A change in job title
Oct 20, 2023
Earlier this week I caught up with past Go Slow to Go Fast™ course participant and Global People & Ops Lead Grace van den Boogaart and, with a big smile, she got talking about a recent success she was really proud of, at her start up BABLE Smart Cities.
Businesses that are in their Series A or B funding cycles are notoriously demanding places to work.
The panic starts to set in when entrepreneurs get to this point because they realise they need to move from that exciting innovative start up phase into creating processes, systems and management structures to prepare for - and sustain – the rapid growth that’s now expected of them.
This is often when those loyal and trusted members of the founding team are promoted into their first management roles with the hope they will lead the growth required.
As Grace found out, it’s not this simple.
Some of those promoted relished the opportunity and thrived (and not just because they went through the Go Slow course...). Others, however, felt immediately overwhelmed by the responsibilities and additional workload associated with being a manager for the first time. It felt more like Macbeth’s anxiety-inducing ‘poisoned chalice’, than a promotion and reward for all their hard work so far.
It was clear to Grace that something had to be done for those really capable members of staff that didn’t suit being a manager.
But who would want to give up their new, shiny promotion, especially when they’ve told all their friends and family (and, yes, posted it on LinkedIn)?
Grace and I talked this through when she was going through her course and we came up with a plan. Very simply, she would talk to those individuals and explore their core motivation for being at the company. She would try to understand their values and what really inspired them to contribute their energy to this fast paced, scale up environment.
By understanding their purpose for being at the company, we hoped she would be able to work out the right role for them, rather than assuming that management was their inevitable next step.
And it worked!
The big smile Grace gave me was because, after a bit of shifting around, the right people were now in the right roles. They were committed, excited and this was contributing to their business really starting to accelerate.
So what about that perceived ‘demotion’, for those that were moved out of their new management roles?
Grace worked with them to agree a new role title that accurately reflected their contribution as experts in the company. As a result, they felt just as excited and (re) committed to the business and, most importantly, they felt they were in the right role, for them.
Happier people and definitely a happier Grace!
Grace used the Alignment Canvas tool from Go Slow to Go Fast to guide these conversations.
Click on the link to download and use this tool with your team or in your 1-to-1s: https://www.goslowtogofast.co.uk/alignment-canvas-sign-up
Businesses that are in their Series A or B funding cycles are notoriously demanding places to work.
The panic starts to set in when entrepreneurs get to this point because they realise they need to move from that exciting innovative start up phase into creating processes, systems and management structures to prepare for - and sustain – the rapid growth that’s now expected of them.
This is often when those loyal and trusted members of the founding team are promoted into their first management roles with the hope they will lead the growth required.
As Grace found out, it’s not this simple.
Some of those promoted relished the opportunity and thrived (and not just because they went through the Go Slow course...). Others, however, felt immediately overwhelmed by the responsibilities and additional workload associated with being a manager for the first time. It felt more like Macbeth’s anxiety-inducing ‘poisoned chalice’, than a promotion and reward for all their hard work so far.
It was clear to Grace that something had to be done for those really capable members of staff that didn’t suit being a manager.
But who would want to give up their new, shiny promotion, especially when they’ve told all their friends and family (and, yes, posted it on LinkedIn)?
Grace and I talked this through when she was going through her course and we came up with a plan. Very simply, she would talk to those individuals and explore their core motivation for being at the company. She would try to understand their values and what really inspired them to contribute their energy to this fast paced, scale up environment.
By understanding their purpose for being at the company, we hoped she would be able to work out the right role for them, rather than assuming that management was their inevitable next step.
And it worked!
The big smile Grace gave me was because, after a bit of shifting around, the right people were now in the right roles. They were committed, excited and this was contributing to their business really starting to accelerate.
So what about that perceived ‘demotion’, for those that were moved out of their new management roles?
Grace worked with them to agree a new role title that accurately reflected their contribution as experts in the company. As a result, they felt just as excited and (re) committed to the business and, most importantly, they felt they were in the right role, for them.
Happier people and definitely a happier Grace!
Grace used the Alignment Canvas tool from Go Slow to Go Fast to guide these conversations.
Click on the link to download and use this tool with your team or in your 1-to-1s: https://www.goslowtogofast.co.uk/alignment-canvas-sign-up
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