Should you resign if a junior staff is promoted ahead of you?

[Etini]

In organizations, there are inner workings that are not understood by the general members of staff. The CEO or the board of directors can make decisions that the staff don't understand. I have seen cases where a very junior staff is promoted to become a manager over staff that have been in the organization for a longer time. It can be very demoralizing. How does the senior staff handle this situation?

I have been a beneficiary of this arrangement before. I was one year and seven months in the organization and I was made the Head of the Department over a staff that had been there for four years. The guy just resigned and left to work somewhere else. He said that it was a slap on his face. Is that the right thing to do in that cricumstance? Does it mean someone cannot work under a superior who was a junior staff?

 

[Jasz]

The question is asked most frequently by new managers and senior executives who are trying to decide whether to let an employee go. The answer is yes.
But that's not because the employee has done something wrong. It's because the company needs to get better at what it does.

In my experience, most people who ask me this question have had bad experiences with their previous bosses — not necessarily because they were incompetent, but because their bosses were too close for comfort. They were also afraid of being seen as being disloyal or disliking their boss. Asking "Should I resign?" became a way of saying "I'm afraid of you." Asking "Should I resign?" should instead be a question about whether the organization is ready for change and growth — or whether it's time to move on.

 

[Holicent]

If you're the manager, it's your responsibility to make sure that your team is healthy and happy. If you have an employee who isn't contributing at the level he should be, or who isn't making positive contributions, then it's your job to help him get on track.

But if you're a junior employee who feels that he's being unfairly treated, then it may be time to walk away from the situation. Resigning can be very difficult, but it can also be very liberating. You'll no longer have to put up with someone else's bad behavior. You'll no longer feel like you're just one of many employees in a huge organization whose sole purpose is to serve their bosses' wishes.

If you really believe that your employer is wrong and does not understand what's going on in the company or why people are leaving (and considering how many companies there are out there these days), then maybe it's time for you to leave too.

 

[Yugocean]

Juniors are always promoted in almost every sector due to diffrent reasons, some good and some bad, this happens in Corporate Government, and even in NPOs.

Some people don't like it, and some just accept it. In my workplace too, many juniors are promoted, but I don't object, such things are happening since years, we cannot change it just one one person (also resign by one person isn't going to make any effect.

If you resign, then that would be your loss, you can still use your seniority, , most such juniors will either show you respect, or remain friendly with you, and you will not bear of a bad boss tension either, because your ex junior will be a wall between you any your senior.

We need good bosses too, so I don't find resigning for any reason that will not create a problem. Resign only when you get some better promotion.​

 

[Etini]

@Yugocean you don't understand how it feels when you have been a senior staff having been in the organization for like 7- 8 years. Then a small guy that was just employed some two years back is promoted to head your unit. Everyone would be demoralized in such a situation. The only saving grace should be that one does not need to make a hasty decision. The decision must be calculated.

If you think the promotion of the junior staff is borne out of malice against you, then you surely have to think of resignation. If it is based on merit, then you have to work harder. You need your mental sanity to even continue working there. This kind of things affect people mentally and hits on their psyche. There are the things superiors should consider when affecting promotions. There is what we can management psychology. You cannot mess with people's sanity like that.

 

[Activator230822]

That thing happened to me in my previous work place on the company that I was working in. I had served for the company for a period of six years with the same designation ever since I set a foot on the company. However the company management was doing the promotion of the staff based on tribal factor. When I was in my seventh year on the work place a junior staff was brought in to my department and I was instructed by manager to train him on how to work in the department. However I respected the order form the management and I did exactly what I was asked to do. After three months the colleagues had become very conversant with the department and he was able to work without my supervision.
I was then surprised to wake up on one day and find that he was promoted to the post of assistant manager for that branch. I thought of quitting the Job but I had not accumulated enough savings or I had never gotten any job offer somewhere else.
So I later managed to resign of the job due to a risen number of of the same cases as time elapsed over there.

 

[Suba]

The CEO or the board of directors when promoting employee positions certainly has many considerations (besides family factors), both regarding education, skills, intelligence thinking, decision making etc. Usually promotions are not carried out directly but through position rotation, both within the office and at branch company. Because the junior staff had proven their achievements, there would be no jealousy of the senior staff. I don't understand the intent and purpose of The CEO, whether he deliberately wants to get rid of or embarrass senior staff. I also don't know the actual state of your office, so I can't say whether a resignation should be done or not.

 

[eldavis]

Hmm to me i see no sense in giving up a job you probably worked hard to get simply cause someone you came before at the office was promoted and you are not. I think what you should do is find out why the other person was promoted instead of you. If the whole process is not rigged you would discover there was a reason for it. It would be best you find out the reason then work on improving yourself.