My new general manager is struggling. Do I sack him now or wait?

Dear Aunty B,

I run a retail business and have actually done okay in the recession.

We have been getting our team into shape for the recovery and I recently hired a new general manager and moved ours onto a new project.

The problem is I took him from wholesale where he has a lot of skills setting up processes and systems and running that side of things, but he doesn’t know much about retail.

I am paying him a lot of money and expected him to hit the ground running, but he is distracting the team on unnecessary projects. Have I got the wrong guy for the job? Or am I being too impatient? (I hired him two months ago.)

MB,
WA

Dear MB,

It’s a toughie. Two months is early – but having said that, real quality in management shows up quickly. I think the jury is still out. It sounds like you have just plonked him in the job, wacked on his badge and left him to it.

Skill comes from constant exposure to like situations. Otherwise each situation starts with zero knowledge. Yet your GM has no knowledge of the industry he is in – and he is competing with people who have decades of knowledge and who spend every minute of every day practicing it!

What you need to do is give him encouragement, instructions and a crash course in retail. Work hard and give him time, but make sure you don’t fall into a trap. It can be very hard to be objective when you are judging the ability of the individuals.

We often look at new managers and see what we want to, not what they are. So try and be analytical. Put in place a plan to manage your manager and a way of being able to assess the type of job he is doing.

Also be aware the perfect person for any job does not exist and if you have them, well lucky you. Make sure at the end of the day your new GM is ticking most of the boxes. Otherwise move swiftly and start the process again.

Good luck,
Your Aunty B

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