion cycle.

And so this is where the maj overwhelming majority of promotions happen. This is like where you will have uh rewards conversations about, you know, increases in salary or stock rewards, things like that. That's the primary time of year. There are three other times of year and they're basically offset at, you know, the different quarters where there's promotions. The first, if you think about it, after the the big promotion cycle, the next promotion cycle is one where there is in terms of budget, the most available budget. Why? Because it's fresh. The promotion cycle after that, which is, you know, half a year after the main one, that is where the next most amount of budget is. But if you think about it, it's because we're chewing through the budget as the year goes on. And then there's one more final one, and that has the fewest number of promotions statistically.

And one of the main reasons is that there's usually not budget remaining for that. It's pretty rare that there's budget available at that time. So if a manager was telling an employee, hey, like just to give you an example, it's like at this this last sort of quarter before the main promotion cycles, like hey, like you know, get this project done and like I'm you're going to get promoted in this at this off cycle time. Like they can't guarantee that because if there isn't budget available, it simply is impossible. They don't get to decide that. And like that's why I'm saying it's it's not really it's not secret, but I I think that it's surprising to some people, especially given how some things are communicated. I got to get out of this lane. Holy crap, this is terrible. Um, and you know, I'm not I'm not blaming like uh you know, software engineers.

I'm not blaming the managers. It's kind of like software engineers need to be aware of this and engineering managers need to communicate more clearly andor stop bullshitting people because they can't make that promise. It's just it's not Oh, come on. I couldn't merge over. So, this lane is like people backed up trying to exit. Here we go. One more. Okay. Excellent. Uh, now that we're not stuck in traffic on the highway. Um, yeah. So, like it's it's not any one group's fault. I do think that managers, a lot of managers unfortunately perpetuate it and that's certainly unfair. Like I I'm not I'm not just trying to say like, oh, it's a software engineer's fault like managers are innocent. Like absolutely not. Um I I really think that managers that have a difficult time getting employees engaged and motivated and whatever else, it's like a it truly is like trying to dangle a carrot on a stick to get people motivated.

And it's like, oh well, you know, wrap up this project because trying to get you motivated to finish it and like promotion on the other side, but like it's just not it's not sensible. You cannot guarantee that. Now, what what can managers do like if they if that there's something interesting about that incentivization, right? It's um in my opinion it's the it's the wrong thing if a manager is trying to like you know air quotes like trick an employee into being more engaged by promising something that they can't actually guarantee. Um that's the wrong thing. But at the end of the day like what is it that we all want, right? We want to make sure that we can deliver high value on time to customers, right? That's what the business needs. And as employees, we want to be able to grow in our careers and have meaningful impact.

I mean, variations of all of this, right? Grow in your career might mean new challenges. It might be higher compensation. It might be more responsibilities. Like all these things, but generally speaking, it's it's roughly roughly this. If you disagree, it's probably just because you're thinking of different flavors of these things. And that's fine. Uh but, you know, there there's something in it for you as the employee, and there's something in it for the business. And ideally, we want to find ways to align on these mutually, right? It's not it's not sustainable if it's like if these things aren't balanced, right? You know, companies overwork people and underpay them. Looks looks great for the company in the short term. It's not sustainable. It's not a long-term solution. People don't want to work there, right? And then they're going to do shitty work or they're going to leave and that's ultimately going to not be helpful for the company.

So, we want to find mutually beneficial ways to, you know, help the company achieve its goals and make sure that employees feel like, hell yeah, I love what I'm doing and I feel like I'm, you know, being valued here and being compensated fairly for it. These are these are achievable things. And if you're if that bothers you, like the thought of that, it's probably just because you've had bad experiences with that. And I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying like these are genuinely achievable things. So when managers lean so far into one side of this where it's like you know I'm I'm being pressured as a manager to deliver and so therefore I'm going to you know what's the what are the things I can you know pull up from my sleeves to get employees to be more engaged. Oh like land this project that's going to be the impactful thing and what can I offer right?

Well, I can tell you promotion, but like they can't guarantee that. So, my my sort of warning to you as a software developer, and this also applies for engineering managers, like if your manager is trying to promise you that they're going to promote you, they can't. End of story. What they can promise though and this comes back to one of the things that is like you know what's in it for you is that they can talk to you about the things that they are looking for to be able to represent you confidently. Right? So for example, I would love to be able to every single quarter promote everyone on my team. I would love to give them higher rewards every every opportunity. It's just not realistic. It's also not in my control to be able to press a button to make that happen. So, what is in my control?

