Your best employee might be your worst manager

There is a funny thing that happens in workplaces.

An employee is exceptionally good at their job. They know the systems, understand the business, consistently meet their targets and are the person everyone goes to when something needs to get done. They are reliable, knowledgeable and probably the reason their department hasn’t completely fallen apart on more than one occasion.

So naturally, the organization promotes them.

Congratulations! You are now in charge of the people who used to be your co-workers. You have a new title, a few more dollars on your paycheque and, as a bonus, absolutely no idea what you are supposed to do with your new responsibilities.

It sounds ridiculous, but it happens all the time. Organizations reward their best employees by promoting them into management, often without giving much thought to whether those employees actually have the skills or interest required to lead other people.

The problem is that being good at your job and being good at managing people are two entirely different things.

Think about it: the best salesperson in the company might be fantastic at building relationships, closing deals and understanding customer needs. That doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to coach an underperforming employee, manage conflict between team members or have a difficult conversation with someone who isn’t meeting expectations.

The best mechanic might be brilliant at diagnosing complicated problems, but that doesn’t automatically make them good at scheduling work, delegating responsibilities or managing a team of technicians.

Yet, time and time again, organizations assume technical excellence is a pretty good predictor of leadership ability.

Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. And sometimes, it creates a workplace situation that makes everyone wonder how things went so wrong.

One of the biggest challenges for a newly promoted manager is learning their job is no longer about doing things themselves — it is quite the opposite. Their job now is to make sure other people can do their jobs successfully.

This can be a difficult adjustment for someone whose success has always been measured by how much they personally accomplish.

For the employee who has spent years being the person with all the answers, it can be incredibly frustrating to watch someone else struggle with a task they could complete in 10 minutes. The temptation is to jump in, take over and do it themselves. After all, it’s faster, it’s easier and they know it will be done properly.

Unfortunately, if a manager spends all day doing everyone else’s work, they aren’t actually managing anyone. They have simply created a more expensive version of their old job.

Then there is the issue of managing former colleagues. Yesterday, you were sharing lunchroom gossip, complaining about the same workplace policies and rolling your eyes at the same management decisions. Today, you are expected to address performance concerns, enforce those very same policies and possibly discipline someone you were having coffee with an hour earlier.

It is an awkward transition.

Some new managers try to avoid the discomfort by being everyone’s friend. They hesitate to address problems because they don’t want to upset former colleagues.

Others go in the opposite direction and become unnecessarily rigid, believing they need to establish authority by proving that they are now the boss.

Neither approach tends to work particularly well.

Good leadership isn’t about being everyone’s best friend, and it certainly isn’t about reminding people you now have a management title. It is about building credibility, communicating expectations, making decisions and treating people fairly. Those skills take practice.

There is also the manager who believes because they were the best at their previous job, everyone else should be able to perform at the same level. They have little patience for questions, mistakes or people who need more guidance. They may be technically brilliant, but their new team quickly discovers asking for help comes with a side order of frustration and a lecture about how things used to be done.

Being an expert doesn’t automatically make someone a good teacher. Knowing how to do something and knowing how to help someone else learn it are two different abilities.

So why do organizations keep making this mistake?

Part of the problem is management is often seen as the only way to advance someone’s career. If an employee is ambitious, performs well and wants to earn more money, the next logical step seems to be a supervisory or management position. We have somehow created the impression that moving up means managing people.

But what if that employee doesn’t want to manage people? What if they love the technical side of their work and have no interest in performance reviews, scheduling, employee complaints or resolving disputes about who took someone else’s lunch from the refrigerator?

There is nothing wrong with that. Organizations need experienced specialists just as much as they need managers. They should be looking at ways to recognize and reward technical expertise without assuming that every high-performing employee needs to become a supervisor to grow professionally.

For those who do want to move into management, employers need to do a better job of preparing them. Leadership development shouldn’t begin the day someone receives a new title.

Before promoting an employee, organizations should assess whether they have the ability to communicate, delegate, provide feedback, manage conflict and make decisions that may not always be popular. One way to do this is to give a prospective manager an opportunity to fill in for a supervisor who is on vacation.

It’s a little like a test drive, except instead of checking the brakes, you’re checking how they handle people. How do they manage competing priorities? Can they delegate work rather than taking everything on themselves? Are they comfortable addressing problems when they arise, or do they suddenly develop an urgent need to reorganize the filing cabinet? Can they support their colleagues without trying to be everyone’s best friend?

It’s a practical way to identify both strengths and areas where additional training may be needed before making a permanent promotion.

They should also provide training and support once the person steps into the role. A new manager shouldn’t be expected to figure out employment policies, performance management, workplace investigations and employee relations through trial and error. There is a reason organizations have HR departments.

And let’s not forget being a manager is a job in itself. It requires time, attention and a completely different set of priorities. If an organization promotes someone, but continues expecting them to carry the same workload they had before, no one should be surprised when neither responsibility gets the attention it deserves.

Ultimately, organizations need to stop treating management promotions as a prize for being good at something else. A promotion should be based on whether someone is suited to the new role, not simply because they have been the best employee in their current one.

Sometimes, your best employee really is your next great manager. Other times, your best employee is exactly where they should be, doing what they do exceptionally well.

If you really want to reward them, perhaps give them a raise, recognize their expertise and let them get back to work. Your employees might thank you for it.

Especially the ones who would otherwise have to report to them.

Tory McNally, CPHR, BSc., vice-president,

professional services at TIPI Legacy HR+

(formerly Legacy Bowes), is a human resource

consultant, relationship builder and problem solver. She can be reached at tmcnally@tipipartners.com