Longevity over suitability

It seems to me as I get older that one of the keys to success in your career is longevity - the ability to remain in position longer than your peers. I have witnessed four promotions in the past couple of years that were meted out primarily because they were the easiest choice – they were ones in the department longer than the rest and there was no other internal competition.

It was shocking to me the first time but it’s amazing how quickly you become desensitized and the unusual becomes the norm. This is not to say I agree with this way of progressing someone’s career. I had entered the workplace believing it was a meritocracy - was this naïve?

I am finding myself reassessing all sorts of beliefs, lately, many of which I have previously taken for absolutes. I am wondering now how far I would have been in my career if I had not flitted about like a thirteen year old, falling in and out of love with my jobs with regular flippancy, and instead stayed put with one company.

Obviously there were other factors for the promotions I am talking about – longevity is just one of them – but none were reasons that pointed them to being the best person for the job. A few as examples are; the fact that they were privy to some company secrets; that they would kick up a massive fuss; that they would be too expensive to make redundant; that they would be disruptive if they weren’t promoted; that the company didn’t want to shell out on recruitment fees; that the company didn’t want to waste any time in searching for an external replacement; that the company didn’t really care who was given the position as long as it was done quickly; that the person was easy to manipulate …I could go on. All negative reasons - none positive.

I have to state at this point - these comments are not born from a bitterness - quite the contrary I loved every one of my jobs - but from a curiosity about whether staying put rather than jumping ship actually bears more fruit.

What I want to know is where would you be now if you had stayed with the company which gave your first job? And what do you think is the key factor in an internal promotion?