Nonsense At Work

Time to be domoted?

I recently read about senior executives who removed themselves from the payroll to keep their construction company going. This got me thinking... what’s so wrong about being demoted?

Dr Lawrence Peter is famous for pointing out that people are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. In other words, if you are good at your job you will be promoted. If you are not, you won’t be.

Here’s the catch. If you are rewarded with a promotion only to struggle at the higher level, you will be fired. The company loses your skill and you lose your salary. Surely, a better option would be to demote you back to where you were a star performer.

The same should happen in times of trouble. Better to be demoted in terms of salary than to be fired. The company retains your skills and you keep most of your income.

After all, that’s what a recession really is - a shrinking, not a vanishing.