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Every so often, people are promoted within organizations to take over new roles and responsibilities. Whether it be after appraisal time or on a need basis, moving up the ladder is the reason many employees deal with the day to day realities of their jobs. However, one of the areas most missed by organizations when promoting is allowing these employees to grow into their new roles. When this happens, the employee filling out the new position reacts in one of the following two ways.

• Mass confusion after assuming the new role, followed by running after knowledge/skills to make sure they know how to deal with it
• Frustration at not being able to fulfill expectations, because they’re not what a)they expected, or b)what the company expected from them

Normally, i’ve seen the second thing happen at many of the organizations i’ve consulted with. End result, you have a disgruntled employee who then either wastes both their and the company’s time by staying on the payroll or leaves the company in a rutt.

So how do we deal with such situations? You allow your people to grow into that role. Yes, sometimes, the answer really is as simple as that. How do you go about doing that? From personal experience, here is a strategy that works.

1. Make your expectations from them in the new role crystal clear as possible. The more confusion there is when setting up the expectation, the more frustration there’s likely to be later on.
2. Treat the employee according to the designation given, even if they’re confused.
3. Mentor, coach and guide all you can for the initial duration. This can be anywhere between a month to six months, but really helps.
4. Have the employee attend training courses to make up for the skills they dont have (requires an employer/boss to first understand what skill gaps are there in the first place).
5. And finally, do not assume they’ll start performing from the first moment that they’re there. Give them the time to grow into the position, and guide/mentor them through all the decisions they going to take, without getting too involved.

These steps, when done correctly, ensure your employees no longer feel frustrated whenever they’re bumped up, have fun at work, and are more productive!

Lastly, never, ever, promote someone right when they’re threatening to leave, unless you are sure they’re upto assuming the new role immediately. Chances are, they don’t know what they are getting into and after being disillusioned from their new job they leave anyway. As an employer, never underestimate the power of mentoring. Believe it or not, its a sure shot method to slow down attrition rate.