Promoting line staff to middle management — how does it work?

Hiring a middle manager for a vacant or newly created position can seem daunting if you don’t take an organized approach. And often the biggest question is whether there is someone already working for you who might do the job or could grow into it with the proper training and support.

A common pitfall is taking your best “superstar worker” and just making them the manager. It’s quick. It’s intuitively obvious. It’s easy. And it’s often the wrong move.

Unfortunately, technical skill, knowledge, loyalty and even ambition may not be sufficient success factors when promoting or hiring a managerial candidate from within.

Here are a few points to help shore up your confidence and select the right person for the job.

1. Develop a job description or revise the existing one. Include updated core competencies for the specific position. Sample job descriptions and core competency lists are available on numerous online human resources assistance sites (American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators, American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives, etc.). A few to get started include communication, problem-solving, prioritization and relationship-building skills.

2. Identify possible candidates within your practice. Don’t assume you know everyone’s capabilities. There may be someone perfect in your ranks who has previous managerial experience in a former job. With their existing practice knowledge and additional management training, they could be the obvious best hire.

3. If you are not sure of your choice or torn between two internal candidates, test the water with a project or two. Watch to see if they can accomplish less with more, garner respect as a temporary project leader among their peers, contribute to increased productivity, delegate work to be done and advocate for coworkers appropriately.

Promoting from within your organization and nominating a first-time manager requires that the administrator and managing partner spend more time providing guidance, support, evaluation and a very prompt feedback process as compared with when an experienced manager is hired.

Promoting from within sends a clear message to staff: Your practice provides opportunities for career growth. This raises the odds that you will attract and retain strong and contributing employees.