Boss not responding to my email about promotion

Question

Last year during my amazing performance review, my boss said he submitted my name to be promoted to a higher officer position but he stated that he missed the cutoff so I’d have to wait until the next round of promotions. The year before that, he said that during the year, he was going to change my job title to a grade higher which never happened either.

So after my amazing performance review this year, a few days later, we received an email about officer promotions. Of course my name was not included for a promotion. So I forwarded the email and simply said I was told my name was submitted for an officer promotion and seeing that I didn’t get it, could he explain why and provide insight into how to improve.

He has not responded back to me although he has sent plenty of emails since and has responded to another email of mine. (It has been three business days and the weekend so 5 days total I have not received a response). The only thing I can think of is he is trying to lead me on by thinking if I’m promised these things, I’ll continue doing an amazing job. What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Time to be a little more assertive: Schedule a 1:1 with your boss with the specific agenda of "career planning".

If he doesn't accept, ignores it or declines without comment you have your answer: your boss doesn't want to talk to you about it.

If he accepts, you have an "in". Talk about your goals, talk about your performance reviews and ask for specific actionable steps, metrics, and a timeline. If your boss is evasive and doesn't commit to anything, you have another answer: your boss doesn't want to promote you.

If the conversation is positive, you have at last a plan you can track to. Follow it closely and check in frequently with your boss to compare notes on progress.

Given past behavior the most likely outcome, unfortunately, is negative. In this case, you have a few options:

1. Engage someone else in the company: a mentor, a trusted senior person, maybe HR (if they are decent) to find out what's going on.
2. Look for different job/manager inside the company. Great performance reviews can help here.
3. Look elsewhere.
4. Make your peace with the situation, it's unlikely to change without you getting a different manager.

Answer 2

Two years in a row he has reneged on his verbal promise.

He's most probably not going to answer your email unless you persist, because he doesn't have a positive answer to give you.

Answer 3

The carrot was always a lie

Based on the description in the question, this sounds like the classic "dangled carrot" scenario. The reward is always just one step out of reach. "Next time. Next time. Next time..." But just as the horse never gets to enjoy the carrot dangled in front of its face--it's just there to keep it plodding along serving its owner, so the employee in this type of scenario never gets the promised promotion or raise--it's just there to keep them serving the abusive employer.

So if you want a promotion, most likely you need to look elsewhere. It sounds like the carrot (i.e. the promised promotion) is a lie.

Answer 4

If your supervisor had said that it might take a year or two, I would counsel patience, in some organizations it simply takes a long time. In those case, that’s not the supervisors fault, just reality and one needs to determine if the position is worth the wait. But that’s not what your supervisor did, your supervisor has promised and not delivered.

Your supervisor has strung you out for two years, without giving you anything but broken promises and praise.

If you are satisfied with that, you should stay there, and you will almost certain continue to receive both.

If you want something else, you’re going to have to look elsewhere for it.

Answer 5

Almost three years without a promotion and yet never a complaint about the OP's performance is certainly worth investigating.

My thoughts: sexual discrimination has not been beaten into submission. Not yet.

Of course, the username could be completely false and the OP could be a white, college-educated American or British man in their 30s. In which case, please ignore everything I am about to suggest.

In the OP's shoes, if they identify as being a woman, I'd do a little research and find out if any other employees, female and non, have been promised and denied promotion. And if the OP also happens to belong to a minority group…well… after waiting two weeks for their boss to reply, I'd certainly raise the issue, in private, with someone I could trust not to be absolutely discreet.

To be clear, this is an "if everything else fails" strategy. I do not know how large this company is, if HR can be trusted, what the OP's manager or colleagues are like, but maybe talking to someone, who is known to be friendly with the boss, might work. Around the water cooler, during break, at lunch, retell the situation clearly and truthfully to the colleague, and ask for their advice. Be sure not to accuse the manager of sexism but hint that you might need to search for new employment because you cannot fathom why you don't deserve a promotion.

The colleague warns the boss about a valued employee who is unhappy and confused. Upon hearing this from a different employee the boss might want to nip the problem in the bud, but it could backfire. As nobody wants a hostile work environment where employees believe managers are biased and consistently fail to reward amazing performances, the OP could be fired (seems an extreme reaction but nothing is too absurd these days) or the boss could finally reply to the OP's request for a meeting.

In the meantime, before setting off any alarms, the OP should search for new employment, just in case.