Creating a Transparent Promotion Process

As a junior lawyer, I had to piece together information on how to get promoted. In case it helps somebody going through the process for the first time, here’s what I’ve learned going through 4 rounds of promotion cycles (most successful, some not): 1️⃣ Most people start the promotion process too late. The best time is 6-12 months before the application date. This gives you enough time to gather evidence of your achievements, work on any shortcomings in your promotion application and align with your manager / stakeholders before budgets and resourcing are locked in. 2️⃣ Promotion policies can contain 10+ criteria to meet, but trying to address them all in an application with a word limit will dilute your message. Instead, choose 3-5 criteria that you can craft a strong narrative around. 3️⃣ It's hard to remember and quantify your accomplishments if you aren't tracking them throughout the year. Setting up an ongoing tracker early is helpful (I use Microsoft Planner), especially around those 3-5 criteria you've chosen. 4️⃣ It’s okay to try for a promotion before you feel completely ready. Even if your first attempt is unsuccessful, you'll learn things from the experience that will make it harder for them to say no the second time (like I did). Better to apply a year early than a year late. 5️⃣ Understand that there are things outside of your control in determining whether your promotion will be successful or not (e.g. budget and resourcing constraints, stakeholders who aren’t fond of you for non-work reasons, economic conditions etc). The goal is to focus on the things that are within your control and maximise your chances as much as possible. Here’s what the timeline / process can look like using these principles: 🔹 1 year out- Learn about your organisation’s promotion process (deadlines, forms to submit, promotion criteria, stakeholders in the approval process) 🔹 6-12 months out - Have a discussion with your manager to let them know that you intend to apply for the promotion, identify any areas you may need to improve on, and agree on goals to achieve that would maximise your chance of success in the application. 🔹 6 - 12 months out - Choose a few promotion criteria to focus on and set up a system to track and quantify your contributions towards those criteria in your current work. 🔹 1 month out - Write up a draft promotion application (ask your colleagues if they can share theirs) 🔹 2-4 weeks out - Remind your manager and ask if they could review and provide feedback on your draft application. 🔹 Submission before the deadline. 🔹 If unsuccessful, follow up for feedback and agree on a plan for improving your application for next time. Anything else you’d add? ----- Next week, I’ll be sending out a step-by-step guide on how to apply for a promotion with practical examples to the 7,782 people on my mailing list. If you're interested, I hope you'll subscribe via my website or the link in my profile and give it a read.

LinkedIn asks you to post today to celebrate "a woman who's made an impact on your career." But these kinds of posts, even earnestly written, tend to leave us feeling hollow. If we're looking for real progress towards fairness and equality at work, here's what to do instead: 🪴 Did you know that if there's only one woman on a shortlist of qualified candidates, she has a whopping 0% chance of being hired? Simply expanding shortlists to include more than one woman (and for that matter, people from historically marginalized communities) helps counter biased decision-making. 📋 Standardized process can be a surprisingly easy way to mitigate bias. Structured interviewing, standardized skill-based assessments directly related to job tasks, and standardized scoring rubrics can make comparisons across candidates more fair and substantially reduce subtle gender discrimination. 🌻 Incentivize flexibility for ALL workers, not just women. In a vacuum, harmful norms may arise that imply these arrangements are only utilized by those who "don't value their careers as much," penalizing workers of all genders. Celebrate senior leaders, especially men, who model greater flexibility and wellbeing so that all workers are licensed to do the same. 🔍 Conduct a pay equity audit, seeking to examine not only outcomes like total compensation, but also distribution of candidates across roles. If men and women in the same role are getting paid similarly, but women are dramatically overclustered in low-paying roles, you've still got a problem. ❤️🩹 Create an anonymous and/or informal process to report and addressing discrimination and harassment. A lower-stakes way to address harm, in addition to training bystander intervention and modelling respectful communication, accountability, and timely feedback from the top, can mitigate daily harms for all workers. Some folks hesitate to push for these practices because they feel more committing than just posting on social media. They're right — because with more effort comes more impact. So reach out to a few of your colleagues and advocates within your workplace to work together on pushing for these changes. Ten posts in isolation pale in comparison to the impact ten peoples' collective organizing might have on your workplace and everyone in it! Remember: International Women's Day is a chance for us not just to celebrate women, but to sharpen our advocacy alongside women, to build a future that's better, brighter, and more fair for all of us.

