She has come to you, distraught - What do you do?
You recently promoted a member of your department to head up her own team of four staff. You chose her because she’s independent, organised, hardworking and trustworthy, traits which you thought would make a good manager. However, three months into her new role she has come to you, distraught, saying she’s not cut out to be a manager. You hadn’t realised how much she was struggling and that she might need more support. What do you do?

Like any new role there is a honeymoon period where we find our feet and gain an understanding of what is required of us. The jump from operative to manager is often a huge one where confidence and commitment is tested to the limits. Managing bundles of hormones and emotions is one of the hardest jobs in the world. The task is very simple however, to make our people better than us. This requires a level of personal and business maturity, a level of professional distance and high confidence.

Confidence is not something you can give someone, but something you help people find within themselves. We must help create the conditions for that manager to believe and achieve.

Whilst it is far easier to promote an existing member of the team to a managerial position, experience informs us that there are four main traps senior managers fall foul of in this situation. Despite the fact that an established employee may well understand the culture, procedures and challenges of the business, typically internal promotion falls in to one or more of these traps

• They are the best in their technical job role and so they are the obvious choice
• It’s their turn
• They’ve been there the longest and so it’s only fair
• If you don’t promote them they’ll leave and go to a competitor.

Hardly the best criteria for elevating someone to a position of increased accountability is it ?  There is a different skill and behaviour set for managing people than being technically good at the job. It sounds obvious when you read this, but how many of us forget this simple rule ? For example how many great football players have gone on to become great football managers ? There are very few, yet this seems to be the natural progression. There seems to be a British mindset that for increased remuneration we must climb the ladder to management, therefore considering management to be a positional reward.
To address this particular situation and to prevent this happening again we must go back to basics. Firstly what does a good manager look like in your organisation ?
This should be considered from 3 perspectives:

Outcomes : What does the organisation need from its managers now and in the future ?
Performance : How are managers expected to behave to drive this performance ?
Expectations : What do employees expect of their manager to give them the respect they need to help deliver the results ?

Consider using a working party made up of personnel from all three levels. Not only does this give you the information you need, but it encourages commitment to carry it through.
Considering the traits initially thought would make a good manager.....

• Independence : Does this encourage team working and the fact that the main role of the manager is to make his/her people better than him/herself ?
• Organised : Time management is a cornerstone capability of an effective manager. Managers must first manage themselves before they can manage others.
• Hard Working : Leading by example, driving performance is essential but  what is this new manager working hard at doing ? The technical aspects of the job, or is she working hard at managing extraordinary performances from her 4 team members ?
• Trustworthy : Being able to trust and be trusted is considered as essential when managing people

Like any technical skill set requires development, managers need developing as well. Start by assessing the current performance of your managers and then develop their capability to drive the performance you strive for and need to achieve your organisational objectives. Ensure you select the right development option so your manager can earn the new salary you are paying them. Then lead and support your managers according to their progressive performance. Help them help you and give them accountability for the performance of their people