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People & CultureLeadership & Management

Building the next generation of merchant managers

Create internal progression, succession and first-line management capability.

9 questions answered

Questions answered on this page

01How do I develop people rather than continually recruiting externally?
02How do I identify future managers?
03How do I build a pipeline of future branch managers?
04Why do people turn down promotions?
05How do I prepare someone for their first management role?
06Why do good salespeople sometimes make poor managers?
07Why aren’t younger employees progressing into management?
08How do I create meaningful career paths in a merchant business?
09How do I improve succession planning for key roles?

How do I develop people rather than continually recruiting externally?

Treat development as planned business work rather than something offered when time allows. Identify the roles and capabilities the business will need, then give employees structured opportunities to learn them through shadowing, projects, temporary cover, feedback and formal learning where useful. Managers need to discuss progress regularly and record evidence of what the person can now do independently. Development should not mean promising promotion or moving everyone towards management. It should build capability and reveal fit. External recruitment will still be necessary where the business lacks experience or needs a different perspective, but it should complement an internal pipeline rather than replace one. Progress becomes credible when people receive real responsibility with support, not training content without the chance to apply it.

How do I identify future managers?

Look beyond current sales or operational results. Future managers show judgement, reliability, learning agility and an ability to improve the performance of other people, not only their own output. Observe how they handle pressure, make decisions, communicate standards, respond to feedback and take responsibility when something goes wrong. Give potential candidates small leadership tests such as running a meeting, coaching a colleague, owning a stock issue or leading a short project. Compare evidence against a clear manager profile rather than relying on confidence, popularity or length of service. Ask whether they genuinely want the role and understand its realities. Potential is a reason to invest and test further, not proof that someone is ready for immediate promotion.

How do I build a pipeline of future branch managers?

Start with the number and type of manager roles the business is likely to need over the next few years, including planned growth and foreseeable retirements. Identify more than one possible successor for critical roles and assess their current readiness against the same capability expectations. Create development experiences that close specific gaps: branch cover, commercial decisions, people conversations, stock ownership and exposure to performance data. Review the pipeline regularly with evidence, not labels such as high potential. Include employees from different functions and branches so the list does not depend on who is most visible to senior leaders. A healthy pipeline contains people at several stages and accepts that some will change direction. Its value is reduced vacancy risk and better preparation, not a guaranteed promotion queue.

Why do people turn down promotions?

A promotion may look unattractive when the additional pressure, hours and accountability appear greater than the reward, authority or support. Employees also watch existing managers; if those managers are overloaded, constantly interrupted or criticised without development, the role sends its own warning. Some people enjoy technical, sales or customer work and do not want to manage others. Others doubt their readiness because nobody has let them practise the role safely. Ask what is behind the decision without treating refusal as a lack of ambition. Review the role design, pay, decision authority, induction and support offered to new managers. The business needs respected specialist routes as well as management progression. A promotion should be a credible opportunity, not the only way to advance or an invitation to inherit unresolved problems.

How do I prepare someone for their first management role?

Begin before the appointment. Explain how success changes from doing the work personally to setting expectations, making decisions and helping others perform. Let the candidate practise through team briefings, holiday cover, coaching, prioritisation and manageable performance conversations. Teach the commercial and operational measures they will own, along with the authority and escalation boundaries attached to them. Once appointed, provide a written 90-day plan, frequent reviews and access to an experienced manager who can challenge without taking over. Avoid leaving them to copy the style of the previous manager or learn only through mistakes. Early support should build judgement and confidence while holding clear standards. The first months shape both the new manager and the team’s trust in them.

Why do good salespeople sometimes make poor managers?