🙋♀️Imagine a company proudly announcing that 40% of its new hires are women. On the surface, it seems like a triumph for diversity. But as you dig deeper, you see those women concentrated in HR and marketing, while engineering and leadership roles remain largely male. This is what I call the Inclusion Illusion, where diversity metrics look good on paper, but the deeper work of equity is missing. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 Diversity brings people into the room, but equity is what ensures they can thrive once they’re there. True inclusion isn’t about representation alone; it’s about ensuring everyone can contribute, be heard and grow. Without equity, diversity efforts can feel hollow and superficial. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 Recently, SHRM decided to drop "equity" from its diversity framework. While this might seem like an easier approach, it risks sidestepping the critical work equity requires. SHRM's decision, to me, reflects the discomfort many organisations face when it comes to grappling with equity. 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 In my experience, I’ve seen how diversity initiatives can fall flat without a commitment to equity. Numbers alone don’t create change, systems do. True equity requires addressing the structural barriers that keep people from advancing and it goes beyond simply counting who’s in the room. Here’s how I believe leaders can move beyond diversity numbers and create meaningful change: • 𝙴̲𝚡̲𝚊̲𝚖̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚜̲𝚢̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚎̲𝚖̲𝚜̲ ̲𝚏̲𝚘̲𝚛̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚒̲𝚊̲𝚜̲:̲ I’ve seen how subtle biases can influence decisions around hiring, promotions, and leadership opportunities. Leaders need to actively review their processes to uncover and address these hidden biases. • 𝙰̲𝚖̲𝚙̲𝚕̲𝚒̲𝚏̲𝚢̲ ̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚊̲𝚕̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚍̲ ̲𝚟̲𝚘̲𝚒̲𝚌̲𝚎̲𝚜̲: It’s not enough to have diverse people at the table, they need to be heard. When we ensure that everyone’s ideas are valued, innovation and creativity thrive. • ̲𝚁̲𝚎̲𝚍̲𝚒̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚋̲𝚞̲𝚝̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚘̲𝚠̲𝚎̲𝚛̲:̲ Equity means sharing leadership. Underrepresented groups need access to the same mentorship and advancement opportunities as everyone else. •̲ ̲𝙲̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚊̲𝚝̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚊̲𝚌̲𝚌̲𝚘̲𝚞̲𝚗̲𝚝̲𝚊̲𝚋̲𝚒̲𝚕̲𝚒̲𝚝̲𝚢̲:̲ It’s critical that teams are held accountable for practicing inclusive behaviors. This means setting clear expectations and following up with real consequences for failing to meet them. • 𝙵̲𝚘̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚎̲𝚛̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚜̲𝚢̲𝚌̲𝚑̲𝚘̲𝚕̲𝚘̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚌̲𝚊̲𝚕̲ ̲𝚜̲𝚊̲𝚏̲𝚎̲𝚝̲𝚢̲: People can’t thrive if they don’t feel safe being their true selves. I’ve seen how creating an environment where people feel they can speak up without fear of judgment leads to stronger teams and more authentic collaboration. The goal isn't perfection. It's progress. It's creating workplaces where everyone, regardless of their background or identity has a real shot at success and fulfillment. What do you think? #leadership #DEI #highperformance #culture

Your competence at work is judged in seconds. Even when you over-deliver, you can be underestimated. Every day, false assumptions about you are made: — Polite = Weak — Older = Not agile — A foreign accent = Less capable — Introverted =  Not a strong leader — Woman =  Softer voice, less authority It's not just unfair. It's exhausting. So the question is: How do you beat biases without changing who you are? Here’s what I recommend: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 → Speak about impact, not effort. → Articulate your value proposition. →“Here’s the problems I solve. Here's how. Here’s the result."  If no one knows what you bring to the table, they won’t invite you to it. 𝟮. 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 Silent excellence is wasted potential. → Speak up when it feels risky. → Build real not just strategic relationships. → Share insights where people are paying attention. You don’t need to be loud. You need to be seen. 𝟯. 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 The traits that trigger assumptions? Those are your edge. → Introverted? That’s deep listening. → Accent? That’s global perspective. Don’t flatten yourself to fit. Distinguish yourself to lead. 𝟰. 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 → Say “I recommend” not "I think.” → Hold eye contact. Take up space. → Act like your presence belongs (even when others haven’t caught up.) Confidence isn’t volume. It’s grounding. Bias is everywhere. But perception can be changed. Don't let other people's false assumptions define you. Do you agree? ➕ Follow Deena Priest for strategic career insights. 📌Join my newsletter to build a career grounded in progress, peace and pay.

