How often do you see companies promote somebody that really excels in their current role into a management position and they no longer seem to shine in the new role of manager. The Chartered Management Institute identifies this as the case of ‘Accidental Manager’.
Companies will see giving somebody a promotion to management as a way to reward that person, particularly if they have reach the top of their payscale. The person goes into the management role with all the knowledge and experience of their previous role but often with very little in the way management skills. Companies need to accept that very few people are born natural leaders and in fact the late Warren Bennis said ‘Leaders are made rather than born’. For companies to enable the person to do well in a new management role, they need to look at putting in place several things:
Assessments: Companies should identify themselves what they want from their managers in terms of their skills and how they manage and then use those to design assessments for the interview process
Succession planning: Companies need to look at who they think will become their next managers so that they can put in place proper development schemes
Mentoring programmes: Give people the chance to be mentored by current good managers/leaders
Development programmes: Design development programmes that will give employees the skills and knowledge on leadership and management skills including coaching/training/self driven learning.
Induction programme: Put together an induction programme for a new promoted manager – although they will know their pervious role and the company they will still need to be given guidance on how the management systems work
The other important thing for companies to recognise is that not everybody wants to be a manger nor do their strength lies in becoming a manager. Therefore it may be more beneficial for the person to remain in their current role and for the company to look at their reward and recognition scheme to look at rewarding excellent performance without a promotion.