Training Employees to Become Managers: Interview Questions
From your experience, do you find that employees perform better when performance goals are first set between the two of you?
From my experience it is essential that performance goals are not only set but agreed to prior to any project start or employee evaluation.
Do you find employees who undergo job rotation to be better prepared for vacant management positions?
Employee rotation is an important tool in any workforce, as it teaches or exposes the workforce to the different aspects of the enterprise. Creating empathy and teamwork within the team. I would not use this as an indicator of management readiness.
How do you determine which employees have potential to be put into management positions, given the similarity of tasks and responsibilities across lower-level positions?
If you define the role of manager as one who achieves goals through the work of others, it is important to identify the strong leadership skills required to manage a group. Communication and listening are good indicators typically these are soft skills and difficult to quantify but must be used to qualify potential candidates.
What methods are used when transitioning employees into managerial positions?
Typically, the first step to management is through hands on supervision of other workers this allows the potential manager to learn, with low risk, the art of management and allows superiors to evaluate the candidate in real world situations. It will also allow for a softer demotion should this be necessary
Do you find that employees are more performance motivated when they know there is a potential to be promoted when a vacancy arises?
Yes, employees, particularly newer workers are looking for employers who they can create mutual long term objectives with and this can mean either money or career opportunities as motivators.
Give me an example of a successful learning intervention you implemented and why it was so successful.
Not sure what a learning intervention is
Tell me about a training program that you were in charge of. How did you ensure that the skills were successfully transferred to the workplace?
I recently was involved in a lean workshop, and in order to identify the success of the program there were very specific objectives set for each group to report back with over a 60 – 90 day period. It then showed us if in fact the group has absorbed the lessons and if not who required further development and remedial lessons
What personal or team-focused skills should an employee have if they are going to be trained became a manager?
Workers that are trained to become managers should be developed using both personal and team focused lessons. Personal lessons should be specific to the opportunity at hand and should focus on communication and leadership skills. The given is that the management incumbent has a working knowledge of their functional group.
Do you have a specific testing system for employees to know if they have the ability to become a manager? (i.e., Should an employee have to work in the company for more than five years to have the qualification to apply to become a manager?)
No, there is no recipe to know when an employee is ready and there is no plan that will make all workers become managers. Some employees can move quite rapidly while others will never have what it takes. Please note that a business needs a solid mix of each in order to achieve success
When promoting a current employee into a manager position is unsuccessful, please explain the challenges in the workplace in demoting the employee back into their previous role.
This is very difficult because quite often there is bitterness or resentment on both sides. Depending on the size of the company often a former manger can be put back in another department or section keeping them away from there former reports. If this is not possible and you wish to keep the employee, they will need significant management support to be successful in their re-integration. The old adage rings truest in this instance…” the closer you are to the top, the closer you are to the door!”
Do you prefer hiring outside applicants or promoting from within for manager level positions? Why?
Current employees are always preferable providing they can do the role. Current employees will understand the culture and expectations required by the company. It also indicates that when there is opportunity in an organization looking internally will/can effect the loyalty of the employee. It should be noted that it can be difficult promoting within an employee group. Often the new manager has a peer relationship which can lead to mistrust and ultimately lack of morale.
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