Companies worldwide have already begun their performance of allyship - in support of Women's History Month and IWD by supporting the women they employ, few of whom hold senior leadership roles. For leaders and companies serious about creating opportunities for women, here's what actually works: 1️⃣ Stop treating gender equity like a special initiative you champion in March with a panel discussion. That's not structural change. That's performance. 2️⃣ Implement structural transparency in compensation, promotion criteria, sponsorship pathways, and decision rights. If the path to advancement is unclear, it's by design. So interrupt it: Publish salary bands. Make promotion criteria explicit. Remove the mystery that keeps power concentrated. Opportunities are not created by inspiration. They are created by incentive structures and accountability. 3️⃣ Dismantle informal gatekeeping. When advancement depends on informal networks, "culture fit," or proximity to power, women lose. Especially women of the Global Majority, mothers, and those who don't perform leadership in historically masculine ways. 4️⃣ Sponsor women. Women are over-mentored and under-sponsored. They don't need more coaching on navigating broken systems or building confidence. They need power. Share power. 5️⃣ Redistribute care work. Women carry the invisible labor that keeps companies running - organising events, emotional support, administrative tasks no one gets promoted for. If it's not in the job description and it's not compensated, stop expecting women to do it. 6️⃣ Hold men accountable for equity work. Gender equity isn't a women's issue - it's a power issue. If only women are responsible for fixing it, nothing changes. Men need to do the work, not delegate it. 7️⃣ Importantly, women are not a monolith. Women are not only white, slim, heterosexual, or non-disabled. They are also Black, Indigenous, Latina, African, Asian, fat, short, queer, disabled. They have straight, curly, and afro hair. They don't sound alike and they have opinions that differentiate them from a doormat. 📍For women seeking workplace progression, some advice using my Three Clarities framework: 1️⃣ Identity: Know who you are. Stop asking for permission. Start building leverage. 2️⃣ Context: Understand the system you're in, know what it rewards, then adapt strategically or leave. 3️⃣ Power: Know what you can influence. Build power. Secure sponsors. If no one is speaking your name in rooms, your effort is invisible. Control your narrative. If you don't define your story, others will. To manage your expectations: you can do everything right and still not advance, because the system wasn't designed to reward you. That's not on you! That's the system behaving as designed. Believe it and know when to exit. Don't stay loyal to systems that don't invest in you. Sometimes progression means climbing the ladder, and sometimes, the courage to leave. - #RightsJusticeAction #LinkedInNewsEurope #IWD26

Today is International Equal Pay Day. The shorthand we often hear is that from this point in the year, women are effectively working for free compared to men. To be clear, this is based on a global average of women earning around 20% less than men worldwide. Equal Pay Day marks the point in the calendar when, if women received the same amount daily as men, their earnings would stop (even though they continued to work) while men would continue earning until 31 December. It’s a symbolic date, set by the UN, designed to highlight the starkness of the issue of the gender pay gap (not a reflection of the exact gap in every country). Big picture, women’s average earnings are lower because of things like:- unequal pay in some roles, fewer women in senior and higher-paid positions, career breaks linked to care-giving, and the undervaluing of sectors dominated by women. In many parts of the global south, the gap is compounded by high levels of informal work, lower access to education, unpaid care burdens and in some cases even legal barriers to women working or owning assets. Looking through the lens of the workplace, why should businesses care about this on top of all the other competing commercial priorities? Because pay isn’t just a number on a payslip, it’s a cultural signal of who and what we value. If women see inequity, trust and loyalty erode. When fairness is visible, engagement, retention and performance grow. Equal pay is not just about justice, it’s a business advantage. What can companies do? ➡️ Audit progression data, not just base salaries to check if there is any gender inequity in how quickly people are being promoted ➡️ Make criteria for promotion transparent and consistent ➡️ Review how bonuses and performance rewards are allocated to ensure these are being done fairly ➡️ Track who gets the stretch projects and visible opportunities and ensure that women aren't being stuck with more "unpromotable" tasks ➡️ Nurture a culture where fairness is visible day-to-day, not just in reports ⚠️ Get ahead of the curve to prevent future gender pay gaps and ensure parity on new joiners and their pay - because some studies are showing that young men are getting few roles and lower pay in certain sectors Instead of only fixating on pay gap data perhaps a helpful question for leaders is: 👉 How many of our people feel their work is valued and rewarded fairly today? ❓ What are your thoughts, what do you think will move the needle? Comment below!

