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HR Guide: Job Promotion Letters and Templates

by Nikki Blog

Jul 06, 2020 at 4:20 PM

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What is a Job Promotion Letter?

A job promotion letter is a formal letter representing the communication between the employer and the employee who is promoted or being offered a promotion. There are two types of job promotion letters by the employer:

A letter from the employer informing its employee that they are promoted.
A letter from the employer offering a promotion opportunity to its employee.

Normally, these letters are often written by the human resource manager, on behalf of the management. This is because they are responsible for everything related to hiring, recruitment and personnel management. But in some cases, a member of the management will write the letter.

The job promotion letter can be delivered to the employee through e-mail or delivered to their postal address. For efficiency, most just personally deliver the letter to the employee, since they are already working in the company in the first place.

There's no fixed guideline on how one should send a promotion letter as long as:

The job promotion letter was sent or delivered,
The rightful recipient received it.

Functions of the job promotion letter

It is a brief acknowledgement of a new position of the employee in the company, by virtue of the promotion/the offer of promotion.
It is a clarification of the reporting structure and phases of authority involved with the employee's new role.
It is a way for the employer to congratulate the employee on their career advancement if the employee has already been promoted.
It is to protect both the employer and employee. A well-written job promotion letter will clarify issues and resolve any potential disputes that may arise following the promotion. Any issues, such as the salary rate, date of promotion, and the line of authority involved, will be resolved with the job promotion letter used as a reference.

What a Job Promotion Letter needs

Here are the contents of a job promotion:

When will the promotion take effect

It's important to let your employee know when their new role will take effect. This is because you want to inform them when they will be expected to report at their new office or supervisors so they can begin performing their tasks attached to the new role.

If an employee's promotion involves a transfer between departments, copies of their job promotion letter should be sent to their old and new supervisors to let them know so they can plan and respond accordingly.

Human resources, accounting and the payroll master should also work together on the date that the employee will begin their new role to avoid issues such as failure to pay the correct amount of salary of the new position.

Specifications about the new position

These are the important elements you need to include in a job promotion letter:

Job title. The employee should know the formal designation that will be attached to the and their place in the company's organisational structure.
Updated salary rate and additional details. Let the employee know the exact amount of their new salary and if it will be paid weekly, biweekly, or monthly, if applicable.
Extra benefits and perks (if any).
New obligations/responsibilities. Let the employee know what is expected of them as they take on their new role. This will also help them to get a better idea of who does what in the company.

The reporting structure of the new role or position

When an employee reports to their new role, they need to know who will be their new supervisor and who will oversee their transition into the new role.

If the employee will need to report to two supervisors in their new role, be sure to include it in the letter so no one will be confused. The job promotion letter is also an announcement letter, so you may also add the employee's previous position.

You may also include the reasons for management choosing the employee for the promotion, for example, a short outline on what convinced them to pick the employee. This will boost the employee's confidence and make them more motivated to perform in their new role.

If you're writing a job promotion offer letter, you will need these:

Information on the promotion opportunity
These include the job title, department where the position is assigned, the salary rate and other benefits and perks that the employee will receive if they accept the offer.
Details of the position being offered
This is where duties and responsibilities of the position are outlined, and what will be expected from them if they accept the promotion offer.
Recommendations for acceptance
The job promotion office should try to convince the employee to signify their acceptance. To do that, the letter should include recommendations on why the employee should accept the promotion by outlining the reasons why they are chosen for the opportunity.