They’re dependable, they know the work, and they’re usually the person everybody leans on when something needs to get done. That makes your best employee a serious candidate, but I still have to decide whether those strengths fit the job I’m about to give them.
The job they’re doing well now may depend on being the person who can handle the problem themselves. After the promotion, they’ll have to get good work through other people, including people who won’t do it the same way they would.
That’s where some strong employees can struggle.
They’re used to being the person who fixes the problem, so when someone else is slower, makes a mistake, or handles it differently, their instinct is to step in and do it themselves. That may solve the immediate problem, but it also keeps the other person from learning how to handle it without them.
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The promotion only works if they can adjust how they get results. What made them valuable in one job can get in their way in the next one.
Once somebody gets the title, I still need to be clear about what I expect from them while they’re learning a job that measures success differently. Clear expectations don’t stop at the promotion. I don’t expect a finished supervisor on day one, but I do want somebody who can hear feedback, admit when they don’t know something yet, and change course when something isn’t working.
Sometimes the best employee is still the best person to promote. Their judgment, reliability, credibility, and performance may be part of what convinces me. I just don’t want to mistake being excellent at one job for proof they can do another.
Before I promote somebody, I want to know what I’m actually rewarding: the work they’ve already done, or the ability to do the job I’m about to give them?
