Most new hires receive a contract, an orientation session and a friendly tip about where to get the best tea. They rarely get a guide to the unwritten rules of the workplace – how to challenge a manager, when to speak up, or why solid performance does not guarantee a promotion.
Performance alone isn’t enough for promotion
In 2007, Vinod Rai, then a senior manager at Shahi Exports, expected a promotion after a year of strong results and positive peer feedback. When the promotion list was published, his name was missing.
Rai asked his new boss for an explanation. The manager pointed to gaps in collaboration and senior stakeholder management – skills the boss said were essential for leadership roles. Rai initially doubted the assessment, wondering if personal bias was at play.
Years later, after rising to a CHRO position, Rai acknowledged that the feedback had been accurate. He realized that excelling as an individual contributor does not automatically translate into readiness for a broader leadership role that requires influencing others.
The episode illustrates a common mismatch: employees often gauge promotion readiness by their current tasks, while organizations evaluate candidates against future responsibilities that have not yet been performed. Without explicit criteria, the gap can catch high-performers off guard.
A title change may not equal new challenges
Ravi Mishra, head of HR at BITS Pilani, has never stayed longer than four years at any one firm. Across those moves, he observed that shifting functions, locations, or business units can build capabilities that staying in the same role cannot.
Mishra argues that a promotion is valuable only when it brings genuine changes in authority, responsibility, and problem scope. A new designation that leaves daily work unchanged may boost visibility but adds little to professional growth.
Read Also: Google bucks tech layoff trend with 10,000 new hires
Early in a career, titles serve as easy markers of progress because they are visible and comparable. The learning that accompanies a role, dealing with unfamiliar stakeholders, making decisions, or understanding a different part of the business, is harder to quantify but more impactful.
He suggests asking whether a role demands a skill the employee has not yet mastered. A lateral move that provides real responsibility can sometimes outweigh a vertical jump that preserves the status quo. However, titles, compensation and formal authority still matter, and endless lateral moves are not sustainable.
Rahul Pinjarkar, former CHRO of the Tata Group and current head of enterprise growth at Native One World, recounted a significant assignment that reshaped his outlook. Early in his career, his manager asked him to relocate to Calcutta to oversee the closure of a manufacturing plant.
Pinjarkar preferred to remain in a corporate office and initially resisted the move. His boss gave him a three-month window to find an alternative, effectively forcing a decision.
Pinjarkar went. The experience exposed him to organisational realities that he would never have encountered in a comfortable desk job.
Unwritten expectations and the need for dialogue
Organizations often leave important expectations hidden, assuming employees will infer them from everyday interactions. When a performance review feels harsh, it may be signaling gaps that are not documented. Managers sometimes convey these gaps through brief feedback, yet the employee may miss the deeper implication without a follow-up conversation. The result can be a surprise when promotion lists are released.
Why formal onboarding cannot cover every career test
Even the most thorough induction program cannot anticipate every challenging decision an employee will face. Early experiences, such as being asked to relocate or handle a complex closure, often arrive without prior notice. Those moments expose realities that a handbook cannot describe.
