There is an old expression that says, “No good deed will go unpunished.” When trying to motivate a subordinate, hire a new employee, promote a staff member, or help out a customer or vendor, you can promise to try, but never promise that you can deliver, unless it is in your personal authority to do so.

  • If you promise to give a subordinate a raise and then can’t deliver, you may
    • Lose credibility with that individual
    • Lose credibility with your staff, because people talk, particularly if they’re not happy
    • Lose a good employee
    • End up in trouble with your boss or Human Resources
  • If you promise something to a customer and can’t deliver, you may lose a sale, or lose the customer
  • If you promise something to a vendor and can’t deliver, it may destroy a vendor relationship, and/or cause lawsuits

Should any of the above situations arise, you have most likely caused harm to a fellow employee, your company, a customer, a vendor, or yourself. For you personally, based on the severity of the issue, you may receive a verbal reprimand, receive a written warning, or even potentially lose your job. Remember, as a manager, you are a representative of your company to the external world and the voice of the company to those that you manage.

As an example of a promise gone very wrong, say that you promised to hire someone. On this promise, the job candidate quits their old job and then to your surprise, your company announced a hiring freeze before the final paperwork was approved. This poor person is out of work because of you. The person may just yell and scream at you, your manager, Human Resources, and anyone else that would listen, or they may sue the company. In any case, you have caused major personal problems for the person you were trying to hire and have made yourself look ineffective and incompetent as a manager.

There are some specific circumstances when you can generally promise things to the people in your group. These include:

  • When you get written permission ahead of time from Human Resources, your boss, or other appropriate authority
  • When it is included in writing as part of an offer letter given to an employee when first hired
  • If there is a written company policy stating that an employee receives a raise, promotion, or other reward if certain criteria are met

I once had a manager that promised I would receive a bonus if a project I was leading went well and was delivered on time. The project went well and was delivered on schedule, but I never received my bonus. As a result, I lost respect for my manager and eventually transferred to another department. In retrospect, I don’t know if he tried to get me a bonus and was unsuccessful, never bothered to follow up on his promise, or never originally intended to give me a bonus in the first place. That said, to me as the employee, it was all the same.