First-time managers: increasing chances of their success before the promotion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss what could be done before the promotion to management to help first-time managers succeed in their new roles. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews literature from scholarly and professional journals and magazines and uses the author’s professional experience as a training and development consultant. Findings The paper argues that organizations should offer support to first-time managers before they get promoted. This period could be called a preparation period. The paper suggests to differentiate between the preparation and transition periods because each has different goals. On the basis of the goals of the preparation period, the paper suggest activities that could be used by organizations. Originality/value Conversations about support of first-time managers to ease their transition to management usually evolve around either the ways newly promoted managers could help themselves by developing certain skills, knowledge base, and attitudes or the ways in which organizations could implement certain training and development activities after employees are promoted to managerial positions. Very little has been said about “the before” or the preparation period.