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BLUF:
I am seeking advice and thoughts of Forum Members about their experiences with management teams whose head count grew rapidly.
Management Context:
I manage the day to day activities of 8 manufacturing related functions. I have a Direct Report for each of these functions as well as an assistant. None of my Direct Reports are ready to take over my role or even a subset of it at this time. They each manage supervisors within their departments. Total management team including myself, my direct reports and their supervisors is 22.
Our management effectiveness has not kept up and is not ready to maintain the pace now required by our plant. The future is bright but effectiveness is critical and the need for small decisions to be taken immediately is increasing daily. What used to be small balls are now large ones for many of the supervisors and managers currently on staff. Many small balls get left on the ground.
Current Action Plan:
We plan to bring in new talent (about 6 people) and assign responsibilities to them to spread the work load. The hope is that from this new talent and more focus given by the others that more effective management can emerge and develop. I will delegate the management of the new candidates to my Direct Reports. The intention is for the successful candidates to become part of the management team. I plan to follow the “Harvesting Annual Reviews podcast (without too much focus on the “Steel Cage Death-match portion) as a guide to follow up on the new candidates. All of my direct reports are familiar with Manager-Tools and some are following the basics.
Questions:
Do we assign the new talent to work tasks in order to learn our business?
Do we assign the new talent to supervisory tasks?
Do we assign them to managerial tasks immediately?
Do we assign them to specific functions and shifts from the beginning?
Do we force a rotation through the different functions?
Do I assign one to each of my directs and monitor progress?
PS: Feel free to ask questions if the above needs clarification. It is difficult to outline all of this in 500 words.
We need to talk...
FChalif-
Why don't you send me a mail and we can set up a time to talk this through? I think I understand, but knowing your situation suggests a short conversation could lead to some very specific recommendations.
I look forward to helping you with your growth.
Update
I have edited my original post to clarify a couple of points and remove some excess words. Since I originally posted, Mark and I have talked and clarified my objectives.
The first question Mark asked me was whether I had 6 months. A few years ago I would have said no, but I have since learned that to be in a hurry never pays. The context of Mark's question was that from his experience, Slow is Fast. Mark went on to explain that it is better to take our time with new people and increase the likelihood of success. This is due mainly to the high cost of failure and having to start over again.
Mark and I further discussed my work context and discussed the questions I asked in my post. Here are the questions again with answers below:
Questions:
Do we assign the new talent to work tasks in order to learn our business?
Yes
Do we assign the new talent to supervisory tasks?
Yes, provided we determine the candidates are ready.
Do we assign them to managerial tasks immediately?
Maybe, the risk is greater here if new candidate does not have a lot of experience. For a great candidate though, it may be appropriate to do so right away.
Do we assign them to specific functions and shifts from the beginning?
Yes, in the context of where we place based on answers to first 3 questions
Do we force a rotation through the different functions?
NO - Mark did not recommend this approach as the candidates quickly lose their "purpose" in the eyes of staff in each department. Without direct responsibility, we both agreed they would become lame ducks.
Do I assign one to each of my directs and monitor progress?
Yes
Our first step this past Thursday was to interview 6 candidates. We used the Interview Results Capture tool on Friday and that went well. We have narrowed it down to 3 solid candidates. I have asked my Direct Reports to develop job descriptions for roles in their departments so that we may develop questions for second interviews.
Looking for input from anyone who may have lived through this before. I plan to keep the forums updated as we go through this.
Similar Q&A
Please see if you find this column helpful?
http://www.welchway.com/Management/People-Management/Hiring-Right/The-Hi...
Good luck!
Thanks Raul
Hi Raul,
Thank you for the support and the link to the article.
It sounds like Jack Welch was trained by Manager-Tools. Asking peers to help with interviews, Hire-Don't Hire and follow up meeting to discuss performance sound familiar. I have actually used the Interview Results Capture podcast to kick start this process. It's already made a big difference in the level of interest from my Directs.
Frankie