2 faces of a promotion

Summary:  You have promoted one of your people to manager. Are you aware of the two faces of promotion? Are you prepared to handle them at the same time?

It was a difficult decision, after all there are so many good employees in your company. You were only able to promote one person…you are confident in your choice and the person was excited for their new position as Manager. They have climbed one more rung on the corporate ladder and moving closer to their career goal.

Courtesy of PhotoXpress

All is well in the world. At least it would appear. You have promoted someone to a higher position in their own department – they know the work, the people, and the expectations. What could go wrong?

Well, it doesn’t really go wrong however adjusting to being the new manager of the people who were your peers can be difficult and the people in the department will also have a hard time adjusting.

Take a look at the two views:

Manager. Yeah! You have been working hard and it has been recognized with a promotion, more responsibilities and a higher income. Now the reality sits in – you are managing the same people you used to sit next to you and share complaints about the previous manager. How do you make the change?

Peers. You just got the news – it’s both good and bad. You have a new boss who you know, after all he was one of you – Good News. Bad news – you wanted the job. How is this going to work? Do I have to start all over again in proving myself? How long before I get a chance to be promoted? Should I tell someone that I’m not happy. What??? He called a meeting….ugh!

How do you handle these two scenarios at the same time?

First, before you announce a new internal promotion make sure you speak to the people who were interested in the position and let them know why they aren’t being promoted. This should be with a plan of what they need to do in order to be promoted the next time.  People can take the news better if they are given a plan to follow to help them succeed.

Second, be a mentor or get a coach for the new manager. Being a manager can already be challenging but moving up to manage your peers is very difficult and can be akward. Help them along with either an internal or external resource. If you don’t have a leadership program in place – you can be jeopardizing their success. Don’t let them figure out how to manage through trial and error – it’s a long process and can prove to costly.

What’s your experience with this? Did you decide who should be promoted? Were you promoted? or Were you the one left behind?

Focus HR provides leadership coaching…contact us to help your new manager.