Perceived unfairness at work is one of those quiet forces that shapes careers far more than we acknowledge. It shows up when someone else gets the promotion, when credit seems misplaced, when effort and outcome don’t quite line up. And over time, if left unexamined, it can erode motivation, distort judgement and even define how we see ourselves. Having gone through decades in corporate life, I’ve come to believe that every system, no matter how well designed, has elements of subjectivity, bias and imperfect information. The real question is: how do we respond when we perceive something to be unfair? Because perception, not reality, drives behaviour. The first step is to pause and interrogate the perception. Not all unfairness is real. Sometimes we are working with incomplete information. Decisions at senior levels often involve variables that are not visible to everyone. Before reacting, it is worth asking: What might I be missing? The second step is to separate emotion from action. Unfairness triggers a mix of anger, disappointment, even a sense of betrayal. Acting in that state rarely leads to good outcomes. A useful question here is: What is the outcome I want? Switch from “How do I express how I feel?” to “What will move me forward?” The third step is to seek clarity, not reflexive confrontation. There is a difference between asking for feedback and challenging a decision. Often, one opens doors while the other closes them. A simple question, “What could I have done differently?” or “What would position me better next time?”, often yields far more insight than a debate about fairness. It also signals self-awareness. Organisations tend to back people who demonstrate the ability to learn, rather than those who litigate every decision. The fourth step is to focus on controllables. You cannot control how decisions are made. But you can control your performance, your relationships and your reputation. Over a long enough timeline, these factors compound. Careers are not built on single decisions but on patterns. If the pattern consistently works against you, then it is data. The fifth step is to decide your response to the system, not the incident. If unfairness is episodic, it is part of the terrain. If it is systemic, it is part of the culture. And here remember: culture rarely changes because one individual pushes back. At that point, the question becomes less about fairness and more about fit. There is one final point that is often overlooked. A sense of unfairness, if handled well, can be a powerful teacher. It forces you to understand how decisions are actually made, not how you think they should be made. It sharpens your awareness of organisational dynamics. And it pushes you to build a career that is more resilient. In that sense, what you see as unfairness is not just an obstacle. It is information. And like all information, its value lies in how you use it.

“We hire and promote based on merit.” Sounds fair, right? But what if believing in meritocracy is exactly what makes workplaces less fair? Right now, the word meritocracy is everywhere—especially with the shift in the U.S. administration. It’s being positioned as the ultimate standard for fairness. 🔍 Yet research* shows that when companies explicitly promote meritocracy, managers actually become more biased— for example favoring men over equally qualified women in reward decisions. Why does this happen? 💡 When people believe they are fair, objective and unbiased, they ironically become more likely to express bias. It’s a cognitive blind spot—assuming the system works as it should makes it harder to see when it doesn’t. This is the Meritocracy Paradox. And it’s why “just focusing on merit” isn’t enough to create real equality. Instead of assuming fairness, organizations need to: ✅ Build inclusivity and transparency into decision-making processes ✅ Actively check for biases in hiring, promotions and pay ✅ Foster accountability, not just good intentions 📌 Meritocracy isn’t a switch we turn on—it’s a practice we build every day by integrating equity in our processes. Meritocracy is achieved through DEI. What are your thoughts on that? If your organization is ready to tackle bias across the entire employee cycle, let me know. *Source: The Paradox of Meritocracy in Organizations, Emilio J. Castilla, Stephen Benard

