Empower Your Management Team
As a company grows, the responsibilities of the original/founding team intensify and the need for qualified support staff becomes a priority. As members are added to the team it becomes harder to keep the organization streamlined between all departments and job functions. When you begin feeling the burden of having to wear too many hats you probably strategize ways to continue growth without sacrificing your core responsibilities. The most efficient solution to this problem is to hire management professional(s) to oversee various operations of the business.
When the search to fill these responsibilities commences, the framework for the management position begins to take shape and usually involves hiring someone competent. The reason many companies search for someone with considerable previous experience is that they should be able to complement the current management infrastructure with skills that you do not possess. The candidate will likely be someone who will have some degree of autonomy to create and implement a plan, in-line with the company’s goals. Someone to enrich the existing practices and continue to help the company achieve and exceed its goals. When the right candidate is chosen there is much excitement that this person will lighten the burden as well as take the company to the next level of success.
However experienced and talented the new hire(s) many be, many companies struggle to let go of decisions and trust the instincts of the new management team member(s). This causes all final decisions (even those that would be considered rudimentary) to continue to be your burden to bear. Too many companies go through this process and the outlook quickly turns from optimism to negativity because the real plan was never given a chance to shine. The question that you must then ask yourself is whether the new manager is not trustworthy or is it your inability to let go of the control? If the manager has given you no reason to doubt their decision making ability then you must consider letting go and let your original plan be implemented. Worse comes to worst if the direction is not going as planned after a several month evaluation you can always pull back on the reins and consider whether the hire was the correct choice.
You did hire this person for his/her expertise after all, didn’t you? You may find that the manager fails to understand your industry or is using sophisticated techniques that are confusing the staff. Or…you may find the employee brings a fresh perspective and an ability to think outside the box to improve every aspect of your operation. The only way to find out how far this employee will take you is to set them free, be supportive and keep a close eye on the progress.
