SECTION I: Policy Need
Historically, extremely promising Junior Staff have been relegated to the whims of the promotion cycle prior to being elevated. For a junior staff member who joins their respective team half-way between promotions and, subsequently, proves to be an exceptional staff member, this often means they are relegated to waiting for 7-8 months before they are sufficiently able to be promoted. This is in the modern system where we have 3 promotions in a year, whereas previously it could sometimes be up to 12 months before a staff member is put up for a promotion.
For particularly active, particularly competent junior staff members, this can tie their hands for a long period after they have proven themselves to be more than capable of handling the increased trust and responsibility of an operational staff member. The goal of this policy is to put to bed this issue and create a non-standard promotion system for junior staff members who show exceptional capability in their roles.
There are many examples of this happening over the years, one of the most recent being Zoobeeny and Divinephobia, but they aren't the only examples on the list.
SECTION II: Nominating candidates for Non-standard Promotion
At any time, acting Team Captains may put forth one or more of their team members who are Junior Staff for elevation to the role of Operational Staff.
*Acting Team Captains may only nominate the aforementioned candidates if they feel this candidate is fulfilling a role on the team or conducting such exemplary work that they are limited by the trial conditions of the JS position. Abuse of this nomination may preempt administrative review.
Admins may at any time put forth one or more candidates for the role for the purpose of aiding in staff duties requiring the role.
SECTION III: Obtaining the non-standard promotion
Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will inform all Administrators and Acting Team Captains of their intent to nominate a candidate for non-standard promotion to Operational Staff.
(Optional) Though it is not required it is recommended that teams merge their nomination threads if they intend to nominate staff members around the same time as to prevent voter fatigue. However as one of the tenets of this policy is the nomination of exceptional candidates outside the normal cycle, they need not feel obligated to do so.
Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will create a voting thread detailing:
A. Their candidate(s)
B. Why the candidates require a nonstandard promotion to O.S.
The thread will remain open for one week.
While the thread is open O.S.+ will be able to vote on whether or not each candidate should be given the Non-standard promotion.
Requirement for a candidate to be promoted to O.S. is the same as in standard promotion, 2/3rds majority with a quorum equal to that required for policy implementation (currently 30%).
There is no obligation for staff members to cast a vote in the thread.
Only votes for or against candidates are permitted.
In a situation with multiple candidates a voter may choose to cast a vote on the election of all, some, or none of the candidates.
Candidates may not vote in their own election.
Following the election process Administrators must review the process and bestow upon the elected the Operation Staff role and its associated powers.
In the event the process is deemed by Administrators to have been mismanaged, the results should instead be voided.
This proposal will not make alterations to our existing staff charter, instead it aims to create a new process to fulfill promotions in times of need or when extraordinary junior staff are hampered by the trial role of JS.