As your business grows, assembling an effective team of managers is critical to your ongoing success. Good managers know how to bring out the best in their employees which positively impacts the service that you can provide to your clients. Finding good managers can be a real challenge though, and research shows that only 10% of people actually possess the necessary skills to competently manage other people. Here are four suggestions to help you find the right candidates to manage your business.
Look to Your Existing Employees First
If you already have an outstanding employee who displays management abilities, then it’s a good idea to promote them. Your employees already know the intricacies of your business, and more importantly you know them. When you hire from the outside, you are essentially bringing an unknown quantity into your organization, and despite following best hiring practices, you might still be unable to find someone who is a good fit.
If you want a manager with business qualifications, there’s no reason why you can’t help your employees gain those qualifications while they continue to work in your company. Many colleges now offer robust business courses and online degree programs that are flexible enough to fit around a full-time job.
Two business degrees that you should consider funding are the standard MBA, and the master of financial economics (MFE). The MFE combines business management with advanced techniques in financial analysis, which is a desirable skill set if you anticipate needing investment expertise in your business in the future. Ohio University is a leading provider of the online master of financial economics program and their degree program can be completed in as little as two years.
Prioritize Management Experience
When you need to hire externally, make sure that you look at an applicant’s existing management experience. It’s common to hire someone with a skill set relevant to the team or department that they will be heading up, but that’s actually a mistake. You don’t need a great sales professional to head up your marketing team; you need a great manager who can coordinate the efforts of your existing staff—after all you aren’t hiring the manager to do your marketing!
Don’t Hire another Version of Yourself
Tempting though it is to hire someone who thinks like you do, your business will be better served if you have a diverse team of managers who can offer differing perspectives. It’s no good sitting down for a brainstorming session, only to find that everyone has the same ideas that you do.
Expand Your Horizons
Don’t limit your search for eligible candidates to your immediate locale. If you do, you could miss out on finding the perfect person to manage your operations. The internet makes it so easy to recruit nationally (and internationally) these days, and it may make good sense to pay relocation expenses if it means that you get to hire a manager that will help your business go from strength to strength.
Hiring the right managers is a task that requires careful consideration. Your future prosperity and that of your employees depends on your ability to find the right people to fill your managerial roles. If you don’t think that you can handle that process by yourself, then look to a professional recruitment specialist to help guide you through this important decision.