Sales success and management success require overlapping but different capabilities. A strong salesperson may rely on personal pace, relationships and judgement, while a manager must create results through other people, including colleagues who work differently. Problems arise when the new manager keeps the best accounts, solves every difficult sale and judges others against their own style instead of setting clear expectations and coaching. Before promotion, assess motivation and evidence of leadership rather than treating sales results as the qualification. Reduce personal targets where necessary and define the new measures of success. Help them delegate, give feedback, plan capacity and handle underperformance. Their commercial credibility is valuable, but only if it becomes a platform for developing the team rather than remaining the branch’s individual engine.

Why aren’t younger employees progressing into management?

The route may be unclear, opportunities may depend on a vacancy, or managers may protect strong employees in their current roles because they are difficult to replace. Younger colleagues can also be judged as not ready without being given the experiences that would prove readiness. Make the capabilities and evidence for progression visible, then offer staged responsibility before a full management position appears. Include operational, commercial and people experience rather than classroom learning alone. Give honest feedback about gaps and timescales so development does not become an indefinite promise. Some employees will decide management is not for them, which is useful information. The business’s responsibility is to create a fair route to test interest and capability, not to assume age or service length determines potential.

How do I create meaningful career paths in a merchant business?

Career paths should show several credible directions rather than one ladder ending in branch management. Map how people can build capability across sales, operations, stock, transport, specialist product knowledge, central functions and leadership. For each step, describe the skills, evidence and typical experiences required, while avoiding a promise that a vacancy will exist on a fixed date. Use secondments, project work, branch cover and broader responsibilities to create progress between formal promotions. Link development to fair reward where responsibility genuinely increases. Managers need to discuss these routes regularly and help employees choose experiences that fit their strengths and ambitions. A career path becomes meaningful when people can see movement and learning in practice, not simply a diagram on an internal page.

How do I improve succession planning for key roles?

Identify the roles whose loss would create material commercial, operational or leadership risk, then assess likely timing and the capability required in the future, not just today. Name possible successors at different readiness levels and record evidence, gaps and development actions. Avoid a single-successor plan that depends on one person staying or wanting the role. Include emergency cover as well as longer-term succession, and review the plan when strategy, structure or people change. Senior leaders should challenge bias and make sure overlooked talent receives exposure. Succession planning is not complete when a name appears in a box. It is complete when the business is actively building options and can explain what each person still needs to experience before taking responsibility.

What you may be seeing

Management vacancies trigger external searches because no internal candidate is ready.
Strong salespeople are promoted and continue doing their old job instead of leading the team.
Potential successors are discussed informally but receive no planned development experience.
Younger employees cannot see a credible route beyond their current role.
A small number of experienced managers carry most of the branch knowledge and cover risk.

What good looks like

A merchant with a strong management pipeline knows which roles it will need and which people may be able to fill them. Potential managers are assessed against clear capabilities and receive real opportunities to lead before promotion. First-time managers enter the role with a 90-day plan, defined authority, regular feedback and support that develops judgement without removing accountability. Career paths include specialist and cross-functional options as well as management, so progression is not dependent on one ladder. Succession plans contain several options and are reviewed using evidence of readiness. External recruitment remains available, but it adds capability to the business rather than repeatedly covering a failure to develop people internally.

What may be happening underneath

Role clarity: The business has not defined the capabilities and evidence required for first-line management.
Opportunity: Employees receive training but too few chances to practise leadership before a vacancy appears.
Manager behaviour: Current managers retain decisions and tasks instead of developing people who could take them on.
Career structure: Progression is presented as a single promotion ladder rather than several credible development routes.
Succession discipline: Names are discussed, but readiness, risk and development actions are not reviewed consistently.

Questions worth asking

01Which management and specialist roles create the greatest succession risk?
02What evidence shows that a person can create results through others, not only perform well personally?
03Which real assignments could test and develop potential managers before promotion?
04Does the first management role offer enough authority, support and reward to be attractive?
05Who is missing from succession discussions because they have had less exposure to senior leaders?

Where to go next

Turn potential into evidence and readiness. BGC leadership and branch manager development resources help businesses define the role, create practical development experiences and support new managers through the transition.

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