Are Dry Promotions Putting A Wet Blanket On Workplace Satisfaction?

In these tough economic times, pay rises are not always manageable, even if staff are smashing it on the performance front – but as a recent Frog Recruitment poll discovered, money isn’t the only way to recognise worth.

This month, Frog Recruitment polled 970 New Zealand workers[i] to find out if today’s challenging employment market was driving an increase in dry promotions - when a worker receives a new job title or additional responsibilities without an increase in salary. Almost half (43%) of those surveyed revealed that either themselves or a colleague had been promoted without a salary increase in the last 12 months, leading to feelings of resentment (31%), demotivation (31%), and increasing the risk of staff turnover (21%).

There’s no denying money matters, especially in a cost of living crisis, but as Frog Recruitment managing director Shannon Barlow points out, offering extra flexibility or benefits in lieu of a decent salary bump can go a long way towards easing employee dissatisfaction.

“Career progression, training and development are important to employees, but unfortunately many employers have been slow to recognise this. You may not be in a position to make pay increases this year but dry promotions could be seen as a way to start developing employees in the interim,” Barlow explains.

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Survey results echo this sentiment with 42% of employees saying skills development would make a dry promotion worthwhile, and another 26% saying they would be happy so long as it was the pathway to a pay rise – in other words, increasing someone’s responsibilities without added remuneration won’t erase the expectation for a future salary catch up. Not only that, but when it comes to review time, don’t blame the lack of increase on ‘budget constraints’ as according to 87% of workers this is not a valid reason.

For businesses wanting to retain top talent, dry promotions can be a risky business.

“It’s not ideal because it puts employers at risk of losing staff. Sure, you might be able to push back the pay rise by a few months or years, but talent will eventually leave if they don’t feel like their salary is at market level,” says Barlow.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for workers too – but does it warrant resignation? Right now, Barlow is not so sure.

“It’s a difficult position for employees in this situation. In the current market, negotiating some other kind of benefit might be the best option as it can be extremely hard to secure work. Think of it as a long-term investment in a future pay rise. Ultimately each individual needs to consider what’s right for them, but leaving the company may not always be the best bet.”

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