Some employees seem to have a natural rapport with their managers. But not everyone is that extroverted, and some may worry that doing so would be overstepping boundaries. If a promotion is coming up, people may worry that their chances to get one will be at stake, whichever way their relationship with their manager goes.
There are two main types of promotions according to Paul Heng, Managing Director of NeXt Career Consulting Group. “One that rewards an employee for a job done well with a higher pay grade and more salary in a similar role, and the other, to raise an employee to a higher level, for a more complex role.”
Either way, supervisors are needed to evaluate employee performance to decide who is performing well, as well as who has the potential to perform a higher-level job. “Supervisors are supposed to reward deserving employees, not those who are close to them,” said Heng.
Nonetheless, supervisors are human, too, and it would be unrealistic to think that they can remove any influence from being closer with some employees more than others, he said. This may cause employees to feel pressured into building a more personal connection with their supervisors, even against their desires.