Companies hire and promote people in a predictable pattern: bring on a great new team member, then move them up to management once they’ve proven themselves in their role. Promoting people to management is an excellent way to reward valuable employees and drive engagement.
Or is it? Some employees do very well in the technical roles you hired them to perform but may not be ready to move up. Management skills training could be the answer for some, but not all. What can you do when one of your employees wants that promotion but isn’t ready and, in your mind, may never be ready to take that step?
Decisions regarding management promotions are critical for businesses. Companies fail to promote the right candidates over 80% of the time—and promoting the wrong people into management costs organizations billions of dollars each year, according to Gallup.
Many companies task HR with these tough decisions, but the answer more commonly lies in how the company manages career and leadership development overall.
In this article on engaging ambitious employees in creative ways, we’ll explore:
- Why might some employees not be destined for management
- How to respond to unlikely requests to move into management
- Four tips to drive employee engagement without stifling ambition
- How to support middle managers in navigating these conversations
Why some employees may not be destined for management
Rewarding ambition in your employees is a smart way to drive engagement, but you may have to get creative to make the most of some people’s strengths.
Advancing high-performers to people management, even when poorly suited to leadership, is “an outmoded hierarchy,” according to McKinsey. Assuming that you need to reward excellent individual contributors with management roles is a myth that negatively impacts your team.
The reality is not everyone can or should be a people manager. Managing and leading a team of people takes a particular temperament and skill set, and only some are well suited to the task. However, there are many ways for employees to grow with a company and advance in their careers without moving into a management role that oversees other staff.
Some companies create alternative career paths with roles such as business managers, allowing people to take on more responsibility without direct reports. Employees can also become subject matter experts within their organizations or develop new areas of business using their specialized knowledge.
Here’s a tip: Always ask your employee why they want to apply for a promotion. It may give you helpful insights into their goals and motivations and spark ideas for you to meet their needs without agreeing to the specific promotion requested.
How to respond to unlikely requests to move into management
Managers often get asked by employees how they can move up to management. This question is even more challenging when an employee isn’t ready or may never be ready. Unfortunately, managers are often poorly equipped to answer these questions on the spot and often direct employees to HR for an official response.
Yet, HR managers aren’t always familiar with an employee’s experience or work habits and don’t have daily interactions with all staff. They may not feel comfortable making the call that someone isn’t management material.
Businesses need to develop and offer “two distinct, but equally valued, career roadmaps,” according to HR Magazine, allowing both talented specialists and people leaders to grow within your company.
Managers often ask me how to handle the promotion request from an employee who is not ready or suitable for management. My recommendation to HR and management is to be honest with people about their potential rather than avoiding the conversation by bouncing the employee back and forth between HR and their manager.
Proactive career and leadership development should include transparency about the various career pathways available and what is necessary should an employee wish to pursue them. Tactfully explaining the areas an employee will need to improve upon to be considered for management is an engaging approach that can help the person foster self-awareness.
4 tips to drive employee engagement without stifling ambition
A plan to manage employees whose ambitions may not align with their capabilities can help you retain strong contributors and create more suitable career progressions.
Here are four tips to help an ambitious employee channel their energy in the right way:
- Mix up their workload with day-to-day tasks and stretch projects
These strategies give them something to work toward and accomplishments to recognize and reward without adding people management to their plates.
- Listen to their career aspirations
Connect their current work and role with their future goals. Ambitious people sometimes overlook how their current role can help them in the future, but experience and skill-building take time.
- Focus on core skills
Explain the importance of building strong foundational career skills. Ambition can fool us into thinking we can skip steps, but a management role will demand well-developed soft and technical skills.
- Appreciate their enthusiasm
Coach them to help them focus on their current responsibilities and contributions. Ambitious people need to know that their enthusiasm is not the problem. Misplaced enthusiasm can be disruptive, so managers must create firm expectations around priorities.
Remember that managing an employee’s ambition does not mean putting off difficult conversations about their potential advancement with the company. While you may be able to offer them opportunities to grow and expand their expertise, you can still be honest about their potential to step into people management.
How to support middle managers in navigating these conversations
Creating a culture that encourages open and proactive communication can go a long way toward managing the expectations of all employees. When you encourage people to share their career goals and offer them clarity on the skills needed to advance throughout the different levels of an organization, there will be fewer disappointments.
Part of your management skills training should consider equipping your managers with the tools to handle these conversations throughout an employee’s time with the company.
Then, if needed, HR can support the managers and arm employees with the information they need. A good strategy can be for HR to have career conversations upon request, then let the employee know HR will contact their direct manager to discuss it further.
In this exchange, an HR manager can let the employee know what the company looks for regarding management competencies, skills, behaviour, and knowledge. In exchange, HR can ensure the manager has the information needed to review with the employee to see if they are ready to move up.
How to set up all employees for success
These types of conversations with employees where the ambition and the management potential do not match up can be avoided. I advise companies to be transparent about career options and leadership pathways with all employees from day 1. Companies can work with an experienced leadership advisor and management trainer like me to map out the key competencies required to succeed in every role in a company. Having a transparent process for career pathways is a tool managers and HR can use to manage employee expectations in a way that is engaging and hopeful.
Preparing leaders to have these conversations with more confidence and transparency starts with skill building. Download the Leadership Learning Journey from our resource library to learn more.