Sometimes you elevate a staff member only to discover that the person is not up to snuff. In over his or her head, the newly promoted employee can slow the output of your department, unsettle customer relations, or call your judgment into question.
Letting the employee go may be a quick way of handling the problem and saving face, but it can hurt your standing with the rest of your staff, particularly if the person was a good performe
r in the past. Here are some alternate strategies:
- Be on the lookout for potential trouble. “During the initial honeymoon period, managers often overlook the person’s shortcomings, but doing so means mistakes can reach even greater proportions before they’re caught,” says Dr. Chester Schriesheim, distinguished professor of management and the Rosa R. and Carlos M. de la Cruz scholar in leadership at the University of Miami School of Business Administration.If external measures of a person’s performance are appl icable (e.g., sales quotas, weekly reports), review them from the start. Also, tune in to complaints from customers, colleagues and subordinates who are often in a good position to judge how well the recently promoted person is faring.
- Diagnose the problem. Once you spot the symptoms, assess how serious the person’s mistakes or shortcomings are. If they’re disrupting the flow of work or are likely to cause a major crisis if they’re not dealt with, take action immediately. If they’re what you would expect given the employee’s experience and the demands of the new job (e.g., unpolished but thorough reports), allow the person time to grow into all the new responsibilities to be faced.
- Discuss the situation with
the promoted employee. If performance isn’t up to par, the individual is probably aware of it and very possibly worried about it. Ask whether he or she agrees with your assessment of the situation. You might ask for the employee’ssuggestions on what should be done. Once you’ve pinpointed the difficulties, consider these options: - Try additional training. The employee may be able to improve performance with formal or informal help. Look into courses your company offers, or have the employee investigate off-site classes or seminars. Another possibility is to have the person work with a more experienced staff member for a while.
- Take the person under your wing. If the decisions your staff member is being asked to make are important ones, you might ask for his or her recommendations, but reserve final approval for yourself. Explain why you agree or disagree with the individual’s analysis of the situation. This alternative can be time-consuming, but it’s the price you may have to pay to save a premature promotion. Once the employee learns what goes into a sound decision, you can then relinquish your mentoring role.
- Restructure the job. If training or mentoring are too costly or time-consuming, you can reconsider the person’s job responsibilities. The employee may even be glad that you’re relieving him or her of overwhelming responsibilities. The trick is finding another staff member who has the time and inclination to take over the problem areas.
- Make a lateral transfer. Asking the person to go back to his or her old job—in effect to give up the promotion—usually isn’t the best solution. A face-saving alternative is a transfer to a different job that will make use of the individual’s already proven skills.
Observation: The best way to avoid promotion fizzle is to do your homework before you elevate a staff member. Better yet, have the employee take on the key tasks of the new position on a trial basis before you make your final decision. It’s good preparation for the future.
