BY Kathy Crosett
Are you hoping to promote an employee to a leadership role? Top managers who are in a position to promote individuals should take employee trust into account. When leaders make the right promotion decisions, trust improves and the entire team benefits.
Why Using Objective Data Leads to Better Hiring and Promotion Decisions
Making a quick hiring or promotion decision based on a few details about an individual means relying on style instead of substance, as Tomas Chamorro-Premusiz points out. And those judgments can result in disaster for the organization. Instead of using gut instinct, managers need objective data to help them make these important decisions.
Before promoting a sales professional into a managerial position, ask your promising candidate to take an assessment such as the one provided by TeamTrait. Yes, you know how the person performs in their sales role. And they are probably doing an excellent job.
But they may lack the mindset to be an effective sales manager. Remember that elevating an employee to a management position doesn’t only impact them. It impacts the rest of the team.
A psychometric assessment offers insight into whether putting them in a leadership role will build employee trust.
How is Trust Built
Employees want managers who will recognize their talents, help them develop their skills and lead the team with a positive attitude. When an employee encounters a problem, they want a manager who has their back. They need to learn from their mistakes and be encouraged to take risks.
Why Motivation Matters
Another key aspect of building employee trust is understanding motivation. As managers review which candidate will make the best team leader, they should review assessment data about motivation. Some individuals are naturally motivated to serve and support others. Individuals who have a high assessment score in this area may make great managers. Other individuals are more motivated by making money or the desire to work autonomously.
As part of the interview process, leaders should ask candidates what skills they feel are most important when overseeing sales professionals.
Our survey finds that sales managers believe they must excel at the following tasks:
- Sales training 50%
- Sales coaching 47%
- Goal setting/accountability 46%
While managers are focusing on those aspects of their jobs, they could be losing employee trust. Why? Because sales reps are looking for something different from their managers.
Sales reps currently tell us that the biggest weakness of their current manager is:
- Not motivating 25.4%
- Micromanages 24%
- Shift blame 24%
It’s ironic that nearly one in four salespeople feels their manager isn’t motivating. As leaders consider who to hire into the sales manager role, they should look for individuals who care enough to learn what motivates each team member. With that information they can personalize assignments and reward systems and build employee trust.
Sales Leadership, Authenticity and Employee Trust
Authenticity in the workplace is having a moment. Employees sometimes interpret this to mean that they can be completely honest about their feelings and share them with others. And managers sometimes believe they should always speak their mind.
In his article, Chamorro-Premuzic frowns on the trend of authenticity when leading. Displaying “uninhibited and uncensored” thoughts may have a negative impact on team members. A highly opinionated manager can also emphasize divides between team members on topics that have little to do with work. Ultimately these divides can erode trust and loyalty.
The Power of Empathy
Instead of authenticity, hiring managers should seek other qualities in their candidates. Using a psychometric assessment can reveal if an individual possesses empathy and emotional intelligence. Individuals with leadership potential can “read the room.” They understand what a team member is feeling and can adjust their behavior accordingly.
As C. Lee Smith, SalesFuel CEO, points out, managers need to model desired behavior and truly care about their team members in order to build employee trust. It takes only one incident to erode that trust. Hiring the right person into the right role is an important first step.
Image by Kampus Productions on Pexels
