Over the past couple of years I have been given mandates by a few new clients to help deal with and develop some underperforming managers. In some cases, the mandates were fairly straightforward in that the managers in question had the “right stuff” and required appropriate coaching and training. No problem. But, in several other cases, the managers either:

  • lacked the innate behavioral traits and competencies that make up an effective manager, and/or
  • were a bad fit for the organization’s culture

In the latter cases, it became clear that the organizations in question lacked appropriate rigor in their hiring processes or made the classic mistake of hiring technically-proficient employees who were not management material. The problem is often that, in our fast-paced business world, senior managers lack sufficient time to allocate to make proper hiring decisions. So they hasten the process and hire the first individual who comes along who seems to fit the bill. They also fail to invest in professional management assessment tools to help them determine if the job candidate is a good match for the vacant managerial position and the company work culture. Too often, the result of this is a rash and incomplete hiring decision that backfires some time in the future – causing a multitude of headaches for everyone involved.

The lesson is obvious. Developing organizational leaders begins with hiring the right people who have the requisite managerial behavioral traits and who are a strong fit with the culture. I urge all of my clients to invest in training that ensures that all managers on staff have strong interviewing skills and to institute a process that adds ‘meat’ to interviewing  (such as H&P’s 3 X 3 process). Yes, effective interviewing and hiring takes more time and money but it will well worth it in the longer term. We in the training business have all the requisite tools and methods to develop strong leaders – but we can’t perform miracles if the subjects in question shouldn’t be there in the first place!