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Here is an interesting HR quandary: You have been grooming an employee for advancement and a position opens up. Do you promote that person or open the position to all employees? That is what CUES member Ken Facer, SVP/finance and risk management at $830 million/140,000-member Arrowhead Credit Union (www.arrowheadcu.org), with 533 full-time equivalents in San Bernardino, Calif., wanted to know when he asked for feedback on CUES Net(TM), the CUES-members-only listserve.
"A credit union wants to provide career growth opportunities for its employees, which means that all job openings should be posted so all qualified employees can apply. Sounds simple enough. But the credit union also encourages managers to train and groom their best subordinates for promotion. Both sound like good practices, right?
"Here's the problem. Assume there is an open branch operations manager position and the branch manager has been grooming one of her best employees for that position. Should she go ahead and promote that employee, or should the open position be posted so that any qualified employee can apply for it?
"Some issues to consider: A) Is it fair to ask people to apply for a position when the manager has in effect already made the decision? B) The promotion can be done immediately, while posting the position means leaving it unfilled for several weeks."
OPEN TO ALL
Most who responded to Facer agreed: The position should be advertised to all employees.
"Out of fairness, we post all openings for all staff members to apply for prior to posting...