Your heart tightens in your chest and you cringe at the thought
of Herb as a leader. He doesn’t have what it takes and his longevity with the
company is only going to make it more difficult to deal with the challenges he’s
going to create. With a heavy sigh, you brace yourself for the worst and begin thinking
of ways to avert a complete disaster.
Scenes like this are becoming all too familiar as companies struggle to fill management
positions in the midst of cut backs and reorganizations.
Filling a management position is a crucial business decision. Getting the right person
in place can mean the difference between hitting your quarterly objectives and derailing
your entire department for the next six months. The wrong choice can have dire effects
on productivity, morale and retention. What’s more, even if you have the right
person, ensuring a smooth transition from the old guard to the new can be tricky business.
The Meaning of Managing
Before you even begin to identify potential candidates for supervisor, you need to first define what
it means to be a part of management in your company.
While the details vary for every organization, being a manager generally requires
the skills to:
- set goals
- get things done within an organization by working with and supervising others
- plan and organize work
- inspire others and communicate results, roles and responsibilities
- evaluate employee performance, and
- uphold values and enforce standards.
Too often when people are promoted from within, they are asked to assume new roles
without really knowing what they’re getting into. Clarifying how candidates will
need to apply each of these skills can help to ensure that they know what’s expected
of them before accepting the offer to step up.
How to Spot Potential Leaders
Identifying leaders to-be within your organization is no easy task. But
there are tell tale signs if you know how to spot them. Asking some simple questions
about potential candidates can help you determine whether or not they might be good
fits for any open supervisor slots. And while a little instructive probing does not
guarantee a successful placement, it can definitely improve your odds.
Questions to consider:
- Is the candidate ambitious?
- Does he or she have patience with other people?
- Does he or she get along well with others?
- Does he or she like making decisions?
- Is the candidate happier with more responsibility?
- Does he or she enjoy learning about human behavior?
- Does he or she like solving problems involving human relationships, in addition
to hands on mechanical, data or technical problems?
- Would he or she be a cooperative member of management?
- Does the candidate prefer to be responsible for planning more than being controlled?
- Is he or she effective at planning and organizing?
- Does he or she encourage others to succeed in their jobs?
- How deep is his or her need for recognition?
Asking questions like these can not only help you evaluate candidates, but can also
help candidates decide for themselves if they want a leadership role. Before offering
up a promotion, let those being considered for a push up the ladder take a crack at
answering the questions for themselves.
Avoiding the Tenure Trap
Another important aspect to consider
in weighing a person’s management
potential is his or her longevity with the company. Most often, companies turn
to individuals with the greatest tenure to fill open management
slots. Such promotions are often viewed both as rewards for
good performance and the natural evolution up the corporate
ladder.
However, longevity does not necessarily determine leadership potential. Promoting
a star performer is not always the best solution, as the character traits that make
them effective individual contributors may not translate into the traits needed to
make them good managers.
An emerging trend among forward thinking companies is to create parallel career tracks – one
for potential leaders and one for individual contributors. This allows star performers
to advance without having to assume management roles if they don’t want to. For
example, this concept is proving effective in sales organizations. People who consistently
achieve sales objectives are rewarded with commensurate titles and pay boosts as those
who decide to go into management.
The Ups and Downs of Management
There are definite advantages to assuming a management gig, including such
things as greater access to training and higher pay. But the positions also come
with tougher responsibilities, such as the need to deal with problem employees and
put in longer hours.
Potential candidates should be forewarned about both the upsides and
downsides before they’re thrown into new roles. One way to do this is to provide
opportunities for potential leaders to meet with executives to pick their brains about
what a management job may entail. For example, Federal Express offers a program where
executives volunteer their time on weekends to meet with employees interested in moving
up the ladder. The executives talk about their jobs and answer questions. This helps
aspiring employees learn about opportunities and also ensures that the company maintains
a solid pipeline of potential leaders from which to draw.
Do You Need to Retrench?
It’s inevitable that not every promotion or
hire is going to work out. The trick is knowing when to retrench
and how to respond.
If a new manager is flailing, it’s usually because of one of two things – either
the person’s roles and responsibilities were ill defined; or he or she lacks
the necessary traits or training. Once you know what’s wrong, there are steps
you can take to improve the situation.
Set some boundaries. Often the biggest issue with new supervisors
is that they don’t understand the boundaries of their authority. The risk is
that they become too controlling or too weak. Defining roles is extremely important
to ensure a peaceful and effective transition of power.
Consider a coach. If you promote someone into a position where they’re
suddenly responsible for managing a multitude of reports, there are bound to be some
stops and starts – and even some dropped balls. Some problems can be intercepted
by providing management training and executive coaching. For example, the two most
common problems for new supervisors are poor time management and difficulty in delegating
assignments. Both of these issues can be effectively addressed through training or
by employing a coach.
Offer an out. In some cases, a newly promoted manager is simply
not cut out for a leadership role. He or she may not be comfortable with level of responsibility
or accountability. Every promotion should be accompanied by a planned review period
to assess the transition, both from the company’s perspective and from the individual’s.
If things are not working out, it should be perfectly acceptable to make a change in
course – and in managers. What’s more, it should not be considered a failure.
Rather, the individual should be acknowledged for his or her efforts and allowed to
accept another role as an individual contributor.
EDIZEN Insights #8
© 2001 by Edizen Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
For feedback or comments: feedback@edizenco.com.
Feel free to call Edizen at 413-788-0077 / Toll Free 866-334-9362.
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