When a leadership position on your graduate and adult education team becomes vacant, you have an opportunity to assess the department and determine if a staff reorganization is needed.
Rarely have I ever had a vacancy, and simply filled it.
I've always looked at the make-up of the team members, as well as the students' and department's needs, and found a balance to move duties, assignments, etc. around, in order to create (and occasionally eliminate) positions.
Here are a few questions to ponder when you have a leadership position becoming open on your team.
How important will coaching and training skills be when identifying a new team leader?
Too often I find institutions taking a director-level vacancy, and filling it with someone that has the requisite adult enrollment/higher education admissions experience. I'm not suggesting that isn't important, but don't overlook the power of a team leader that can understand the strengths and weaknesses of her/his staff, and coach, challenge and grow them both individually and collectively to new levels.
I've been running my consulting practice for five years now, and I can share that many of the problems I've come across deal with teams that simply haven't grown, changed or modified approaches in 10 years. A great leader will never allow her/his team to become stagnant.
The key here is knowing what your team needs in a leader to be successful. If you had to list, in order of priority, the top three tasks your leader needed to accomplish, what would they be?
Next, do you know how to advertise, attract and identify the person that can best accomplish these tasks?
How effective is your CRM, and the communications within it?
Another significant need for today's team is a communications specialist. As the use of CRM's, as well as other automated communication tools increase, the complexity with which you need to refine the use of those tools for maximum effectiveness requires a talent and skill set I've not typically found on teams. This type of work requires someone that can be an expert content development and can easily understand and master the technology. In today's world, both are extremely critical.
Now, depending on the size of your program, that doesn't mean you need a full-time communications person. You may find that a split between communications and some other responsibility is appropriate. However, I would avoid a split that shares the person's time with another department. That becomes problematic, and I've found these individuals torn, frustrated and confused by conflicting direction they've been given.
Finding the right person can be a challenge. Why? Often that's because the person responsible for hiring, or for chairing the search committee doesn't know enough about the special needs and challenges of creating effective communications, or maximizing the technology you're team is using to assess the your candidates' strengths and capabilities.
How do you write a job description (and ad) that articulates what it is that you specifically need in a way that a real expert in this area finds intriguing?
How effective are your operations (especially if you have multiple sites)?
Centralization is another factor, that depending on your program, can be beneficial. If you oversee a team with multiple locations you should look at the various operations at each location. Inevitably, each center will be run differently, based on the style and personality of the on-site staff member responsible for the site.
I often find a strong performer using her/his performance as a tool to go rogue. Balancing that can be a challenge. I'm the type of person that wants to allow that person more leverage in customizing her/his approach to enhance success. But there is a point that the processes and operation of one location becomes problematic and frustrating for other staff at the main campus and/or other locations.
What type of leader might you need to hire reduce the friction, address the situation, and bring the successful but rogue staff member inline with the remainder of staff? What do yo do if that staff member applies for the position?
As fall comes around, there will inevitably be some staff changes. Some high performers will be looking to grow. Poor performers may be given assistance to move on, or if you're lucky see the "writing on the wall," and move on her/himself.
Have you begun to think about scenarios if you have a vacancy? Be it a leadership position, or a member on the front line, could you make some changes that improve your team's performance?