One of the best ways to ensure that you get promoted (or are able to take time off if you are the business owner) is to make sure that the people on your team are developed enough to be able to take over from you.
Imagine the frustration of working towards a promotion only to have somebody come in over your head and get the job. Or being a business owner that has to cancel their holiday yet again because a key person leaves.
It probably isn’t that you’re not doing a good enough job. Maybe you’re doing such a good job of doing everything yourself that the people working for you aren’t getting the opportunities they need to grow and develop. Why would your best performers stay if they believe they have nowhere to go? This can be made even more challenging by today’s relatively flat management structures.
So why is it then that so often managers seem to resist this concept? Here are some examples of the reasons (or perhaps excuses?) they come up with:
- They may leave after we train them
- I can manage – they won’t do things the way I like them done
- The business can’t afford to invest money in training and development right now
- It’s quicker to do things myself
- They may make expensive mistakes
What can you do?
1. Read “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry I Porras.
2. Make sure you and the top management understand the benefits of implementing a policy of only having ‘Home Grown Management’. It’s a long-term strategy, yet one that could easily increase profits in the medium and even short-term.
3. Learn to let go of control and create an environment where it’s OK to make mistakes so you can all learn from them.
4. Enjoy the benefits!
Becoming a mentor to your staff has the additional benefit of training your staff to become the type of employee that YOU want them to be.
Great point Mike!
As long as the ‘type of employee that YOU want them to be’ allows them to work to their strengths and therefore perform at their best… As you are probably well aware, there’s not much good in creating a whole team of ‘mini-me’s’.