Effectively Training First-Time Managers

Studies show that most people in managerial positions had little or no management experience or training before taking on their current roles—and that 50–55% of employees who moved up to supervisory, managerial or executive positions came from other roles inside the same firm.

Your company’s productivity and ability to retain committed employees depend largely upon the skill of its leadership. But for first-time managers, supervising others is a new responsibility—and a major challenge that may be overwhelming.

The prospect of promotion may offer employees a reason to stay motivated while presenting a defined career path, and internal promotions are often key elements in a company’s retention strategy and succession plan. But promotions sometimes backfire and can just as easily derail careers as enhance them. Ironically, the very same skills that make someone an attractive candidate for advancement become less important once they are promoted and must manage others.

Are you part of the 50–55% promoting from within? Here are five tips to set people up for success rather than failure:

1) Choose competent employees who have what it takes to do the job. Can they assert themselves? Rebound from difficulty? Think on their feet? Understand personality differences between successful managers and successful individual contributors to plan a career path for individuals within your organization.

2) Look at past performance—both traditional measures of an individual’s skills and abilities and big picture qualities like team orientation and leadership. Beware of promoting someone who is unlikely to meet your expectations in a managerial role.

3) Clearly communicate and define expectations for the new role. Will they start up a new unit? Maintain and grow an existing operation? Turn around a failing group? Also, provide a definite “breakaway point” from the previous position so the new manager can hit the ground running.

4) Provide management orientation, training and career development programs before raising individuals to management levels. Training new managers can reinforce company goal buy-in and foster development of required competencies.

5) Ensure your culture rewards managers. What are the behaviors necessary for success in a management role? How do you measure and reward those behaviors? Make your expectations obvious and then reward strong performance.

What now? First-time managers often have misperceptions of what it means to be a manager. Ask new managers what their roles involve and they may start describing management’s rights and privileges rather than its duties.

New managers must make sense of the complex and often conflicting expectations of subordinates, superiors and peers. The biggest change in both mindset and behavior? Moving from working individually to achieving results through the work of others.

Herb Greenberg is Caliper founder & CEO.