Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran. Corresponding Author, Email: z.mohamadyari@ilam.ac.ir
2
Associate Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran. Email: a.shiri@ilam.ac.ir
Abstract
Purpose: Job elevation sickness occurs when individuals are abruptly promoted without adequate experience, preparation, or systematic planning. Such managers often display unusual behaviors, possess limited decision‑making authority, and experience high job stress. This phenomenon can undermine the integrity of promotion systems, disrupt workplace dynamics, and demotivate diligent employees who feel their efforts are overlooked. A major consequence is the erosion of organizational trust, alongside the rise of underqualified leaders whose lack of essential competencies weakens team performance. Recognizing the causes and effects of job elevation sickness enables organizations to support smoother role transitions. Studying its antecedents and consequences in the public sector is therefore both theoretically important and practically significant, guiding the central research question of this study.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This study is qualitative in nature and conducted using an exploratory approach. In terms of purpose, it is classified as basic (fundamental) research. Philosophically, the study adopts an interpretivist stance, and methodologically, it follows an inductive approach. With regard to the time horizon, it is a cross-sectional study. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis was performed using thematic analysis. Given the research objective, namely, identifying the antecedents and consequences of a novel phenomenon (job elevation sickness) within the specific context of public-sector organizations, thematic analysis was selected as the most appropriate method, as it is particularly well-suited for exploratory and interpretive studies aimed at uncovering a broad spectrum of influencing factors and outcomes associated with a phenomenon. The participants include experts comprising middle- and top-level managers from executive agencies and public organizations in Ilam Province, as well as university faculty members and researchers familiar with the research topic. Due to the qualitative nature of the study, purposive sampling was employed. The primary data collection instrument was the semi-structured interview. To ensure the instrument’s validity, the peer and participant debriefing method was applied. Specifically, during the development of the interview guide for this study, input was obtained from two subject-matter experts as peer reviewers and from two interviewees as participant reviewers. To assess reliability, the test–retest method was used. Data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis.
Findings: The findings revealed that job elevation sickness among public sector managers consists of five main antecedent themes (comprising 13 sub-themes) and five main consequent themes (also comprising 13 sub-themes). The antecedents were categorized into individual-cognitive, structural-organizational, cultural-social, psychosocial-personality, and contextual factors. The consequences were identified as reduced organizational efficiency, psychosocial-physical outcomes, weakened organizational and social trust, deterioration of organizational culture and human relations, and political-administrative consequences. The results indicate that this phenomenon is not merely an individual issue, but rather a multifaceted outcome of inefficient organizational structures, non-supportive cultures, social pressures, and technological transformations. The findings of the present study indicate that job elevation sickness among public-sector managers is a multidimensional phenomenon rooted in the failure of merit-based systems, weaknesses in governance structures, and non-supportive organizational cultures. Its consequences extend beyond the individual level, permeating organizational, societal, and political spheres. These findings align with the Peter Principle; however, they go further by demonstrating that in highly politicized public-sector environments, job elevation sickness is not merely a result of individual incompetence, but rather a product of an opaque promotion system entangled with informal power networks.
Discussion and Conclusion: This study, through the multidimensional identification and analysis of the antecedents and consequences of job elevation sickness among public-sector managers, concludes that this phenomenon is not merely an individual issue but rather the complex outcome of an interplay of individual, structural, cultural, psychological, and contextual factors that converge within the specific context of public organizations. The findings indicate that job elevation occurs when managers are transferred to higher-level positions without adequate preparedness, insufficient organizational support, and without undergoing gradual developmental pathways. Factors such as opaque performance evaluation systems, interference by informal networks, social pressures, and a non-supportive organizational culture accelerate these promotions. Rather than enhancing performance, such practices weaken organizational effectiveness, foster occupational burnout, erode trust, and reinforce informal power structures. Ultimately, job elevation sickness affects not only the newly appointed manager but also the entire organization and public trust in governmental institutions. To mitigate this phenomenon, public organizations must establish transparent, competence-based evaluation and promotion systems; design structured, gradual training programs and mentoring initiatives for newly appointed managers; cultivate a supportive and transformation-oriented organizational culture; implement digital change management policies alongside managerial promotions; and strengthen independent oversight mechanisms to monitor promotion processes.
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