How to introduce an employee to a new leadership role

For many reasons it is advisable to choose a new leader from the ranks of current employees. The given employee usually has a detailed knowledge of procedures in your company as well as its priorities and individual employees; thus the training costs are much lower than if you were to choose an "outsider". The difficult task now awaits you, the HR department, of introducing a regular employee into a new role as a leader. Here is some advice on how this may be done in four easy steps.

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Setting up communication

According to the Training Journal website, one of the key factors is correctly setting up the communication system within the team. Help the new manager to set up properly both internal communication within the given team and external communication between team and management or other company departments.

Understanding priorities

A newly appointed leader must be absolutely clear about the priorities of their position. This involves both the priorities of the team they will be leading, and the most important priorities and values of the company overall. Instead of micro-managing the given manager, ensure they understand both their own role and that of the team in the wider context of the priorities of the company as a whole.

Delegation of work

Teach the new manager to delegate work effectively. A common mistake of newly appointed leaders is taking on too much work themselves as they believe only they are able to do the job 100% and, moreover, they have a clear idea about how the given tasks should be done. Teach the given manager to trust their employees and delegate tasks so that the work of the whole team is effective and evenly distributed.

Definition of the role

Clearly define the role of the manager. Acquaint them in detail with their rights and obligations and clearly mark where their responsibility begins and ends. Many new ambitious managers tend to continue in their ascendancy and embrace the rights and obligations of other employees. Try to anticipate this from the position of the HR department and thus prevent unpleasant competency-related conflicts from happening.

 

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Article source Training Journal - practical content to assist anyone involved in workplace L&D
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