The Human Resource: Rising in ranks - Part 2

The Human Resource: Rising in ranks – Part 2

Posted by Warren Cook on August 5, 2016

There are significant challenges for a new supervisor, especially an individual rising from an employee into the supervisor role. In our last article we explored the perspective of the employee. This week we explore the employer perspective.

An employer has a great deal to consider, including the risks, of promoting an internal employee to a position of supervision over their former peers. Perhaps the employee was the most productive, most skilled, highest contributor, etc. Regardless of why you promote the employee, it is important to remember that the individual contributor role is critically different from the supervisor role and expectations need to be clear. A poor choice in promotion and you are stuck for a while with a great performer who can’t supervisor others. So choose wisely when promoting. It is the responsibility of the employer’s manager to mentor and coach the new supervisor to success. Training, ongoing communication, and regular feedback will help the process be successful. The new supervisor’s failure is also a reflection on the organization’s ability to develop and grow their employees into positions of greater responsibility. To avoid this pitfall, here are three tips to consider.

Employer Tip 1: Assign a mentor to any new supervisor, with a clear and specific purpose and goal for development of the new supervisor. This assignment should require regular meetings, documenting the progress to leadership, and feedback on where the individual needs assistance. The mentor should not necessarily be the supervisor’s manager, instead assign another well-respected leader of the organization to mentor the new supervisor, which would include helping them learn how to interact with their manager.

Employer Tip 2: Remember you made the selection of this individual, and this transition for the supervisor may be much more complicated or difficult than learning some skills and competencies. There are friendships or relationships amongst peers that can make or break a new supervisor having to manage former peers. To this end, provide the employee a roadmap to a successful transition. Help them see the delineation they must make between friendship and working relationship. Communicate and explain how bias and favoritism can damage employee morale and work closely with them to accomplish their new goals. This all creates engagement and more importantly trust that you care about their success.

Employer Tip 3: Do not be quick to hold a supervisor accountable for poor performance in their new role if you have not provided all of the tools, resources, and support they need to succeed. You will see a new supervisor gravitate towards what they are comfortable with, so do not be surprised if you find them doing work versus supervising and delegating work. Help them through this transition and you will be rewarded with a loyal and well-trained supervisor.

The decision of promoting from within certainly has advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of your choice in the source of the supervisor, the true success or failure of the supervisor does not stay with the employee alone. The employer has made an investment in an individual and without mentoring, training, and support the supervisor could fail. The short and long term consequences of this type of failure can create employee morale issues on top of operational challenges and a negative impact on the delivery of your products and services. Use these opportunities in developing a supervisor to build engagement and trust between the workforce and leadership.

* The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of Chadds Ford Live. We welcome opposing viewpoints. Readers may comment in the comments section or they may submit a Letter to the Editor to: editor@chaddsfordlive.com

About Warren Cook

Warren is the President and co-founder of SymbianceHR and provides strategic oversight for service delivery, business operations, and technical guidance on consulting engagements. He is a human resources subject matter expert with over 25 years of experience as a strategic human resources business partner, project manager, and people leader across private and public sectors organizations. Warren is responsible for the strategic planning of all client consulting engagements from initial needs assessment and compliance review through delivery of customized strategic solutions that meet the client’s business goals. He has a proven track record of providing executive coaching and guidance to business leaders and human resource professionals at all levels including the C-Suite of Fortune 100 companies. Warren is also the Chief Talent Officer and cofounder of SymbianceHiRe, a Symbiance company dedicated to providing direct placement talent acquisition services and temporary and contract staffing solutions to the business community. Warren holds a B.S. in Human Resource Management, an MBA in Project Management, and a M.S. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Warren is the author of “Applicant Interview Preparation – Practical Coaching for Today.”