Mythbusting: “If I promote them, I still have a req to fill”

We’ve all heard it before: The pushback on promotions and mobility around the idea that filling one job with someone who already works for you means you still have a job to fill, right?

Sure.

Mostly.

The logic goes like this…

I have 10 open jobs.

If I fill 5 of them with internal people.

I will still need to backfill those 5 people, therefore, I still have 10 open jobs.

But, do you?

Truth be told, you’re probably going to have 15 jobs to fill because the 5 people who took the internal job were probably looking to leave anyway.

Ok, not all of them would have left. But some of them would, and that’s the real risk.

When people stay, great things happen.

Yes, you still have to backfill the role. But there is a good chance are you are backfilling a more junior role, which is (generally speaking) easier to fill.

In addition, the person who you’re backfilling will be around to train the new person.

The person you’re backfilling has a team that knows you value mobility and that they are supposed to grow and they can.

So, yes, you will have 10 jobs to fill, but you won’t have 15.

But the “real real” is you’ve saved 5 people from walking out the door, which means, you’ve helped save your company some major cabbage and you’ve made your employees happy, more fulfilled and content.