Promoting from Within

As a business owner, one of the benefits is working with, training and building my team.  Within that is the opportunity to give people the chance to grow.  You see all that the person has to offer and can imagine that knowledge and experience will allow them to rise to their own and the company’s benefit.  They can be the ying to your yang…maybe even take the reins when you are feeling like spending more time on the golf course or the beach….but slow down.  There are a few things you need to consider first!

Promoting from within an organization is always best.  It saves time and energy and allows for the less skilled or experienced position to be the seat you have to fill.  So if you see a diamond in the rough, before you start polishing, there are a few steps that you will need to work through to allow for success for you, the employee and the company.

You need to ask if they want it. Do not assume everyone wants what you want. You need to have an honest conversation about the reasons you believe they will excel and fit into the new or future roles.  Share your vision of the company and the ideal future role, even if that is someday replacing you.   You don’t have to lay the company at their feet just have them walk the possible scenarios with you.  Maybe they don’t want to rule the world.  Maybe they love being a number cruncher or selling widgets and are not interested in being a decision maker or leader. 

This leads to the part where you also have to talk about the areas for improvement and the challenges the new role will have on a regular basis.  Truthfully warning a person about the difficult parts of the jobs lets them give real thought to the shift the role would require.  In that conversation should absolutely be any shift in supervisory roles over co-workers.  Try to have direct conversation about how that shift may go down.  Who is going to challenge the new leader?  Will possible co-worker friendships go by the wayside?  There is more but the real question is will the employee be OK if they are not liked?  Some people cannot handle being considered a bad guy, ever.  While business decisions are often for the common good, they are still ALWAYS working in the best interest of the company.  So a leader in a company needs to be comfortable supporting the vision and decisions of the company.  That leader also needs to be able to handle it if the staff needs a person to blame….because it will be the new manager that gets blamed. If your diamond in the rough is up for the challenge, and potential rewards, of the new role, then I say: grow, baby, grow!

So now we need to plan out their training and support as a part of the business plan…but that is another topic for another day.