Prepare successors before promoting them - small business management

Nation's Business, March, 1992 by Bradford McKee

Managers and business owners who eye their firms' technical geniuses as candidates for managerial positions should take steps to groom such individuals before promiting them, says one human-resource expert.

The whiz at the drawing table may have other, less-obvious characteristics, such as obsession with details or a freezing aloofness, which may make that person ineffective as a manager.

Unless you groom such an employee properly, the outcome could be disastrous, says Howard Pines, a human-resource consultant who owns his own firm in New York.

Suppose, for example, you have a draftsman who is "tough on himself." That person may not realize that he or she is very tough on others as well. People such as this never meet their own standards, Pines says; nor do others. Would this person make a good leader of an otherwise talented, top-notch bunch? Not unless that person is made aware of his or her own nearsightedness.

As part of the grooming, Pines suggests, managers should make sure the candidate for promotion:

* Understands the firm's goals and its strategy for meeting its goals;

* Has the skills critical to carrying out the strategy; and

* Keeps those skills up to par even when the business is in difficult times.