A senior researcher on my team had been operating at a Principal level for months but her title and compensation had not caught up to her impact. I built a promotion proposal for the CPO that framed her value in terms of organizational capability and retention risk rather than tenure alone. The process reinforced the role of leadership advocacy in supporting both individual growth and organizational stability.
My researcher had been operating at Principal level for several quarters, leading the navigation taxonomy research that prevented senior stakeholders from making non-data-informed structural decisions but her title and comp hadn't caught up. Without formal recognition, there was real retention risk and an unspoken cap on her organizational influence.
I built a promotion case grounded in three areas of evidence. First was her four year tenure and demonstrated commitment to the organization. Second was her impact in building the research function and delivering high value insights that influenced product decisions. Third was the organizational risk of leaving that contribution underrecognized. Together these elements positioned the promotion as both recognition and a strategic investment.
As her manager I identified the gap, constructed the promotion proposal, and presented the case to the Chief Product Officer.
There was no established Principal UX Researcher title at ActivTrak, no comp band, no precedent and no organizational template to reference. A straightforward "she deserves it" argument wasn't going to move a CPO who thinks in business outcomes.
Built a three-pillar case that gave the proposal weight on every dimension a CPO cares about: four years of tenure and demonstrated loyalty to the org, exceptional skill and effort in building the research function from nothing, and the organizational risk of leaving her underrecognized — a retention risk and a capability gap in one. No single pillar was enough alone; together they were hard to dismiss.
A case built on merit alone is easy to defer. A case built only on risk can feel like a threat. Balancing all three meant the proposal worked regardless of which lens the CPO applied — and made it harder to find a reason to say no than a reason to say yes.
Strong advocacy for your people isn't about finding the one argument that lands — it's about removing every argument against. When the case is built on tenure, skill and risk equally, the only remaining question is timing.
The proposal shifted leadership perception of her role from strong individual contributor to organizational capability. The case also demonstrated how thoughtful advocacy strengthens both retention and team influence. I was successful in advocating for a promotion and raise for my employee and she is now in her second year as Principal and drives organizational impact at every level.
