[1986nate]

Originally Posted by BoxerFanatic

How about this, and it is just a suggestion:

*Tim has been promoted to Executive Vice President. Thirty five people will now report to him. [This] is something for which he had been hoping.*

Agreed that "this" should be more specific, since the first sentence actually is two ideas. The "this" is an imprecise reference, and unclear as to what it is referring. Without being sure myself, I can't suggest which it is referring to. If I knew, I would probably change the third sentence to an *, and* clause, replacing [this], as an addendum to the pertinent sentence. It would probably be more polite to assume that the promotion is the object of hope, rather than the subordination of others, if one had to make an assumption. The third sentence would work better as a clause to one of the others, in order not to have a sentence standing alone with a passive voice, with the verb "is".

*Tim has been promoted to Executive Vice President, and is something for which he had been hoping. Thirty five people will now report to him.*

Agree completely. I just didn't feel like thinking that much.