It’s accurate to declare that “Half of managers are above average and half are below average.” So, which managers do you have at your company? How confident are you in that response? To make sure that you’re bringing only the best people into management positions, follow these guidelines:

1.    Don’t choose managers based solely on their product knowledge or seniority. Too often, companies turn excellent employees and salespeople into horrible managers.

2.    Be clear about the skill set and personality type that will work best for the management position. Then use such programs as BrainBench.com and ZeroRiskHR.com, to test and assess these abilities.

3.    Define the benchmarks of quality performance. If a manager knows when they’re doing a good job without having to ask and without having to be told, you have an effective performance standard.

4.    Make sure that managers get feedback from their superiors, peers, and subordinates. The best way to do this is through open dialogue, surveys, and meetings.

5.    Use an assessment tool such as ClearDirection.com to help managers deal with the unique personalities of each employee. For example, having both managers and subordinates take the assessment will let the manager know how to manage each individual most effectively: One size does not fit all.

6.    Talk about what happens if the manager doesn’t succeed before they get promoted — not afterwards. Take a look at this issue’s Form of the Month: “A Critical Transition: From Employee to Manager.”

7.    Make sure that all managers have a written plan that outlines their primary objectives, strategies, and tools. The plan only needs to be a few pages long. Have your management team report on their progress at least monthly.

8.    Develop best practices among your management team. If your organization is large enough, find out which managers are getting the highest marks and then have them share their best practices with the other managers.

Finally, have managers read at least one management book a month and discuss it with their peers. Books such as Good to Great, and Victims, Villains, and Heroes: Managing Emotions in the Workplace come to mind.