INTRODUCTION

This report will be examining the extent to which the ‘Managerial Escalator’ (Rees & Porter,

2008) fits in the experience of two managers. The reports will be split into two parts; firstly,

the report will explain the concept of the ‘Managerial Escalator’ by addressing Rees &

Porter’s fundamental purpose, their basic concepts, their point of view and conclusions of

the ‘Managerial Escalator’. Secondly, the report will analyse the results of two managers

with managerial responsibilities and establish the extent to which their progression into

management and current managerial activity fits with the concepts of the Managerial

Escalator.

THE MANGERIAL ESCALATOR

The concept of the managerial escalator seeks to explain how specialists become managers.

Initially, a specialist may be employed 100 per cent of the time on a specialist activity. The

competent specialist may gradually acquire minor supervisory responsibilities, perhaps quite

informally. After a certain duration of competent performance (say five years, but it could be

little as one year), it would not be unusual for a specialist to be promoted. Given structure of

organisations, this promotion would usually involve an element of managerial responsibility.

The development of the concept ‘team leaders’ can lead to specialists acquiring significant

management responsibilities despite occupying a junior position. After a few more years

(say five) there could be a further formal promotion, either within the same or another

organisation. This may have been preceded by a certain amount of accumulation of

managerial responsibility on an informal basis. People tend to be carried along this escalator

and may finish with most or even all their time on the managerial side of the axis. The exact

course of progress will vary widely from one person to another. However, the escalator-type

progression is very common. The managerial activity may well be in specialist context, but

the crucial change is that former specialists may spend most of their time managing other
specialists, rather than engaging directly in specialist activity themselves. The difference

between the amount of time that a person should be spending on managerial activities and

the amount of time actually is defined as a managerial gap. (Rees & Porter (2008) Skills of

Management, London, Cengage Learning EMA (6th ed)). Rees and Porter 2005, conducted a

survey of how 50 people became managers, they uncovered that 45 out of the 50 had

worked as a specialist before acquiring supervisory or managerial responsibility. A further

two had trained as a specialist before being given supervisory or managerial responsibility in

their first appointment. Only twelve had received prior management training and that was

not always effective. This now leads to the findings of the two managers who were

interviewed on their progression into management and their managerial responsibilities, and

uncover whether Rees & Porter’s concept the Managerial Escalator applies to these cases.

FINDINGS

An interview was conducted on two different managers who work in two different

institutions. They were put forward with a variety of open-ended questions related to their

current managerial activity and progression into their managerial role to test the model of

the managerial escalator. The findings are as followed;

Manager A is supervisor at a supermarket and his previous position before being appointed

as a manager was a store assistant. He has been working for this sector for over two years.

Before entering his managerial role he received ‘man to man’ training which dealt with

dealing with poor performance, team motivation and achieving targets. His priorities as a

manager are meeting key result areas for the business as well as helping to move the

business forward. He believes he spends 100 percent of his time during his day to day

activities to serve this purpose. He believes that his strongest area as a manager is

motivating his staff and the area in which he would like to enhance is in dealing with poor

performance. He misses his previous working relationships with his colleagues while he was
a store assistant, however now as a manager he enjoys the level of responsibility, being a

part of the company’s future plans and his knowing that his managerial skills have brought

short/long term success. He uncovered that management is a highly motivating role and if

he still enjoys the challenge then he may consider staying in a managerial career within the

next 10 years.

Manager B is a store manager at a retail shop and her previous position before being

appointed as a manager was a deputy manager within the same company, and before that a

deputy manager at another company. She has been working in retail for just over 3 years.

Before entering her managerial role she received one to one training from her duty and area

managers in regards to team motivation and administration. Her priorities as a manager are

her team and achieving set goals and targets. Most of her time goes to her team, working

and observing them. She believes that her strongest area of management is people and

sales. The area in which she would like to enhance in is time management and priorities. She

does not miss anything from her previous role as she now likes the freedom and

responsibility that she has now. The things she most enjoys about being a manager are

working with her team, seeing results and developing her team. In the future she states that

she would like to become an area manager and then after that a different side of retail.

