World Vision Kenya is intentional about succession planning and career development, and our structure was built to support succession. Our aim is to develop and retain the most talented, committed and engaged staff. So in a recent reorganization, quite a number of World Vision technical specialists applied for area development program manager positions, which are head of programs in various geographical areas overseeing different projects and staff.
For those who applied, this was an opportunity for career advancement; many of them performed well in the interviews and were offered the positions. Theoretically, they knew what the new job entailed. But in practice, it was a different story.
Not long after their appointments, we observed that many of them lacked basic people management skills, which then resulted in staffing issues. Many found that instead of doing what they were used to — advising in their areas of technical expertise, whether it was agriculture, water and sanitation or health and hygiene — a lot of their time now needed to be spent on people management, delegation, supervising and conflict resolution.