Page 130 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

Selecting, Building, and Developing Your Work Team 115

5. Organizations will have underutilized, marginally performing, or prob-
lem employees. In work units, there can be gains of at least 10 percent in
individual employee performance given skillful job matching, training,
coaching, and overall leadership. The previous director of a major
department was convinced that he had to have a staff increase of 15 per-
cent just to “stay above water.” When replaced, the new director not only
did not increase staff but also, in concert with the employees, set higher
performance standards for each position in the department. This effort
was part of an overall performance improvement program that the new
director initiated and led, a program she had begun during the three
months after moving up to her new post.
Learning and Development Guidelines

Both employees and those in management and leadership roles should have
learning and development expectations. Some key ones are as follows:

1. The primary responsibility for the employee’s professional development
always rests with the individual. Individuals must take the initiative to
identify and request development and activities, feedback, and appraisals
from which they can grow. Make clear to them in written policies and,
most importantly, in your interactions that the people who report to you
have the primary responsibility to identify their own strengths and
weaknesses and determine their developmental goals and activities. Fos-
ter initiative and responsibility.
2. You have the following minimum expectations of employees:
■ Solid job performance in present assignments.
■ Commitment to ongoing professional development and assessment,
including expansion of existing strengths or remediation of perform-
ance problems.
■ Networking and gaining knowledge of the needs of one’s own organi-
zation, as well as other organizational functions. As appropriate, get-
ting experience in areas outside of the employees’ primary
responsibilities. Substantial progress toward completing the organiza-
tion’s formal training curriculum or relevant external training is a
foundation for further development.
3. The secondary responsibility for professional development rests with the
employee’s immediate manager, who must provide at least the following: