Handling 4 Challenges of High performance and Promotion
Managing poor performance, getting unstuck, getting high-impact projects, and increasing executive visibility
Welcome to a paid member-only edition of Level Up: Your source for career growth solutions & community by retired Amazon Vice President, Ethan Evans.
Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget—here’s an email template to send to your manager.
Many of us will face similar challenges in our careers and the answers for one situation will be a helpful guide for many others.
That’s why I love answering “Ask Ethan Anything” questions from our Level Up community. I get to guide people through challenging situations and I know it will help others.
Today’s questions are centered around high performance and promotion.
Here are the 4 questions and my answers:
“How can you compassionately manage the process of firing someone who just isn’t a fit for the role?” — Senior Director, FinTech
“I keep getting rated Top Tier in the last 4 years without promotion. What more do I need to do or figure out?” — Finance Manager
“I got assigned to a project that doesn't have much business impact. How should I tell my manager that I don't want to do this type of project long term and want more impactful projects?” — Senior ML Engineer
“How do I increase my visibility with my SVP during a time of massive lay-offs?” — Senior Director, Data & Analytics
If you have a question for me, submit it in the form at the end of this article—I look forward to reading through them.
1. “How can you compassionately manage the process of firing someone who just isn’t a fit for the role?” — Senior Director, FinTech
When someone is truly unable to do a job or fit in with a team, compassion comes in the form of giving them clear feedback (if necessary) and then enough time to make a change.
First, I will assume that you have already done the work to try to help them succeed.
This includes being clear about what is needed in the role and the gaps that you see between their performance and those requirements. It also means understanding if they have personal or professional issues that could be resolved. Again, I will assume that you have done this and that the gap is still too great.
At this point, compassion means letting them go with dignity and enough time to at least start the search for a new job.
How to do this depends first on their self-awareness, and there are two forms it usually takes.
Case one is when the person does not understand that they are failing or disagrees with your standards. In this case, you must politely but firmly let them know that they do not have to agree, but that the standards are set and that they will need to leave. In the worst case, you may be unable to say this to them directly. You may have to document everything and create a performance plan, then administer it.
Case two is where the person does understand that they are not a fit for the role, but they are afraid to find another job due to a bad economy, a sick parent, good compensation, or some other factor. Note that you can have people who start in case one but end up in case two – once they understand, they still resist out of fear.
Compassion means giving them support (like a job reference) and time (a few weeks up to a couple of months) to get started on a new search.
I have often seen managers tell an employee: “Your full-time job is now to find a new job. You can work from here or from home, but spend all your time finding a new role.”
You also tell them: “We can support this for (2 weeks, 6 weeks, whatever you can do).”
If your employee simply refuses to accept anything, then you need to fire them with a reasonable severance.
If your employee agrees to leave on their own at the end of the agreed upon time period, you can usually trust them to do so. In my career, I never had an employee refuse to follow through on an agreed termination. If you treat people with respect, they will usually do the same in return.
In summary, compassion means clarity and enough time to adjust to the new reality. If the employee or HR tries to force you down a path of ugly paperwork, see if you can work around that. If you must go that route, do not allow the paperwork and process to make you mean or impersonal.
What compassion does not mean is allowing a poor performer to stay. That hurts other people on your team and does not help the poor performer in the end.
2. “I keep getting rated Top Tier for the last 4 years without promotion. What more do I need to do or figure out?” — Finance Manager
“Top Tier” is the top rating within the Amazon rating system, and it is only given to the top 20% of a team.
If you are consistently Top Tier but have not been promoted for four years, one or more key stakeholders do not see you as having the skills for the next level.
It is possible to be killing it in your current job and doing it so well that you are a top performer while still having a critical gap of what is needed at the next level. While this is relatively rare, it is one of two explanations that match your situation.
The other explanation is that there is someone who personally dislikes you but cannot refute your high performance rating.
While it might be tempting to blame personal dynamics, you should always begin by trying to get clarity on your performance. As a veteran top performer, you should have the access and the relationships to ask your manager, your skip-level manager, and your key stakeholders what gap they see holding you back from the next level.
If you feel you cannot have these candid conversations with your leaders after four years, that right there is your problem.
This should apply at all companies, but definitely at Amazon, it is a legitimate question to ask:
“I have been a top performer for four consecutive years, but I have not been promoted. I know how unusual this is. I promise not to take offense at what you say – please help me understand what I am missing that is holding me back?”
If you ask several people, it should become clear.
If you cannot get a clear reason after asking multiple people, then it is time to take your high performance to another team or company that will appreciate you.
Good luck!
3. “I got assigned to a project that doesn't have much business impact. How should I tell my manager that I don't want to do this type of project long term and want more impactful projects?” — Senior ML Engineer
I am glad that you want to make an impact and are thinking about business results. If your manager is any good, they will feel the same way, provided you approach them the right way.
Here is how I suggest you go about it: