Supervising Peers

“I’ve just promoted a great employee, John, so he’s now supervising several other employees who used to be his peers. He seems to be having trouble supervising these employees but I’m not sure how to help him. Any ideas?”

Your HR Survival Tip

Supervising former peers can be difficult because suddenly their buddy is their boss. However, there are things both you and John can do to make this easier.

When first promoting John, you should have made an announcement to the whole company. If it’s only been a month or so since the promotion, you can still do this. Highlight why you selected John for this promotion, what the new position entails, and who will now be reporting to him. This helps set the stage for John and lets the other employees know you trust John to handle this job.

There may be some of John’s former peers who don’t feel he has the right background or experience to be their supervisor. This is one reason you make the announcement… to let them know you believe John was the correct choice for this promotion. If they bring this up to you, you need to stand behind John and your decision.

John should meet individually with each of his direct reports. He needs to nicely take control but to also let them know he basically hasn’t changed. He’s still John. Follow those meetings up with a team meeting to plan how things will move. John has new responsibilities and completing them will very likely require a team effort. Whether he realizes it or not, John already knows what motivates each member of his team and he needs to use that information to help the team function smoothly.

If a team member continues to be resistant to the new leadership change, it’s time for another one-on-one. John needs to let this team member know he can’t and won’t let the situation continue. Although it can be very hard to discipline a former peer the first time, John needs to be prepared to take whatever action is necessary. However, just the intervention of another meeting may provide the desired end result.

Something critical to John’s long-term success is training. Too often an employee is promoted with no supervisory training provided and they either fail or just aren’t very successful at it. There is a wide assortment of supervisory training available and investing in John’s success can result in a great supervisor for you.