We all know that growing our future leaders has always been a critical component to an
organization's success, and this is more important now than ever. The past several years
we've been bombarded with headlines warning us of the looming talent war and inevitable
labor shortage. Everything from the mass exodus of Boomers from the marketplace to off-shoring of jobs due to global competition. Now, regardless of whether you buy into this line of thinking, or believe these concepts to be overblown, hopefully we can agree that it's generally a good idea to pay attention to our top performers and high potentials. After all, if we don't someone else will. And that someone could be your fiercest competitor.
It's with this in mind that we focus our attention on the issues we can control, or at least have influence over. Research has shown the benefits of promoting from within, citing specific advantages such as appreciation of company culture and a better grasp of the organization's competitive offerings. However, consistently monitoring the talent pool is no easy task, requiring diligence and discipline -- to always keep an eye out for that proverbial needle in the corporate haystack. To effectively meet this challenge companies need to identify and transition individual performers into the management role. The transition needs to help the new manager become comfortable and confident in supervising direct reports who were formerly peers. In addition, they need to transition their focus from maintaining their own specific technical skill, goals, and deadlines to managing these aspects for others.
Receiving candid feedback on one's management competencies is an important aspect of the transitioning process. 360 feedback gives the new manager clarification on their role, as well as what behaviors need to continue, be stopped, or be changed. Identifying areas for improvement, and communicating their developmental goals to their team, will help the manager be viewed as effective and credible.
In short, continuous improvement requires constant measurement.