Being able to represent my employees where I have sufficient evidence to make a case for it. So, how does that happen? Well, I have to I work with my employees to make sure they know what I'm trying to see. that I'm I'm trying to collect certain evidence that if I want to go represent them, I'm like, I need to see more of this type of thing or I need to see I need to see impactful work landing, right? So, well, Nick, doesn't that sound like, you know, you land this project and like then you're going to get promoted? Like, it absolutely does sound like that. But the big difference, and I've learned this the hard way, is that what you cannot do is say, "Land this project and you will get promoted. It simply is an invalid, incorrect, untrue statement." What can be true is if you work through this project, right?

If you are able to land this project, deliver the impact on it, that is absolutely going to be something that I can use in a conversation regarding promotion. I want to tell employees, look, when it comes time for the next promotion cycle or conversations around this stuff, like here, like here are the things that I need to be able to see to go represent you properly. So, I will try to have conversations with employees on that kind of stuff. because that is the thing that I can promise is that I will go represent you and try to make a case for it. That's all that I can promise though. Now that's it's kind of weird because as a manager like in a conversation like that it's kind of um you know like the the one the one thing that you can do for your employee is like now taken away right I can't promise promotion I can't like I can't say oh do this thing for me and you'll get X.

It's like I'm I'm telling employees I can't even can't do that for you right I would be lying if I told you that. But what I've actually found happens, and this requires other work in the working relationship, but what I found actually happens is that people appreciate that. It sounds kind of backwards cuz obviously I think someone would love to hear and believe that if I said, "Do this. I will promote you." That they would be like, "Okay, Nick said so. Like, let me do the thing and I'm guaranteed a promotion." I think people would like that, but I can't do it. So, I have this conversation with them and I've genuinely found that people appreciate it. And I think the reason that they appreciate it is because we've spent time working together where there's trust and respect that goes both ways. They know that I'm not them around.

I'm not lying to them. They know that I am, you know, going to uh what's the word? uh be like accountable. So if I say that I'm going to do something that I will do it. And that means if I'm telling them, hey look, these are the areas that I need more evidence in. And by the way, uh more evidence does not mean you suck at this. You have to start doing it. Sometimes it's like you're doing this uh in a really awesome way already. and like this is the best opportunity in my opinion for you to continue focusing because it will demonstrate the most value, right? Does not mean shortcoming. I'm trying to be very clear about that. But having these conversations and saying these are the areas where I'm trying to get better representation for evidence and saying something like this project is a good example of this, this, this, and this.

That's why landing it is going to be so helpful. Not only is it impactful in terms of the value it delivers, but when we talk about expectations in a role, it's a good example of like designing systems, it's a good example of like um you know working uh with stakeholders or customers. It's it's like going through a rubric and trying to say like here's how it maps. I have found that people really appreciate this because they they'll say like Nick, I know I know that you can't promise promotion. I understand that there's other factors, right? like the one I've talked about in this video is a budget, but also like uh for what it's worth, the more senior that people become, the less sort of pull or sway that I have as a manager when it comes to recommending promotions. What does that mean?

Well, if I have a entry-level developer and I am trying to put them up for promotion, usually what will happen is that like it's it's much better understood and I I the phrase I want to use is going to come across wrong. So, just prefacing this like the bar is lower for promoting entry-level developers. And I don't mean the bar is lower as in like we just, you know, it's like shitty candidates, whatever, who cares? It's just like no like truly the expectations going from an entry-level developer to the next level is is a lower bar than like a senior into principal or principal within the principal band just like objectively the bar is much higher at those levels. Uh it's not the quality of of the human right that's not what I'm saying. So because the bar is lower, there's a lot less push back.

There's a lot less scrutiny. And so for more entry-level developers, it's a lot more like manager says so, okay, like we trust you, right? It's like you'll get a lot less push back. There are things that can result in more push back or like curiosity. Like if I had an entry- level developer and uh you know within like a month or something there's the first promotion cycle that they're around for and I'm like I want to promote this person. Someone might go hey look like you know not saying you're you're wrong but like just just kind of calling out something that's standing out to me which is this person seems like they're brand new. So like can you explain you know what's up? And you know, I've seen conversations like this where it's like, hey, this person was brought in and like they're just misleled.

It's like end of end a story and like here's, you know, here's 10 examples off the top of my head and and in those conversations sometimes it's like okay, like yeah, makes sense. Like wonder how we missed that or whatever happened during hiring was missed, blah blah blah. Um, cool. When people are more senior, it's like like I said earlier in this video, it is a um it's required but not sufficient for a manager to say I want to promote this person. Right? To give you an example, uh at principal level for me, Microsoft levels are are kind of weird. Uh I'm it's weird at every big tech place, but um Microsoft has a numeric leveling system and then there's names for the bands as well. So like 59 is a entry level software developer and uh goes up by you know single numbers up to 65 is the first level of principle.

