Workscape Institute

We’ve all seen it before.  A managerial position becomes available and is filled by a top performer with minimal or no previous management experience.  It makes sense.  After all, shouldn’t an individual top performer be able to easily make the transition to manager?  Shouldn’t a person who performs at the highest level be able to guide others to reach that same level of productivity?  The answer is a 100%, absolute maybe.

Follow up:

Top performing managers are often excellent leaders who can think strategically, delegate with ease, and display compassion when needed.  Are these the qualities of a top performer you are thinking of promoting to manager?

Before promoting a top performer (with minimal or no managerial experience), companies should understand that in order to make a smooth transition to manager, the top performer may, in fact, need some help and guidance along the way.  Here are some of the biggest focus areas for a company:

1. Is the employee ready to make the transition from employee to manager?  Are they ready to let go of their traditional day-to-day responsibilities (i.e. the details), and play at a more conceptual or strategic level?  Some managers make the mistake of believing they need to understand every last detail of what their employees are working on.  Commonly referred to as micro-managing, this type of behavior has often made otherwise competent employees burn out and leave a company.
2. Is the employee ready to defend his new direct reports and openly support them in public?  Is the employee ready to be a leader?  Leaders absorb rather than deflect criticism.  Leaders push praise downward to their employees, and pro-actively look for ways to promote their direct reports in a positive light.  In short, leaders have a deep understanding of the phrase, “Praise in public, condemn in private.”  Lots of top performers have a very healthy, competitive ego.  Don’t assume that deflecting praise and supporting direct reports (who may formerly have been colleagues) is a natural instinct for new managers.
3. Can the employee show compassion?  A friend of mine had a manager who he really enjoyed working for until that manager questioned the reason why he had recently missed some work.  My friend’s son was sick and in and out of the hospital, and thus, my friend needed to unexpectedly miss some work during a two-week period.  Rather than show compassion and understanding, my friend’s manager accused him of interviewing.  (Those of us with kids understand that if you decide to interview, it is simply bad karma to fake a child’s illness as an excuse.)  Needless to say, my friend’s manager’s paranoia quickly became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as my friend decided it wasn’t worth working for a manager who so quickly questioned his integrity.
4. Does the employee know how to assign work, and then shepherd that work through to completion?  It seems really simple.  Let’s roll play:

• Manager: “Employee, I need you to do X.  I need this done because of Y.  I’d really like to have this work completed by Z.  Do you have any questions?  Was this clear?”
• Employee: “Got it.”
• Manager: “Great.  Please let me know if you need any additional help.”
  
  
• Once again, this seems really simple.  Employees like to understand what work is expected of them, why the work is important, and when the work should be completed.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Once the assignment is given, managers can use a variety of actions to stay on top of progress, including daily check-ins, one-on-one meetings, and regular staff meetings.

Finally, does the company give new managers the time needed to actually manage?  Has the top performer gone from being an individual contributor to managing a group of five or seven people?  If so, they will probably need more time to concentrate on managing and less time to complete day-to-day tactical work.  Have you been in an organization that expected top performers that become managers to effectively communicate with direct reports and maintain their previous workload?

Top performing individuals don’t necessarily become top performing managers.  To succeed, you need to give these new managers the time, training, and guidance to truly be successful.