DISCUSSION

This section of the report will now discuss how far the findings of the two managers fit into

the concept of the Managerial escalator. The report will take a look at the finding s of each

of the managers side by side and analyse them against the theory.

The findings from the interview with Manager A revealed that before his current managerial

position he was a store assistant for the same company and has been working for this sector

for just over 2 years. This supports the concepts of the managerial escalator as Rees &
Porter 2008 state that after ‘certain duration of competent performance it is not unusual for

a specialist to be promoted. ‘This applies in this case as Manager A’s specialist role before

being appointed as a manager was a store assistant in the same company, he has been

working for the company for over 2 years and has been promoted over that duration to

become a supervisor. Rees & Porter will name this as a specialist becoming a manager.

On the other hand, Manager B who is currently a store manager at a retail store was

promoted from a deputy manger into a store manager. She previously worked as a deputy

manager at another company before she started working at her current company. The

findings revealed that she had been working within retail for just over three years. Although

she did not escalate from a specialist position like a sales assistant to a manger, the theory of

the managerial escalator can still be applied but at a later point in the cycle just not from the

beginning as she still she ‘received a further formal promotion within the same organisation’

from a deputy manager to a store manager.

Before entering the managerial role both Manager A and B received formal training.

Manager A he received ‘man to man’ training which dealt with dealing with poor

performance, team motivation and achieving targets and Manager B received one to one

training from her duty and area managers in regards to team motivation and administration.

According to Rees & Porter specialists need to act as managerial hybrids meaning being

involved in both specialist and managerial activities. Some of these activities may include;

supervision of staff and identification of priorities. The training in which these managers

received before entering their managerial role is to prevent problems of a specialist being

unable to conduct managerial responsibilities or just focusing on their previous specialist

role. The managerial escalator states that a specialist may be employed 100 per cent of the

time on a specialist activity after professional training. Therefore the managerial escalator

can be applied here.

In addition, the findings revealed that both managers have identified priorities which

reinforce the idea that they are acting as managerial hybrids. This is made known when

Manager A revealed that his priorities are meeting key result areas for the business as well

as helping to move the business forward and Manager B states her priorities are her team

and achieving set goals and targets. The findings indicate that both managers spend the

majority of their time serving these priorities. This means that the managerial gap for these

mangers is small as their managerial activities take up the majority of their time. This fits into

the managerial escalator as Manager A an B spend most of their managing other specialists

rather than directly engaging in specialist activity themselves. This is evident when Manager

A and B both believe that their strongest areas in management people and team motivation.

This reveals that there is a strong relationship between management and the subordinate

team.

On the other hand, the findings revealed that Manager A’s weakest area as a manager was

dealing with poor performance. According to Rees & Porter managers have the responsibility

to see that their own training and development and that of staff fits into an integrated

system. Manager A was promoted from a store assistant (specialist) to a supervisory role

within the same store. This can be a conflict between a specialist and managerial activity as

now he may have to monitor and review the performance of subordinates who were once

his colleagues which may affect former relationships. This notion is later strengthened when

Manager A reveals that he misses his previous working relationships with his colleagues

while he was a store assistant.

Manager B revealed that an area she would like to enhance in is time management and

priorities. This can be due the imbalance of her managerial gap. Possibly, as previously

discussed, Manager B devoted most of her time motivating her team and achieving targets,

however other aspects of her managerial role such as administration etc maybe neglected.
Evidently, it would be fair to suggest that her specialist activity lies within sales and team

work.

The last finding revealed that Manager A and Manager B would like to prosper in their

managerial career in the future. Manager B stated that she would like to progress to be an

area manager in the future and Manager A considers in staying in a managerial career within

the next 10 years. This suggests that the concept of the managerial escalator will continue to

serve them in their development in the future.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion to this report, the findings suggest that the concept of the managerial escalator

fits into the experience of the two managers. Manager A and B both went from being a

specialist to manager; they both underwent professional training before their promotion to

become managerial hybrids in order to conduct their role efficiently. The findings suggested

that their managerial training was successful as their managerial gaps were small. The two

managers implied that they would like to develop in their managerial careers by advancing

into higher positions, and the managerial escalator will serve them in doing so.