Earlier we had talked about how businesses can benefit from cultivating their own leaders. There is no doubt that much can be said for molding managers from your existing employee pool. Many companies do want to promote from within, fully understanding the benefits of internal growth opportunities, but not all businesses understand how to develop a system for doing so. In this article I will discuss how your business can begin developing a system for internal growth and how to avoid common pitfalls that you may come across while doing so.

Not All Employees Are Created Equal

The first thing you need to understand is that not all employees are created equal. While some employees will thrive on growth opportunities and will provide benefit to your company as they climb the corporate ladder, others will have no interest in becoming a future leader of your corporation. You can not expect every employee that your company hires to be a candidate for your future management pool. While the college grad you hire for the mail room may indeed run that department some day, the young buyer that you hire in your purchasing department may not have any management potential whatsoever.

We have all heard amazing success stories about employees who start out as janitors working their way up to the CEO position of a company. While this caliber of employee does indeed exist in rare circumstances, they are the exception to the rule and not the norm. That does not mean, however, that you should not be on the lookout for employees who will do well with an opportunity for growth. These employees may eventually become the leaders of your corporation, and you need to spot them before you lose them.

They key in determining which employees may serve as future leaders for your business is in developing a system that will spot such employees and put them on a path towards future success in your organization.

Putting Employees on the Management Fast Track

When your organization does recognize an employee as a potential leader of the future, make sure you provide that employee with goals that can be met as they make their way up your corporate ladder. These employees will need motivation as well as development opportunities. You may want to offer classes in management and leadership development as well as team leader opportunities that will allow these employees to prove their leadership skills before being put into a management position. As you give these employees opportunities to show you what they can really do, you can foster the future management of your corporation from your existing employee pool. These employees will understand the needs of your business and your corporate culture from the bottom up and will prove to be priceless leaders when the time comes for them to take on such a role.