Recruiting for management positions
There are many bad managers who look great on paper but are something totally different in reality. Once these managers infiltrate your office, your best employees, your average employees and even the plants begin to shrivel up and die.
The bad manager can destroy your office as they do not lead, but bully and pit colleagues against one another. So how do you spot the ‘baddie’ during the recruitment process?
Before you recruit, develop a detailed job description
Aside from the basic education and experience the managerial position requires, develop:
- A job description that outlines your expectations and the measurable objectives you want your organisation to accomplish; and
- A profile of a manager who knows your business, understands the culture and in interested in developing your organisation’s long-term goals further.
The CV and qualifications should not be the deciding factor
Do we pay far too much attention to written qualifications and too little on a candidate's ability to communicate, lead and inspire success? When you start reviewing job applications, start with the cover letters of the application first, even before you read the attached the candidates’ CVs as good communicators are generally good workers and managers. Go through the CV making sure they have the ability, technical knowledge, experience and skills to do the job. Managers who have no idea what exactly their employees do can be extremely frustrating.
Check references thoroughly
There are major differences between the way you should check a candidate’s and manager’s references. Asking questions about a manager’s employment history should be far more in-depth. References are simply not enough because they don’t tell you who you are hiring. This is why you need to apply strong tests of character and ability to your search for the right person.
Checking candidates’ references is always a critical task. You may not be able to check references with the candidate’s current employer or employees who report to them. However, it is your duty to check as many references as humanly possible. This may sound like a daunting task but it is imperative that you do this. Hiring a manager who was kicked out of his previous organisation because he was incompetent or displayed unethical behaviour will have disastrous consequences for your organisation.
Should you promote from within your organisation?
Promoting an employee within your organisation solves a lot of problems because they are familiar with the culture, systems, vision, policies and procedures of the organisation. You also have a record of behaviour and work ethic. Promoting from within will send a valuable message to staff and they might start to see how good work is rewarded. Familiarity with the current staff and the client relationships is also a definite benefit. However, the drawback of promoting within is that some employees may become bitter as they might feel like they were passed over.
How to prevent losing good employees
Your employees will leave if they do not get along with their managers, do not like them or do not respect them. If this happens to one of your employees, interrogate the problem and try to ‘fix’ the manager rather than lose an entire office of people.
HR and management are not supposed to be best friends. Bad managers are often protected by HR and the employees are seen as the problem. So when you encounter your next ‘bad employee’ in a department full of ‘bad employees’, investigate the bad manager instead.
