It’s all over the media: job vacancies were the highest they’ve ever been in a January and there’s a lack of skilled and qualified people available to fill them. Certainly it’s tough – with record numbers of vacancies and nearly full employment in NZ, there are a lot more roles than there are candidates to fill them.
One of the interesting trends we’re seeing in the on-farm sector in particular but also more broadly across businesses is the consideration of people for leadership roles who simply don’t yet have the experience we would ideally have sought. This opportunity to fast track careers has a number of positives; it also comes with a number of challenges….
Think about those who are fast tracked because of technical competence – think about a farmer who is really good at managing cows and grass, and suddenly is leading a team of six people; or an engineer who is super smart and does a great technical job, and now has four other engineers (who were probably his or her peers till recently) reporting to them. Do they have the leadership skills to step outside of this technical paradigm?
Think about those who are fast-tracked because they’re great with people – normally your first leadership position involves you having an intimate knowledge of the requirements of individuals within the team. It takes a mature mindset to lead when your team know more than you…have we given our new leader the additional skills they need to do this well?
We found this article about the things that change when you become a leader. It provides some great guidance on how we can help those being fast tracked to transition. https://hbr.org/2022/01/5-things-that-change-when-you-become-a-leader
And of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention our leadership training programmes and coaching support that have already helped hundreds of first time leaders with their transition. Take a look at our 'Training that Grows Great People' page or give us a call today to discuss how we might be able to help.