How to Transition an Employee to Supervisor
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
As I reflect back on my career I think about the many opportunities I have had to learn and grow professionally.
Professional growth often comes in the form of taking on more responsibilities and learning to help to manage the organization.
New employees are often eager to learn. These motivated young people recognize the importance of learning and gaining experience if they want to climb the ladder.
One key competency skill for managers is the ability to supervise other employees.
Many organizations use succession planning as a means to develop and promote employees from within.
This planning helps to ensure that the next generation of leaders is prepared and ready when needed.
Succession planning is often included in the organization’s business objectives and goals.
Why Is Succession Planning So Important?
Organizations recognize that succession planning benefits both the employer and the employee.
The employer saves recruitment costs and the time associated with training and developing a new employee.
The employee benefits because they are given the opportunity for advancement and professional growth.
An internal promotion often means an entry-level employee is promoted to a supervisory position.
This kind of promotion may be based on a structured performance management process and an employee’s ability to successfully meet their goals.
While promotion is an exciting time, the newly promoted employee will need help through the transition.
And, the organization is responsible for providing the structure and process for a smooth job transition.
4 Steps to a Smooth Job Transition
1. Coaching
An internal promotion can be challenging.
However, having a designated person to talk to, helps make the transition a little easier.
The new supervisor should be assigned a mentor and coach who has moved up the ranks and has experienced making this kind of job transition.
The designated mentor can help the new supervisor talk through issues that may arise, explain company policy, or simply act as a sounding board.
The goal is to provide someone who can be there to answer questions and offer support through the transition.
2. Management Training
Job responsibilities are different when managing other employees.
This makes it necessary to learn the skills involved in managing people.
The newly promoted employee will need to be developed as a new manager and will greatly benefit from management training for their new role.
This can be done by having an organizational leadership competency model that can be used to help identify specific training areas of focus.
Example training topics might be things like how to write goals, conflict management, conducting performance appraisals, or the performance management process.
Solicit help from other managers in the organization to help determine which competencies should be achieved.
3. Leadership Development
Leadership is different than management in that a leader is responsible for influencing positive behaviors and leading employees toward the achievement of shared goals.
Leadership skills and Emotional Intelligence are a big part of managing others.
And in addition to learning how to manage people, the employee will also need leadership development.
Their new role means they will be overseeing the performance of other employees.
This new responsibility will include being an example and leader within the organization.
This new leader will ideally learn to influence others for shared goals.
Not all leaders are managers, but all managers should have leadership skills.
4. Participate in Professional Organizations
Management practices are constantly changing and new supervisors need to be exposed to the newest trends.
New supervisors should be encouraged to join and get involved with professional organizations within their industry.
The ability to network with others in the same industry provides the opportunity to grow by learning from others and best practices.
This might mean attending conferences, workshops, or subscribing to industry trade magazines.
These outside contacts and experiences give the new supervisor fresh perspectives and ideas that they can bring back to the organization.
Some Other Things To Think About
Communication and training are crucial!
When an employee is promoted within a department, there are many potential issues that can develop if there is not ample communication and training to support the transition. Provide the new supervisor with adequate training so they can gain the confidence to perform job responsibilities.
Socializing with former coworkers may not be a good idea.
It is a sobering fact that new supervisors rarely are able to maintain those coworker relationships.
The new supervisor should be encouraged to minimize social interactions with former coworkers because of the inevitable conflicts that arise during performance appraisal time.
Coworkers will inevitably ask for favors.
Another potential fact is that former coworkers may leverage the relationship by asking for inappropriate favors.
The new supervisor should be taught how to respond to inappropriate and awkward requests that may come from former coworkers. Yes, employees will try to take advantage of relationships for personal gain.
New Supervisors need to learn to make unbiased evaluations.
The new supervisor should be taught about rater errors in the performance appraisal process so they don’t make biased evaluations.
Everyone is susceptible to these errors, but particularly someone who was once friends with the person they are appraising.
Monitor the new supervisors as they transition.
The new supervisor should be closely monitored and encouraged to seek out help to deal with the day-to-day issues that arise when overseeing other employees.
Why Are Internal Promotions So Important?
Most people want consistent movement in their careers, and no one wants to be stuck in a dead-end job.
The possibility of getting promoted is what motivates employees to work hard and demonstrate job skills.
When ambitious employees recognize that promotion to supervisor is a stepping stone to greater responsibility, they will work hard to earn that role.
Employees are an organization’s greatest asset and should be treated as such.
Taking the time to plan the development and promotion of employees will not only improve employee engagement but is crucial to achieving organizational objectives.