We all want to reward employees fairly, yet decades of research--and for many people, their lived experience--show that bias persists. In other words, for the same performance, people earn less or more due to managerial error. New research from researchers at our Stanford VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab shows that many interventions are only targeting half the problem. Bias shows up both in how managers describe (view) performance as well as how they reward (value) behaviors. Viewing biases often show up in how performance is described differently based on who is performing it. Men’s approach may be called “too soft,” thus “subtly faulting them for falling short of assertive masculine ideals.” Valuing biases can show up as the same behavior being rewarded when men perform it but not when women do. Examples from the research show that men benefitted when their project specifics were described, whereas women were not. So the same description and behaviors showed up in reviews, but they were only rewarded on men’s. What can be done to curb biases? ✅ Standardize specific guidelines for how managers should view employee behaviors and assign corresponding rewards when giving employees feedback and making decisions about their careers. ✅ Help managers catch bias in both viewing and valuing. ✅ Monitor these impacts from entry level to executive leadership. It turns out that as the criteria shift, so can the way these biases work. A key lesson from our research shows that the work takes discipline, consistency and accountability. These steps may seem like a lot of “extra” work, but at the end of the day, managers also benefit when they weed out biases and fairly promote the most talented employees. Article by Alison Wynn, Emily Carian, Sofia Kennedy and JoAnne Wehner, PhD published in Harvard Business Review. #diversityequityinclusion #performanceevaluation #managerialskills

If you're setting goals to create a more inclusive workplace in 2025, my experience may save you time, money, and unmet expectations. ✅ Quick Wins (low effort, high impact) Start with team psychological safety. Inclusion is felt most in everyday team interactions—meetings, feedback, problem-solving. 👇 Use tools like: 1. The Fearless Organization Scan to uncover blind spots and team dynamics. 2. Debrief session with an accredited facilitator to discuss results openly and set clear, actionable improvements. 3. Action plan with small shifts in behavior, like leaders modeling vulnerability, asking for input first, or establishing "speak-up norms" in meetings. These micro-actions quickly build team inclusion and unlock collaboration. 🏗️ Big Projects (high effort, high impact): To create sustainable change, invest in structural inclusion. 👇 Focus on: 1. Inclusive hiring & promotion practices: build diverse candidate pipelines and train interviewers on bias mitigation. 2. Inclusive decision-making: ensure diverse perspectives are integrated into key business decisions. 3. Inclusive leadership: train leaders to actively foster diverse perspectives, intellectual humility, and trust in their teams. Empower leaders to align inclusion with business goals and make it part of their day-to-day behavior. 🎉 Fill-ins (low effort, low impact): Awareness events (like diversity month) are great for building visibility but should educate, not just celebrate. 👇 For example: 1. Pair cultural events with workshops on how diverse values shape workplace communication. 2. Use storytelling to highlight how diverse perspectives lead to tangible business wins. 🚩 Thankless Tasks (high effort, low impact): Avoid resource-heavy initiatives with little ROI. 👇 Examples: 1. Overcomplicated dashboards: focus on 2–3 actionable metrics rather than endless reports that don’t lead to change. 2. Unstructured ERGs: without clear goals and leadership support, these often become frustrating rather than empowering. 3. One-off training programs: A two-day training on unconscious bias without follow-up or practical tools is a missed opportunity. 💡 Key Takeaways 1. Inclusion thrives where it’s felt daily—in teams and decisions. 2. Start with quick wins to build momentum and tackle big projects for systemic change. 3. Avoid symbolic efforts that consume resources without measurable outcomes. 🚀 Let’s turn inclusion into a tangible, strategic advantage that empowers your teams to thrive in 2025 and beyond. _____________________________________________ If you're new here, I’m Susanna—an accredited team psychological safety practitioner with over a decade of experience in DEI and inclusive leadership. I partner with forward-thinking companies to create inclusive, high-performing workplaces where teams thrive. 📩 DM me or visit www if you want to prioritize what truly works for your organization.