Why managers should let employees ‘pitch’ themselves for promotions

The U.S. workforce is in the midst of a disengagement crisis, with data from Gallup showing that three-quarters of employees (77%) are either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged.” This signals a major issue for companies. Not only do disengaged employees cost the economy trillions of dollars in lost productivity, but they also create an environment of discontent, a lack of creativity, and a lack of ambition to grow—especially when performance feedback is often provided infrequently and so sparingly.

So what is the key to keeping employees motivated? How can companies and managers keep their teams engaged and forward-thinking? By shaking up how their team members are given feedback, coached, mentored, and rewarded.

Some companies—like my mobile gaming company Avia—are reimagining performance reviews by allowing their employees to pitch for their own promotions. This approach not only empowers employees to take control of their career paths but also creates a more fair, motivating, and (drumroll, please) engaging workplace.

Disengagement and feeling unappreciated

Employees often feel that their efforts are going unnoticed or that there are no clear opportunities for advancement—especially when following a schedule of annual reviews. This can lead to frustration and burnout. When people are unsure about how to progress in their careers, they may begin to feel stagnant, which contributes to disengagement and can result in high turnover rates and low organizational performance, both of which impact a company’s bottom line.

However, when employees are given the chance to advocate for their own career growth, they feel more empowered and in control, boosting morale and fostering a sense of autonomy and ownership over their careers.

Empower employees with ownership of their career growth

One of the most powerful aspects of allowing employees to pitch for their own promotions is that it puts each person in the driver’s seat of their own progression. Rather than having promotions handed down from on high, employees are allowed to demonstrate why they deserve to take on more responsibility.

For example, at AviaGames, employees can pitch themselves for promotion once per year in addition to their regular review, providing two opportunities for advancement annually. Promotion evaluations include a set of criteria that guides both leaders’ nominations and employees’ presentations to ensure credibility.

The full process—which includes stages such as leader nominations, presentations, and management approval—includes skill demonstrations and a review panel to mitigate biases and promote transparency. All in all, this process takes six weeks, which means employees are informed of the results promptly.

It has proven successful, too; in the second half of 2024, with approximately 300 employees, around 100 met the basic criteria for promotion nominations. After an initial evaluation by leaders, nearly 40 employees were formally nominated, and following assessments by the review panel and confirmation by senior management, approximately 80% were promoted, receiving significant and competitive salary increases. This is higher than industry averages, given data shows that only 7.3% of employees were promoted to managerial roles in January 2024.

Set clear standards and rigorous evaluation

It can’t be a free-for-all where employees can pitch themselves for promotions whenever they please and where decisions are made subjectively. As such, the following elements are critical for companies to put in place to make pitching for promotions effective:

• A preset and communicated cadence of when promotions can be pitched: This can be semiannual or quarterly, and what works best for each organization depends on its size, structure, and needs. 

• Clear guidelines for what qualifies someone to be promoted: These must be transparent, applicable across the organization, and accessible to employees in the company handbook. 

• An unbiased panel of judges and a presentation component. Demonstrating one’s skills and management or next-level readiness is critical and should be done before a group comprised of people that the team member works with regularly and those with whom they don’t overlap daily. This helps eliminate the influence of personal preferences and levels the playing field. 

• Feedback for employees that don’t make the cut. Clear feedback is valuable in giving employees direction about what they need to work on to get to the next level, rather than leaving them feeling like the path forward is murky. 

• Expectations for the new role for those who are promoted. Setting people up for success is key, so if someone is promoted, leaders must give them the tools to perform well in that new position.  

Encourage growth and continuous improvement

The idea of pitching for promotions also encourages continuous growth among employees. When employees know that they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their accomplishments and ask for a promotion, they are more likely to take on new challenges and stretch their abilities, ensuring everyone is striving for excellence and operating at peak productivity.

Allowing workers to pitch for their own promotions is a powerful strategy for boosting employee engagement, retention, and performance. By putting employees in charge of their career growth, companies can create a more transparent, motivating, and fair promotion process. This not only enables employees to take ownership of their careers, but also helps foster a culture of continuous development—leading to a more committed, satisfied, engaged, and high-performing workforce.