From quiet quitting to boomeranging, the workplace has seen many trends over the past few months. And now, a new workplace trend which might be worrying for employees is on the rise. Called “dry promotion”, it highlights the growing trend of many employers giving a raise to their employees in terms of designation and responsibilities, but with no change in their salaries.
According to a report by Pearl Meyer- a compensation consultant, over 13% of employers recently chose to give their employees a dry promotion instead of increasing their compensation. In 2018, this number was 8% as per The Wall Street Journal.
Moreover, a survey by Mercer (a benefits-advisory firm) of 900 companies suggested that many employers have a low salary budget for hikes related to promotions in 2024, as compared to the previous financial year.
Dry promotions are seen to rise at a time when many companies are opting for cost and job cuttings, which leaves the employees at risk of asking for a raise. And so, this can be a worrying emerging trend for many employees which can push them to quiet quitting.
It is noted that in the past employers used to give a fair hike in money along with promotions in order to retain their well-performing employees. However, with job cuts and dry promotions on the rise, good-performing employees are left with few options— either take up the dry promotions or look for a job that compensates them fairly for the amount of work they do.
Talking about the risks of dry promotions for companies, Annie Rosencrans, HR at HiBob- a tech company, told SHRM magazine, “When companies offer employees no-raise promotions, they must be willing to accept that they run the risk of losing that individual if they don’t feel like they are being fairly compensated for their work.”
For employees who don’t have the option of quitting due to various personal reasons, they can also ask for compensation in other ways like more work-from-home options, flexible working hours, extra paid time-offs, etc. from their employers and negotiate what is good for them.
Meanwhile, employers too must know that in order to retain their best performing employees, they need to convey the dry promotions in a positive way and it all depends on the amount of trust between the employees and the employers. The employers need to show that they value and appreciate their employees. They also need to motivate them to work better by compensating in other ways like providing better learning and training on the job, or offering flexi working hours– all of which can make the employees feel more comfortable at work.
