Need Advice On Bringing In Someone To Help Manage The Business

[livinthailandos]

first i not sure how to explain my question. So I thought I would just go ahead and give details. I've recently been given extra money from the company to help bring in a supervisor to assist me. Business has been good and my request for help was approved. The reason for the supervisor is I need the extra help. I've been making a list and things I feel I should help the new supervisor with

a. Getting to know different departments, and those departments responsibilities and well as the people

b. Information on our customers and how we run our operations

c. What will be expected of this person

d. Providing advice and hopefully wisdom to.

e. Giving them the tools to succeed but provide help to

f. Areas of company policy

My plan is to everyday train work with them, but at least during some part of the day let this person be out on the floor to. I know there's more and besides also managing them as well. I also know not everyone is cut out for a job in management. I just wanted to know, what other types of advice can you guys offer me. I really just want to make sure I do not allow this person to be in a sink or swim method. I look forward to all your replies

[mallyrd]

Seems to me like you are the one in the "sink or swim" situation. How did you get approval for the hiring of help without giving to management a proposal that must have included the roles and responsibilities of your new helper.

[dtrain5000]

Points A,B,D and F should not be an issue. Any person qualified for the job should already be proactive and will learn and absorb these details with "on the job" experience. If they haven't done so by the 90 day probation period, then they need to be let go. This person should have the yearning to learn everything about the business, inside and out. This is an important quality to look for, because if they are not interested in improving themselves, then the most likely will not care about improving the company.

Point C, it up to you. Successful management as all about delegation of duties. Since it seems that you will be his senior, you need to decide what are some things that can be delegated and what needs to remain with you. You will need to inspect what you expect as the senior manager. If you have delegated duties, follow up and make sure they were really done completely to your standards. If not, you accountable. Start with making a list of everything that you do and add to that list things that you want to improve/expand on. Since there are 2 of you, your duties need to adapt and expand so that business continues to grow. If you upper management sees that adding an additional person did nothing for the bottom line, then you both may be expendable.

Hope my 2 cents helps.

PS, if you have any thing, PM the details. I may know some great people for the position or perhaps myself if it beats my current wages :-)

[duncanb]

From your list you want to give them a company induction. Write a list of key people and ensure they can meet your new guy as soon as he starts. Ensure they give him an overview of the business and what their department does and how it will interact with him. There is a lot more to it but thats the basis of what you need.

Will he sink or swim? Well, once he understands the business, and his responsibilities start giving him specific responsibilities, eg to manage a small customer, as he achieves give him some more. Ensure you have regular meeting/catch ups with him so he can ask questions (and so can you). I have been in his and your position before and it really is quite easy once you give it a little thought and planing.

Good luck

[FritsSikkink]

Seems to me like you are the one in the "sink or swim" situation. How did you get approval for the hiring of help without giving to management a proposal that must have included the roles and responsibilities of your new helper.