We think the upcoming changes to unfair dismissal have highlighted something we don’t talk about enough…
We have far too many accidental people managers.
Someone is brilliant at their job, works hard, gets results… so naturally they get promoted.
The problem? Nobody ever teaches them how to manage people. We can relate to that.
Our founder Kerry gave her insight, early in her recruitment career, she was promoted because she was billing well and performing. Not because she had any formal management training. She learned on the job, got a few things wrong along the way and, looking back, would have loved someone to show me her to have those tricky conversations.
With her 25+ years in recruitment, she has met some brilliant managers, also seen some really good people thrown in at the deep end and expected to just get on with it.
It was actually one of the conversations that came up at our Employer Survival Guide seminar last week. While everyone was naturally talking about the employment law changes, we kept coming back to one thing…
How well are we preparing our managers?
Over the years, we’ve lost count of the number of conversations we’ve had with business owners that start with:
“They’re still in probation… let’s just see how they get on.”
Fast forward a few months…
“It’s really not working.”
More often than not, the signs were there much earlier. They just weren’t addressed.
With unfair dismissal rights moving to six months, we think probation periods become more important than ever. Not because businesses need more paperwork, but because managers need the confidence to have honest conversations early.
✔️ Set clear expectations.
✔️ Check in regularly.
✔️ Give feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable.
✔️ Don’t leave difficult conversations until they’ve become difficult situations.
Sometimes the employee isn’t the biggest issue.
Sometimes the manager simply hasn’t been given the tools to manage well.
That’s not a criticism. Most managers didn’t ask to become managers. They were promoted because they were good at what they did, then expected to figure out the people side for themselves.
For growing SMEs, I think this could be one of the biggest challenges over the next year.
Hiring someone is only half the job. Helping them succeed is the other half.
We are interested… were you given any management training when you first became a manager, or did you learn the hard way like Kerry did?
