The temptation to promote internally is almost overwhelming. The people are known quantities in their current positions, and you want to demonstrate that you are able to offer a career path to your staff.
The employee promoted from a previously 'hands-on' position into a first line management role is facing one of the biggest challenges of their life.
But previous experience is no guarantee of future success, and by trying to promote from within you could be faced with some of the following challenges:
- Are you promoting someone to a managerial positional because of their specialist knowledge, be it IT, sales, scientific, manufacturing etc., or because they are genuinely management material?
- Will the person retain credibility in the face of accusations of 'poacher turned gamekeeper'?
- Does your staff secretly harbour suspicions of bias or favouritism?
- How do you avoid losing those that you don't promote?
- What support does the newly promoted person need, and what will you do if the promotion is not a success?
Using an external consultant to help you choose between existing employees offers another viewpoint, whilst at the same time removing any accusations of bias.
Working with the line manager, Latham can help identify the key factors to any job, and create an interview process to draw out the information required (please see the section 'helping managers interview').
To make the process even more rigorous, we have techniques and tools available that will determine a person's suitability for a position (please see the section on 'assessing a candidate short list').
