Talent Management - October 2008 - (Page 54)

However, most of today’s organizational leaders see the manager transition problem as a competence issue and try to solve it by offering skills training. While this is a logical approach, it focuses on the wrong issue. Successfully transitioning into the manager role is not dependent on improving management expertise, but rather on changing one’s focus. Developing management skills is important and helpful at the appropriate time, but this type of training will do little to facilitate the transition if emphasized First, managers need an accurate assessment of where they are along the transition continuum. This includes an analysis of the individual contributor behaviors they are struggling with, as well as the broader manager-like behaviors they already have mastered. The second element is training to clarify the manager’s current perspective and approach, compare it to a more workable perspective and approach and help the manager create a plan that incorporates the psychological and behavioral shifts required to complete the transition. Third, the manager needs to apply this new perspective and approach to how he or she works. Managers need to scope out their work from a much broader perspective. They also need to redeﬁne their role as orchestrating the individual areas of expertise required with the business, process and relationship factors important to deliver value to internal and external clients. The irony is the manager’s competence in his or her area of expertise is the biggest reason why the transition to manager is so difﬁcult. too early in the process. In fact, overemphasis on a manager’s skill development without addressing the required psychological and behavioral shifts ﬁrst will quickly grind the transition to a halt. Albert Einstein once said: “The signiﬁcant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” This is not only true for managers trying to make the difﬁcult transition from individual contributor to manager, but also for anyone attempting to understand, measure or facilitate this transition. Talent managers need a new way to think about this problem and a new approach to solve it. One approach based on the Four Stages of Contribution model describes how professionals in large organizations are expected to contribute. This model builds on “The Four Stages of Professional Careers,” a multi-year study of several large organizations conducted by Gene Dalton, Paul Thompson, former Harvard Business School professors. Stages of Contribution describes how professionals contribute in fundamentally different ways at each stage of their careers, as well as how they need to transition from one stage to the next as expectations for their roles and contribution to the organization change over time. This framework can help managers understand the functions their organizational leaders expect them to carry out. It also provides them with a conceptual basis for the psychological and behavioral shifts necessary to making the transition. Five Key Transition Elements The study results suggest there are ﬁve key elements critical to helping managers through this transition. The fourth element involves ﬁnding the right kind of support. The study data highlighted the crucial role the transitioning manager’s own manager plays in a successful transition. In order for the manager’s manager to provide the right kind of support, that person needs to complete his or her own transition. Further, that person needs to know how to coach effectively and how to hold direct reports accountable. This requires regular information on how the transitions of those direct reports are progressing, as well as information on how they are approaching their work. The ﬁfth and perhaps most critical element to the success of a manager’s transition involves tracking progress over time. This can be accomplished by conducting assessments at regular intervals to provide accountability and show progress. The transition to manager involves taking a much broader approach. It involves dealing with the broader business and technical issues, learning how to use business processes to accomplish work, developing greater capability inside the manager’s group and building broader relationships across the organization. Helping individuals start and complete the transition to manager increases managerial effectiveness and satisfaction, as well as engagement levels, productivity and satisfaction of the individuals in the manager’s group. In fact, when a manager moves all the way through the transition, his or her average organizational contribution level likely will double or triple. That’s impossible to match when the person is stuck. John L. Davis is the president and CEO of ConceptReserve, a research-based training ﬁrm. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. 54 October 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - October 2008

Talent Management - October 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The Three Pillars of Executive On-Boarding Role-Based Assessment: Thinking Inside the Box Who's Going to Speak Up for Health Care? Obey the Push to Automate Managing the Star Performer No One Wants to Work With Adopting a Mutual-Funds Model for Talent Management Hewlett-Packard: Simple Talent Management in a Technical World Team Effort Pays in Talent at London Business School The Employee Survey: What’s in It for Me? Why Most Managers Are Stuck Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - October 2008

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