Managers: Your Goal Is to Find Your Replacement
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Like the title of this article says, a manager’s role is to identify, hire, and train their replacement. Think about it. If a manager takes their role seriously, then they are constantly searching for talent. They are encouraging employees to learn. They are sharing knowledge by coaching and mentoring. And they are supporting employee growth and development. Isn’t that what organizations want from all their managers?
It does mean that managers must be willing to give up control, power and authority to their employees through delegation. However, empowering employees to make decisions doesn’t mean the manager has abdicated their responsibilities and made themselves dispensable. In fact, quite the opposite. Managers who develop their teams to the point where they can delegate are in a position to showcase their talents to the rest of the organization.
Consider this: managers who are afraid to delegate and let their employees have control over their work will never get tapped to do “cool stuff” within the company. You know what I’m talking about. They can’t lead the special project that gets the attention of senior leadership. Or be a part of the committee that’s working on the next “top secret new product” that everyone is excited to learn about. Wanna guess why the manager won’t get asked? Correct – because they don’t have anyone around to do the extra work within the department. They don’t have employees who can function on their own while the manager is off doing other stuff.
There are some people who believe that current employees should not be involved in the selection and hiring process for their replacement because they can potentially spread negativity to the new manager. It’s a valid concern. And I agree, disengaged employees might hurt the process. But that’s not a reason to change the goal. It is a reason to find out why those employees are disengaged and fix it.
The goal remains the same. Managers should find, hire, and train their replacement.
When managers make it their goal to find their replacement, then the employee who does eventually replace them, will already understand their goal. The manager’s “goal” perpetuates throughout the organization. And who doesn’t want an organization where people are constantly searching for the best talent, so they can train and develop them to assume positions of greater responsibilitywithin the organization?
Managers need to have the goal: find and train their replacement.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Las Vegas, NV