How Can We Best Evaluate Team Leaders for Promotion to Assistant Managers?

Hi,

We are looking to have an Assessment Center to promote our Team Leaders to Assistant Managers. We are looking at evaluation techniques to primarily judge the behavioral traits and job readiness of the incumbents. Would appreciate it if anyone could suggest some methods to go about it.

Regards,
Rohit

Internal promotion is a critical top management decision that must be supported by credible documents, like the results of a good Performance Management System (PMS) and internationally accepted managerial skills assessment tools, especially if there is more than one candidate aspiring for the vacant position. The Predictive Index (PI) is one such internationally recognized tool.

Let me know if you need external help on this matter so I can refer you to a friend who administers it.

Regards,
Ed Llarena, Jr.
Managing Partner
Emilla International Consulting Services
Tel: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
Email: [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Rohit, If you wish to promote Team Leaders to the next level of Assistant Manager, then you need to find out what would be the KRAs for the level of Assistant Manager. Based on these KRAs, you need to find out the competencies required for the position of Assistant Manager. Competencies would include behavioral competencies and technical competencies.

In addition to this, you need to take into account the potential of the team leaders to handle their future job. Please note, a good team leader need not be a good Assistant Manager.

Your query is specific to your company. Therefore, generalizations cannot be made. The reply can be given only after studying the systems and processes of your company. Nevertheless, in general, an Assistant Manager would require the following competencies:

a) Technical excellence

b) Interpersonal skills/Feedback skills

c) Ability to foster teamwork

d) Conflict handling skills

e) Organizational communication

f) Customer orientation

g) Analytical skills (depending on the nature of the job)

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Thanks for the inputs. We have clearly defined competencies and KRAs, and a clear understanding of the differences between the positions and their deliverables. That being said, what we are looking for are different tools that we can use to find out the most suitable person from within the applicants.

Current Tools for Evaluation

For Sr. Executives to TLs, we use:
- Group Discussion
- Presentation
- In-Tray/Box
- Final Interview

We are looking to do something like that, but... different. If you could suggest some tools, I can look them up.

Dear Rohit, You have proposed the following methods:

- Group Discussion
- Presentation
- In-Tray/Box
- Final Interview

However, the above tools look good for external hire. This is because you do not know much about the person, and you are conducting the recruitment tests. On the contrary, here you have your regular staff. Therefore, their manager's views matter a lot.

Secondly, have the internal candidates taken training on "Supervisory Development Programme" or "Team Leadership"? If yes, then you may include points covered in this training for the selection purposes.

Lastly, the job of a team leader is to get the work done from others. When you put the candidate through "Group Discussion" or "Presentation," what you are doing is checking the person's communication skills. However, mere communication skills are not sufficient to get the job done. A good communicator, on the contrary, could be a liability because these individuals know very well how to cover their weaknesses. Please remember the famous proverb "a talking parrot flies little."

In my previous reply, I had recommended you check the worthiness of the candidates on the following competencies:

- Technical excellence
- Interpersonal skills/Feedback skills
- Ability to foster teamwork
- Conflict handling skills
- Organisational communication
- Customer orientation
- Analytical skills (depending on the nature of the job)

On each competency, obtain the assessment of the manager for each internal candidate. Secondly, let each candidate give a presentation on:

- How he/she delegated the work in the past
- How he/she handled the conflict in the team
- How he/she gave motivational support to his/her junior to maintain the desired level of performance
- What he/she did to improve the process
- Steps taken for self-development, if any

The above points are more than sufficient. Testing one's knowledge is fine, but do you have matured seniors who are capable of assessing accurately the replies or presentations by the internal candidates? Please look at the capability of the seniors (without getting carried away by their designation) and then decide on what method to be adopted.

Final Comments: Do you have a "Policy on Employee Promotion" well in place? I feel that it is not. You need to devise this policy first. You cannot choose the tools of selection in an ad hoc manner. There has to be consistency across the board.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar