Companies in India use promotions to retain staff

Several companies have introduced quarterly and mid-year promotions and sometimes upgrade employees if a new role opens up, especially for key middle and senior management executives.

“Unlike the past, the velocity of change is much faster in industry dynamics than ever before, and learning curves are becoming faster and shorter. We now have a rolling calendar, and deserving employees do not have to wait until a year to be promoted if a role is available,” said S Venkatesh, group president of human resources at RPG Enterprises.

Similarly, Wipro has done away with annual promotions. From this year, it will offer quarterly promotions to its employees, which also come with a marginal hike. This, along with the regular increment, would mean employees see their salaries increase more than their peers.

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Taking a step further, cereal maker Kellogg South Asia has promotions all year round, where employees can be moved up the ladder. The aim is to make internal talent move up when a vacancy opens up rather than go external. “Out of all the roles which opened up last year, 60% were filled internally,” said Nimisha Das, director of HR, Kellogg South Asia, according to Mint.