It is a difficult balance for both the employer and the employee. The employer has to look with open eyes and see if the employee is looking to advance or almost ready to advance. That is where a good supervisor comes in, they learn about their employees and then are able to discuss promotion with both the employee and the boss. 

Communications between levels can be a pretty tricky thing especially in close knit groups. I also found that some of worse communicators were those that were in the field of communication. They do great at keeping the public or their clients informed, but when it comes to internal communications things always seemed to fall apart, some where along the line the ball gets dropped. 

Sometimes the boss or the employee just need to bite the bullet and give it a try, if things do not work out they can be remedied through training or downgrading.

!ENGAGE 20