So um most recently I was able to go from 65 to 66 and in in those conversations like yes it is required that my manager is bought in and tries to represent me in promotion conversations. required, not sufficient because he can be like, "Hell yeah." Um, and it still won't go through. For context, on the previous team that I was on, uh, this is exactly what happened. My manager said, "Hey, like I, you know, I'm I'm going to try and put you through for promotion." And she absolutely did, but it was not sufficient. The next thing that's required, but not sufficient, is that my skip level manager has to be on board. So, usually the way that works, again, we're talking about up in higher levels, is that my manager will talk to my skip and be like, "Hey, this is this is my plan, right?

I think this person's ready. Here's the evidence." And they're, you know, convincing the skip level. And the reality is like if the manager is like having to try really hard to convince a skip level manager, it's it's probably going to be a really uphill battle from that point. So usually those conversations are more like um the manager needs to feel very confident that when they go to their skip level that you know that skip level manager is already aware of what that person's doing and it's more like the conversation is cool. Okay, here's what you're saying. Let's talk about where the gaps are. Let's talk about the strengths because again it's not sufficient for the skip level manager to approve.

It's required not sufficient because what happens beyond that is that it will go to the skip like skip skip skips how do you say that uh like my skip level manager's boss it will go to conversations with their delegates so my skip level's peers and if they're not aware of the impact of the work that's being done that's it conversation's And the reason for that is that if it's the the type of impact is not felt at the organization's level, it is not sufficient at that level. Okay. So I the reason I'm walking through this is to kind of show you that let let's let's use my manager as an example. This is not what happened. I'm just just to illustrate a conversation is like if my manager said, "Hey Nick, you deliver this project. I'll promote you.

Not only is that a like a false statement because he can't, but like he would like it would need to go to my skip level manager and not even he can say, "Nick, I will promote you." He'd have to do the same thing where he's like, "Nick, I will, you know, I have sufficient evidence. I will represent you in promotion conversations." because ultimately at that level it needs to be able to go to his peers to also have input right so all of these things become necessary but not sufficient at their own. So yeah, you you cannot as a manager be guaranteeing that kind of stuff in terms of promising promotions, but you can, you know, if you if you genuinely mean it, you can tell people, look, like these are the things that I need evidence for, and you know, if I have sufficient evidence, I do promise you I'll go represent you in those conversations because that is in your control, right?

You can't make promises for that you can't deliver on. It's just it's it's uh it's really setting you up for for problems. Okay. So, that's my takeaway that I want for people is like, you know, if a if a manager is is telling you, hey, like do this, I'll promote you. Um either I mean, there's a handful there's a lot of things that could be happening. One is that they're just bullshitting you, trying to get you to do stuff. Two could mean that like they're not doing a good job communicating this to you, but what they actually mean is like if you do this work, I feel that I can have the conversation to promote you. I think this is hopefully the more common one is just a miscommunication because I do think that first example is kind of shitty uh as a manager to be able to say like I'm just going to be misleading to my employees.

Uh but I genuinely think most of the time it's managers being like you know this is going to help for sufficient evidence that I feel good to talk about it. Um, and then there's probably some other flavors of this, but I think those are the two main things. So, I it I think it should get you to pause. Like that's my my goal after you watch this video is like the next time some some manager is telling you do this and you'll get promoted is like it's probably one of these two things. One, they're bullshitting you. And if you feel that your manager is someone that you trust, they've been uh dependable, right? they're accountable for their actions, that kind of thing. Um, what they probably mean is that second case, which is like, I feel that I can go represent you in those conversations.

If you feel that you have a really bad working relationship with your manager and like um I don't know, like it's hard to trust them kind of thing, it might be the former. Maybe it is the the latter, but probably the former where they're trying to get you to do things and they don't have good engagement or motivation tactics and they just rely on on old faithful, oh uh I'll promote you. It's unfortunately. Right? So, you know, that's that's my takeaway. if you're a you know individual contributor also applicable for managers but you know if you're a manager like um you know reminder don't people um it's not it's such a a shortterm thing that's going to backfire you you might get lucky and it's been something you've been able to sustain but like I can basically guarantee one day this will backfire on you and that is a real conversation.

And if you don't believe me, just listen to the internet. When you hear people talk about managers that promise them promotions and they didn't get it, those people don't want to work for that manager because the trust is gone. You can't promise people things like that. So, if uh if that's your your old faithful go-to, I urge you to stop. That's my wife walking dogs. Sorry. Back in my driveway and it's raining and our garbage bins out. my wife was walking dogs and there's a car coming. Um, yeah, you need to find other engagement tactics for your employees because like that's that ain't sustainable and uh it's also So, don't do it. Anyway, thanks for watching. Uh, appreciate you being here and if you have questions, leave them below in the comments. Otherwise, go to codemute.com, submit stuff anonymously that way, or just message me on social media.

It's dev leader on basically any channel. Um, and yeah, thanks for being here. here. I'll see you in the next one.