Square Peg in a Round Hole

Promotion

Successful people are promoted to top positions every day. While they’re effective when it comes to delivering on objectives, they often lack the critical skills required in their new role. It’s simply not their skill set and you’ll promptly know it from results.

Selection

Even after a thorough selection process there is always a risk that the employee will not be a good fit for a position.

To assess how well the employee is performing in the new position develop an objectivesystem of accountability that provides feedback against the essential competencies. Communicate regularly with the employee so they clearly understand how they are performing against expectations.

Resolution

If you’re spending more of the feedback time focusing on what’s negative or not working, you need to ask yourself whether you’re just forcing this person to be something they are not. If that’s the case, then determine if this employee has other strengths and skills that can benefit the company by assigning responsibilities that play into his or her skill set.

As a leader, you have to ask hard questions and make tough decisions. But by not forcing people to be something they just aren’t — and then taking proactive steps to address the situation — you’ll be doing everyone a favour. If you don’t, consider the time and effort invested (equated to cost) sustaining the situation?

It is important to recognise when someone lacks the natural skills to perform the duties he or she has been assigned. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never fit that square peg in a round hole. Instead, you should put your efforts into aligning employee’s strengths to their responsibilities.

You’ll not only have happier, more satisfied staff but a more loyal, productive one, too!