Management is More than Just a Job Title
Published on: 06 February 2019An issue I frequently come across is where an employee, due to creditable performance in their current role, is promoted into a management position without full consideration as to whether this is the best decision for the business or the individual. Has the business considered, for example, alternative ways to reward good service or what, if any, support and guidance will be provided to the employee to enable them to succeed in their new role?
If an employee is successful at their current role, it does not necessarily follow that they will be successful in a management role. If you are seeking to reward good performance and retain your best performing staff, promotion is only one option and it may not always be the most suitable. Rather than encouraging loyalty and retention of your most valued staff members, promoting an employee into management without adequate training or assessment of their suitability for such a position could have the opposite effect.
There are many other ways to reward loyal and good service, and these need not necessarily cost the business additional money.
We can provide bespoke training
If you are minded to promote any particular employee into a management role, I advise that consideration is given to providing them with management training to equip them with the tools required to succeed and to deliver the best for your business. Similarly, you may have managers in post now to whom you do not feel able to delegate certain tasks. If that is the case, you are not fully utilising them and you should consider providing them with suitable training in order to correct this, and free up more senior managers and directors to focus their time and attention on other areas of the business.
We can provide bespoke training, either at your place of work or at one of our offices, for managers, and would-be managers, on a wide range of topics to help them to reach their full potential, such as in relation to identifying and addressing performance or attendance issues, promoting good mental health, handling grievances and whistleblowing, dealing with indiscipline, and anti-bullying and harassment strategies. We can also provide advice and guidance on alternative methods of rewarding good performance and retaining key staff.
Retainer services
In addition, we offer retainer services which, for a fixed fee, would give your managers access to employment law and HR advice and guidance from qualified local solicitors in relation to day to day, and not so day to day, issues that they encounter. This can include the drafting of relevant documents and letters as and when needed, giving you the confidence to allow managers to deal with matters, safe in the knowledge that they have the benefit of specialist advice at their fingertips. And added to this, because employees often chance their arm with claims even when managers have done everything by the book (and because even the best trained managers sometimes make mistakes, or otherwise employment tribunals can make unpredictable decisions) is the availability of the safety net of insurance against employment tribunal claims, settlements and awards.
Please call us to discuss your options in more detail.