THE “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM NOT PROMOTED?

”
Jane Avery had worked for Custom Printing for two years as a customer support
person in charge of creating customer bids/estimates for the sales representatives.
Jane knew many of her estimates were changed by the sales staff but she
considered the changes just part of what sales reps do. Her supervisor, Martin
Craig, gave her “meeting expectations” appraisals and mostly did not communicate
performance feedback. Jane knew the two year mark was usually important at
Custom. Two of her friends, Corey and Justin, both had been promoted to sales
representatives just after their two year anniversaries. Jane thought the sales
represen- tative job was more interesting than estimating and also carried a higher
salary. She was eager to follow her friends who seemed to enjoy their work.
Shortly after her two year anniversary, Jane applied for an open sales representative
position assuming she would be selected. She was shocked when she was not
interviewed and a person who worked for another printing company was hired. She
confronted Martin asking for an explanation. Martin appeared surprised. He told
Jane she should have known her work was “OK” but not outstanding. Until she
learned to perform better when estimating bids, it was unlikely Jane would ever be
promoted.
Jane made an appointment with the head of the Human Resources department. She
con- sidered whether she should file a complaint against Martin. She asked Corey
and Justin for advice. Both of her friends were vague but suggested the HR director
should be able to help.
1. Why did Jane not know she was considered an average performer?
2. What should Martin have done? What should he do now?
3. If you were the HR director, what would you tell Jane?
4. Which perspectives from this chapter should be applied to this case?