9 Questions: When Should You Promote an Employee to Management?

Your vision is to keep your high-performing employees and promote them to management at some point.

You want to make sure you’re not passing people over, yet also not putting the wrong person in the wrong position. You could argue it should be an easy decision, and if you’re hesitating, it’s probably not time. However, for the sake of argument, this article discusses questions to ask if you’re considering promoting an employee and the reasons and red flags to avoid promotion. A study by Gallup found that companies fail to choose the right candidate 82% of the time, and those lousy management choices cost billions each year.

How does promoting employees benefit the business?

Internal promotions, if done correctly, can inspire employees and keep productivity up. Learning the business is tough no matter the industry, so knowledge can but valuable. This should begin back at the hiring stage. When hiring for any position, think about future promotion potential. The other important item to note is because someone shows interest in a promotion does not mean it's right for the business.

The best signs to know if you should be promoting an employee to a management role

• They solve problems, some of which should be some that you can’t or haven’t been able to get to
• They provide actual value to the business, and it would be a hole that makes you panic if they were gone
• They provide an outside view that you wouldn’t otherwise have
• They are capable of taking things off of your plate
• You can trust them
• They are already doing the job
• They ask for a promotion with an excellent case to back up the request
• You have no apprehension in their ability
• You seldom have to give direction on what they should be doing
• They come up with ideas that move the business forward and can execute them
• You don’t foresee the need to hire a level above them
• You are confident if you brought this idea up to others on the team they would support the promotion 100%

Questions to ask yourself if you’re considering the promotion of an employee

1. Are they able to manage themselves?

Yes means they can set deadlines and reach them without reminders or intervention. They can see where and when priorities need to shift and do so.

It’s a no if you have to have work and productivity plans in place and regular conversations about not completing work and hitting due dates. A promotion may make it even worse as now you are stuck with someone you have to monitor constantly, making it more challenging to hire a level above them or let them go.

2. Does the person actually want to take on that new role?

Yes means the person has either asked for the promotion, or it’s evident because they are already doing it that this is what they are interested in. Success in one particular area does not equate to the desire to take on the additional responsibility or management of people.

It’s a no if they don’t want to manage people unless it’s a position that will never have direct reports. It’s also a no if they can’t handle stress. If stress causes them to fold, more responsibilities are a no-go.

3. Do they put the team’s best interest ahead of their own?

Yes means they don’t cut corners or push projects forward in their own interest. They can evaluate what is best for the business and proceed accordingly.

It’s a no if they do the bare minimum to get projects done, if they drag out, have poor communication with the rest of the team, or if they push back on taking on anything extra.

4. Are they able to manage a team?

Yes means you’ve seen them collaborate with others and lead projects that would make you think there will be a success if formally managing a team. If it’s someone with years of experience already as a manager, are they doing it effectively? People leave bosses, not jobs. If you’re not careful with this, you will lose your team morale and eventually that whole team through attrition because of one bad promotion.

It’s a no if the team doesn’t respond well and they can’t get projects led to completion. It’s doubtful to get better just because of a promotion. Again according to Gallup, just 1 in 10 people have the talent to manage others.

5. Do they have the education, experience, and skills?

Yes means you’ve seen them successfully plan and lead projects with others, you see them identify when change is needed and adapt to it, and you’ve witnessed them thinking on a higher level. You’ve also noticed they join webinars, other things related to their position to continually improve themselves.

It’s a no if they aren’t going above and beyond to do things that continually educate themselves to stay with the latest innovations and ideas. If they push back and aren’t open to new ideas because they aren’t trying to upskill, it's a no.

6. Are they able to think on a higher level and strategically?

Yes means you’ve witnessed them looking at how various aspects of the job fit into the bigger picture of the company goals and strategy.

It’s a no if they can’t get past daily tasks and never talk about the big picture.

7. Are they able to effectively promote your culture?

Yes means they can promote the type of environment you wish to have in your business. If you are against top-down management style, for example, you must first know that this person can effectively manage your preferred styles.

It’s a no if they show signs of managing in a style that is drastically different from the ideal culture. Some diversity is always good, but if you have micromanagers and you strive to provide autonomy, it’s never going to work.

8. How well-received are they by the team?

Yes means the team provides feedback showing they respect this person and show a desire to follow what they are doing.

It’s a no if the team makes comments behind their back about the work quality and if the team doesn’t buy in to their ideas. Broken communication, isolation, silos, those types of things are other flags to watch for.

9. Have you seen failure with learning and adapting as a result?

Yes means you’ve seen this person try something new, it didn’t work out, and you’ve witnessed them learn from the effort, change, and improve going forward.

It’s a no if they’ve failed and they get hung up and paralyzed and can’t seem to adapt and try again or come up with new ideas.

Reasons not to promote someone to manager or the red flags

The sole focus of personal gain

You want to make sure the person is seeking the promotion for the betterment of the business and what they can do for improvement and growth for you.

The personal financial situation is unhealthy

Depending on the industry and level of position, this can be really important for ensuring you’re not putting someone in a place to be tempted to steal clients or financial assets.

Their lifestyle doesn’t fit the need for the position

If you know the person takes long weekends or won’t work certain days and needs an on-call type of management, this is not a fit.

A hint of entitlement

Once the promotion is received, the person may not be quite as all-in and maximum effort as they feel it should go to them.

You lose diversity and new ideas, and lately, you could use new ones

Often, promoting from within can be beneficial. However, if you solely choose from within, especially in critical positions, you will never have diverse ideas, which can harm the business in the long run. This ties back into how motivated the person is. This is less of an issue if they are constantly up-skilling and learning new things.

You and/or others almost always have to step in and provide a high contribution to projects

It's one thing to review things, but it's another if you have to put time into researching and request reworks, and the person can't stand on their own.

They are simply not a team player

Someone who tends to work alone and excludes others may simply just work best alone, but also may be insecure and unwilling to work with and collaborate with the team. This is not going to help the bottom line and big picture.

It's a friend or family member or you feel bad

Make sure it's right for the business and there are no other factors of just because they are a friend or family or they ask and you feel bad saying no. You are supporting a team with this choice and one bad move can completely ruin that.

In summary, there are a lot of reasons to consider promoting someone, but also some red flags to watch for. If you agree with most of the signs above and answer yes to almost all of the questions, it would be a signal a promotion is on the right track. If you answer no to some or most, you may want to rethink why you were thinking of a promotion in the first place.

Written by Nicole Hullihen, January 16th, 2022