Promoted and Lost: Why Internal Promotions Without Support Often Fail
Internal promotions can fail, not because the person wasn’t ready, but because the support wasn’t.
At Caerus Strategy, we see this pattern across industries: top performers get promoted, only to struggle with the shift in expectations, relationships, and scope. The result? Frustration, disengagement, and too often an exit or the employee being labelled "over-promoted".
This isn’t a people problem. It’s a process gap. And it’s fixable.
From Execution to Elevation: Why the Transition Is So Hard
Internal promotions are often leveraged as a reward mechanism for doing a great job in an employee's current role. What is sometimes overlooked is that a promotion often involves a full identity shift, especially when moving from individual contributor to manager, or from peer to leader.
What changes?
Scope: The new role may require strategic thinking, cross-functional influence, or team leadership where in the previous role there were no expectations of those skills so they were not rigorously developed.
Relationships: Navigating former peer dynamics or managing ex-teammates can be emotionally complex and politically risky.
Expectations: The individual is now held accountable for outcomes, not just output and often with little clarity or coaching on what that looks like.
Without structured support, even high-potential employees can find themselves overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure of how to succeed.
The Mistake of Assuming “They Already Know the Business”
It’s true, internal hires (what a promotion is at the end of the day) understand the culture, tools, and context. But that familiarity can be misleading. It often leads to under-investment in mentoring and role transition support.
Here’s the reality: knowing how things work isn’t the same as knowing how to do them at a new level of expectations.
A 2023 report by the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that 48% of internal promotions failed to meet expectations within the first year, often due to a lack of role clarity, coaching, or development.
The Risks of Getting It Wrong
When promotions fail, the cost is more than just turnover. It can ripple across the organisation:
Loss of a top performer who may have thrived if developed differently
Erosion of morale among team members who now see promotion as a risky reward
Reduced trust in leadership decisions when promotions feel unsupported or performative
Increased attrition if new managers struggle to lead or retain their teams
These are preventable outcomes with the right support in place.
What Good Support Looks Like
Promotions should be a starting line, not a finish line. HR and people leaders can increase success rates by building intentional promotion pathways that include:
Role clarity workshops: Define what success looks like in the new role and what’s different from the previous role
Peer or leadership mentors: Offer a sounding board for tricky transitions and team dynamics
Development sprints: Short, focused sessions on topics like managing former peers, setting vision, or giving feedback
Regular touchpoints: Schedule check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days to recalibrate and offer support, not just evaluate performance
Manager enablement: Train the promotee’s leader on how to coach them through the transition, not just evaluate them
It doesn’t need to be complex or expensive. But it does need to be intentional.
How Caerus Strategy Can Help
At Caerus Strategy, we help organisations build people practices that actually support growth, beyond the announcement. Our work includes:
Designing internal promotion frameworks that reduce risk and increase readiness
Supporting new managers with high-impact onboarding and learning journeys
Equipping HR teams with practical tools to guide transition planning
Creating feedback loops to track success, sentiment, and sustainability
Promoting an employee is easy. Ensuring they stay and thrive is the real challenge.