A promotion to leading a team is a positive step for most, signalling that the organisation recognises a valued employee’s hard work and leadership skills. But being promoted to manager also has its pitfalls. Even if someone has natural leadership qualities, managing other people – especially former teammates – can be challenging, and requires that new managers are both prepared for the position and are supported once they’re there.

Practical challenges for first-time managers

Zandile Gambushe, a certified career and personal development coach, has been through this experience herself. ‘In the early years of my career, I was promoted to team leader of an admin team I had been part of for two years,’ she says. ‘It was both exciting and intimidating, because I was fresh out of university and still finding my place and voice in corporate.’

Gambushe was lucky – she had been part of a graduate development programme that equipped her with basic soft skills, and she also had two mentors who could validate her and boost her confidence. ‘It also helped that there were other young professionals in the same position, so we were able to form a community to support and lean on one another when we felt challenged or overwhelmed,’ she says.

And it can be overwhelming. Lerato Tsolo, a certified professional coach and experienced HR practitioner, says the challenges facing a newly promoted manager include:

• having to manage peers and friends;
• setting boundaries;
• managing expectations;
• learning to delegate;
• developing others while in a learning phase yourself; and
• making the transition from individual contributor to leader.

‘New managers also need to learn to distinguish between management and leadership, which to apply where, and effectively manage conflicts,’ she says. ‘Promotion should not be an overnight decision. Senior leadership needs to really consider what true success looks like and be ready to invest in their people’s holistic development to reach it.’

Gambushe adds that people are sometimes promoted to a leadership role because they are great at what they do (technically) – but they don’t necessarily have leadership skills. ‘Promoting someone without the requisite people skills is setting them up for failure and stress,’ she notes. ‘Their superiors and HR managers have to ensure that they are given an opportunity to refine their people skills and learn how to optimise the resources in the team.’

‘The employee has to be prepared before stepping up into the more senior role to be successful,’ says Tsolo. ‘The danger of promoting someone without proper support or leadership training is that it can be detrimental to the person and the organisation in terms of aspects such as culture, engagement, brand, retention, productivity, and revenue.’

How HR can support newly promoted managers

‘A team member who has been made manager must be given the necessary support as part of leadership development in preparation for the role,’ says Gambushe. ‘This can come in the form of resources, mentoring and training. They will also need good emotional intelligence and learn which type of leadership style the team requires. Some teams and functions need an authoritative style and others will require a coaching style, for instance.’

Tsolo agrees and says conversations about the promotion need to begin at least 12 months before assuming the role. ‘After establishing that the employee’s ambitions are aligned with the company’s plans and they are happy to be promoted, a development plan should be introduced that focuses on the capabilities that will allow them to succeed in their new managerial role and more senior roles in future,’ she says. ‘This can take the form of being involved in projects for practical exposure, shadowing existing leaders and formal learning or courses – which don’t have to be external. Sometimes in-house, structured development programmes are exactly what’s required.

‘Work has changed since Covid-19 and managers are challenged to apply themselves differently to the “traditional” pre-Covid way of managing and leading people,’ she adds. ‘In the post-pandemic workplace, new managers have an especially difficult task when it comes to providing strategic leadership and direction, communicating effectively, managing the diversity of experience and capabilities in an organisation, and also managing the diversity of needs and balancing them with business needs, all while maintaining commitment and engagement.’

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