By Tom McKeown | Monday, Nov 12th, 2012

According to the Center for Creative leadership, forty percent of all management rookies fail by getting fired or voluntarily bowing out of their position. This is a staggering statistic when you consider how much of a company's success is invested in their front line managers. Not surprisingly the most commonly cited reason for this downfall is a lack of training, most specifically in the area of managing performance.




Although many managers try, it is a scientific fact that you can't measure performance without first having goals in place. Teaching managers to set goals against which to measure is the cornerstone for effective performance management, and the gold standard for this in the business world is the SMART methodology (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound). Following these five steps to craft their team's goals will enable your new managers to make an important first move towards running an effective and results driven team.

Remember a company's most valuable asset is not its people, but rather its good people. If you are taking good individual contributors and turning them into poor managers, the cost becomes exponential. On the other hand, converting them to good managers will make the rewards exponential.