As your business grows, you will need to hire managers to supervise parts of your business. Often the best choice is to hire from within the organization. You already know the employee and they are familiar with the company, its employees, and its customers. So how do you identify likely candidates? Here is a list of what I look for.
- Excitement about the company’s mission. I can train people to do just about anything, but I can’t train someone to have excitement.
- Pride in their work. A manager should lead by example. They should care about the quality of their work.
- Takes responsibility for their results. If they are always making excuses for their mistakes, they are not managerial material.
- Natural teachers. Do they help new employees learn their jobs? Do they offer them advice?
- Good communicators. Being able to communicate well, both verbally and in writing is a key skill for managers.
- People who take action. I want people who tell me what they have done about something rather than those who wait for me to tell them to fix a problem.
- Hard workers. Small business owners have no room for slackers, especially in management.
- Thinkers. I need people who think through a problem. Do they present you with solutions, or with more problems?
- Go the extra mile when necessary. Don’t promote the clock watcher who is ready to leave five minutes before quitting time.
- Get things done. Can they finish tasks with little or no direction?
- Work with little direction. A manager’s job is to make the owner’s job easier. That won’t happen if they have to ask you how to do every little thing.
- Lifetime learners. Do they read and stay current on what is happening in your industry? Do they work on improving their skills?
- Innovators. Do they present new ideas? Do they have the ability to take a new idea, decide if it is good for the organization, communicate its advantages well, and implement it?
Not all of your employees are going to fit all of these points. But if you don’t have any in your organization, you may want to review your hiring methods and start raising