Ramsey WilliamsCase 17 Analyzing Promotion Data: Applying the 80% Rule

2/9/05Human Resource Management

Shawn Keough

Case 17 Analyzing Promotion Data: Applying the 80% Rule

The Human Resource Director for Food Chan Supermarkets receives a

complaint and a resignation regarding black employees being passed over for

promotions in his company. He proceeds to investigate these claims by looking

at promotion rates and four specific cases of black employees in the company.

The reports yields some startling results and is left wondering how to make

changes in his company in order to prevent future situations like this from

happening.

Looking at the raw numbers from the promotion data one might think that

the rates for promotion between black employees and white employees isn’t that

disparaging. The numbers from the past two years seem to show that while a

black employee is less likely to be promoted in a store than in the warehouse,

where in 1997 the number of blacks promoted exceeded white promotions. The

data dose show company wide white employees are more likely to be promoted

than blacks, but this is hardy proof of discrimination and any number of factors

could have contributed to the numbers.

The real evidence is in the details of the four employees’ profiled in the

report, all of them have been passed over for promotions and those positions

were filled by less qualified white employees, and in some cases these

employees were performing the job of “fill-in” supervisor at the time they were

passed over. All of these employees based on the report were more qualified

then the white employees that were promoted instead.

One probable cause for this situation is Food Chain’s “word of mouth”

promotion policy, open position are not posted, employees are not allowed to

formerly apply for positions and promotion decision are largely left to the

discretion of mostly white area managers. With no open and transparent system

in place for promotion its impossibly to assume that all the managers are aware

of all opening or even considering there personnel for positions, if these jobs

were posted in an open way the burden to seek promotions would fall to the

employee and a manager who may or may not like a particular employee. With

the current system you have a “good ol’ boy” network that only those that the

managers specifically like receive promotions.

The Human Resources Director should now prepare a memo to his

superiors informing them of what he has found and that he is going to restructure

the way promotions are handled company wide, creating an open transparent

process, which takes into account experience and qualifications as well as

manager recommendations. He should also take a close look at the managers of

the employees that have been passed over and perform whatever disciplinary

action is necessary and review other black employees files and try and see that

they are considered for future promotions within the company. All of the

managers need to receive training on promotion practices and discrimination.