Buzzing About HR
🎙️ Buzzing About HR
Straight-talking HR for real businesses.
By Kate Underwood HR & Training, this podcast makes people management make sense.
Hosted by award-winning HR expert Kate Underwood, each episode cuts through the jargon to share practical tips, real business stories, and smart ways to handle the people stuff that keeps you up at night.
From tricky conversations to team motivation and staying on the right side of employment law, Kate gives you what you actually need — no fluff, just advice you can use today.
If you run a small business, lead a team, or simply want to make your workplace a little less stressful and a lot more human, this is your weekly caffeine hit of HR wisdom — powered by cake, coffee, and the wisdom of Hazel, our resident Wellbeing Officer.
☕ Start by seeing where you stand: Complete a FREE HR Health Check for your business.
Buzzing About HR
Why Promoting Your Star Performer Can Backfire And What To Do Instead
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, host Kate Underwood tackles a familiar challenge for many businesses: what happens when your best doer becomes your newest manager.
You know the story. Someone’s brilliant at their job, so you promote them… then watch them drown in rotas, one-to-ones and tough conversations they’ve never been trained for. Kate walks through a fair, practical way to grow real managers without losing your top talent along the way.
She starts with the big tension every business faces: promote your star and risk a wobbly team, or hold them back and risk losing them. The answer? Two clear career paths — one for managers, one for specialists — both with proper recognition and pay progression.
Kate shares how to build a simple, transparent framework you can use right away, including:
• Clear criteria that anyone can understand
• Acting-up trials that prove skills before you commit
• Light training and mentoring that set new managers up to succeed
• Realistic goals like running a solid team huddle or improving one process that’s been creaking for months
She also shines a light on the traps that quietly trip businesses up: double-hatting new managers, popularity promotions, and barriers that block quieter or part-time talent. Expect plain, practical advice on keeping things fair, compliant and human — from following ACAS guidance to documenting decisions properly and avoiding bias in who gets a shot at leadership.
By the end, you’ll have a repeatable way to spot future leaders, protect your culture and grow managers on purpose, not by accident.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building confident, capable managers, book a free HR Health Check to see how your people processes stack up.
You can also visit www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk for more tools and templates.
Subscribe to Buzzing About HR for more down-to-earth HR advice for small businesses — and as always, keep buzzing and take care of your people. 🐝
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Have questions or need HR advice? Reach out to Kate Underwood HR & Training at www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email us on buzz@kateunderwoodhr.co.uk or follow us on social media for more tips, resources, and updates.
Until next time, keep buzzing and take care of your people!
Picture this. It's Tuesday, 7th of October, on my whiteboard. Star worker, manager. Hazel, our well being officer, looks at the arrow, tilts her head and barks. Twice. Here's the dilemma. If we promote our best doer, they might struggle as a manager. If we don't, they might leave. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Today, promoting the wrong people. How to avoid it and what to do if it happens. UK only. Plain English. No fluff. Let's crack on. Why this matters? National Work Life Week is in mid-October. People are asking for the next step. Promoting the wrong person hurts the team and the person. You lose a great doer and get a stressed manager. There is a better way. Benefits versus headaches. Get promotions right and you get good managers who can actually lead. Clear fair steps everyone understands. Strong teams and steady results. Get promotions wrong and you get a wobbling manager and a messy team. Claims of favorites and unfairness. More resignations and backfilling. The basics in plain legal. Keep it fair and open. Use clear job-related reasons for promotion. Give people a real chance to be considered. Make notes on what you decided and why. If someone complains, follow the ACAS guidance. Listen, respond, and keep records. Tribunal time limits are short, around three months, so be tidy with your paperwork. How to do promotions without regrets. Two career paths, one for managers, one for specialists. Both can earn more. Write simple criteria. What a manager must do. Plan work, run one-on-ones, give feedback, handle absence, be fair, share the criteria, put them where everyone can see them, check readiness. Quick self-check, manager view, two peer comments. Try before you buy. Six to twelve weeks. Acting up. Train first. Short basics. Feedback, rotor slash plan, absence, fairness, simple numbers. Give a mentor, one name person for weekly check-ins. Set two to three goals. Clear and small. Run team huddle well, fix one process, complete one ones on time. Decide with evidence. Use the criteria, trial and feedback. Write a short note on why. Pay fairly. Confirm the new pay only if appointed. If it's not yet, give two growth goals and a date to review. Point to the specialist path too. If it goes wrong, step back quickly and kindly. Keep dignity. Move them to a role they can shine in. Check the pattern. Every quarter. Look at who gets chances. Fix any unfair blocks. Mini dramas and fixes. Two hats. You promote Sam but keep all their doer tasks. Sam burns out. Fix. Remove doer tasks during the trial. Protect time. Fewer, clearer goals. The popular choice. Everyone likes Leo, so you skip the checks. Three weeks later, missed one-to-ones and wrote a chaos. Fix back to criteria. Give training and a mentor. If it still slips, step back kindly. The hidden barrier. Your ready list favors long hours and loud voices. Part-time Priya never gets a look-in. Fix. Judge outcomes, not hours. Offer different ways to show the skill. Quick QA. Do I have to advertise internally? No, but it's safer and fairer. It also finds hidden talent. How long should a trial be? Six to twelve weeks. Short, focused, with protected time. Should I pay more in the trial? Use a temporary allowance. Confirm base pay after appointment. What training is a must? Feedback. Planning slash rotor, absence basics, fair treatment, simple metrics. What if the team pushback? Listen. Explain the criteria. Fix specific issues fast. If someone fails the trial, will they quit? Not if you handle it well. Honest feedback. A respectful step back. And a strong specialist path. Can my best doer be a great manager? Yes, if they want it and you train and support them. Practical takeaways. Publish a manager path and a specialist path. Test the skills before you give the title. Protect time during trials. No double hatting. Train first, then promote. Review patterns. Fix blocks fast. Back to the whiteboard. Star worker. Arrow manager. Hazel tilts her head like she's asking, can they lead people? And do they want to? That's the question to answer. National Work Life Week is the ideal time to tidy your promotion steps. Keep it simple. Keep it fair. Help people grow in the right direction. I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Kettle On, Standards Up. See you next time.
