English to Chinese Tech/Engineering IT (Information Technology)

7. Promoting the wrong people
As CTO or CIO, rewarding your top technologist with a promotion to a management position might seem like the right thing to do. But when a technologist is not ready to give up constant, hands-on technology work in favor of more people-oriented management duties, it could be a mistake you’ll regret on many levels.
One vice president of IT painted a grim picture of such a decision: The promoted employee could be resented by former peers and might not like the new management duties, which could lead to poor performance. Even worse, the new manager might feel compelled to cling to the ill-fitting position because the old position might no longer be available.
Just such an experience put this particular vice president in the tough position of having to deal with a new manager’s performance problems, which led to a double whammy: A top technologist left the company, and the new manager still had to be fired.
Management training can help avoid such disasters. But use your gut. Either the aptitude is there, or it isn’t.