Is your best employee asking for a promotion, and did your stomach just drop?

The question isn't "Does John deserve it?" It's "What does the business need?"

Spoiler: the right answer might be a promotion, a brand-new hire, or a retention bonus and a firm "not yet."

If you've got a team member asking for more money, more responsibility, or more autonomy (or you already promoted someone and it isn't working), this episode walks you through the process Melissa honed in corporate and brought into small business. You'll learn how to decide who to promote, when to do it, and how to set them up to succeed, so you can say yes, not yet, or "what we actually need is this" with clarity instead of panic.

In This Episode

• Why promotion conversations start, and why your gut panics when your longtime team asks for more
• Why specialists and people managers are rarely the same person (and what Bob taught Melissa about it)
• The one question to answer before you promise anyone a promotion: what does the business need?
• Why you need to know if the role is permanent or seasonal
• The 5 questions to answer before you say yes, including the backfill math most owners skip
• Why retention has nothing to do with title, and the alternatives to consider
• How to onboard a promoted employee like a new hire with a 30-60-90 plan
• What to do if you already promoted the wrong person (and why you can't sit on it)

Your homework: Before you talk to anyone, write down what your business needs at your current goal and the one after it.

Connect with Melissa:

Book a free consultation with Melissa → https://www.melissafranks.com

Learn more about On Call COO fractional services → https://www.melissafranks.com

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LinkedIn: Melissa Franks