Job Promotions Bring Added Stress

Think you'd be happier if you finally got that long sought-after promotion? You might want to think again.

Getting a promotion is more challenging than nearly any other major life event, including divorce or the death of a loved one, according to managers and executives surveyed by Development Dimensions International, a consulting firm based in Collier, Pa.

"We grabbed 800 leaders and [asked], 'What's stressing you out the most ... what's the most challenging?' And they said more often than not, 'My job transition,'" said Matt Paese, vice president of executive solutions at DDI. "When you thrust people into a job with more pressure, what happens is that most people don't know how to
succeed."

The new study from DDI, "Leaders in Transition: Stepping Up, Not Off," makes the case that companies woefully underprepare their employees to handle the increased responsibilities of promotions. Once someone is deemed worthy of a promotion, said Paese, companies tend to take a "sink or swim" approach to the employee's success, rather than a nurturing approach.

In fact, just 27.8 percent of the American managers and executives surveyed said their companies were doing a good job preparing employees for job transitions.

What can make the transition to a new job so difficult, said Pease, is that as employees rise to higher levels, they find more of their day is being taken up with internal politics and planning, leaving less time for their actual work.

The problem is likely to grow more severe as baby boomers retire, and people get promoted faster than they otherwise would have.

"What we're going to be forced to do is put more and more people into jobs before they are ready," Pease said. "It's just going to keep happening more and more."