A classic mistake that is made in filling supervisory and managerial positions is promoting your best non-supervisory employees into those positions. Let me state categorically, I am all in favor of promoting in-house, but not in the way that it typically happens in organizations (in both the business and public sectors).
Below is a scenario that is usually played out in these organizations.
Supervisor to employee:
“Well, you have certainly proven yourself over the pass two years that you have been with us. You have not only mastered the duties that you are responsible for, but you have carried them out with dispatch and a great deal of effectiveness. It’s time to move you to the next level!”
Employee:
“Thank you so much for the compliments and belief in my competence.”
Supervisor:
“There is an opening for a supervisory position, and after discussion with senior management, we have decided to promote you into that position.” “You will begin in your new position next week Monday.”
The employee is now a supervisor and fails miserably in the new position. Two things happened. (1) The company lost a very competent employee and (2) obtained a failing supervisor.
What happened? Well, there was a failure on the part of management to understand that nothing that the employee did prior to the promotion was preparatory to being a good supervisor.
Supervisors and managers are responsible for carrying out the functions of planning, organizing, leading, directing, and controlling resources. Rank and file employees are not responsible to carry out those functions and thus, would not have the ability to do so.
What should have happened was to engage the employee in a training program in preparation for the new responsibilities. One way to do this might be to have the employee shadow a senior, experienced supervisor for a period of time. There are, of course, many ways to prepare the employee, but this would be a quick way in which the employee might become familiar with the supervisory functions.
As simple as this process might be, you’ll be surprised as to how often the scenario presented above happens in many organizations!
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