Regarding manager comments from yesterday -- the title and function have changed over the years. While promoting someone to a management slot to give them more money in order to keep them from leaving is not new, nowadays it seems out of control. Using teh bestest place ever as an example.
I report to a Sr. Manager -- there are two of us in his “department.” He reports to a Director. This Director has four Managers reporting to him and those Managers have between two and five people under them. The total department has sixteen people with five of those having “management” titles.
I’ve had two management roles in my career at two different companies. One time I had fifteen people reporting to me; the other time, maybe a dozen. A manager having two people reporting to them is absurd. And none of the managers at tbpe actually “manage”; they are doing the same work that those reporting to them are doing. Again, that’s not anything new, but it’s a lot more common than it used to be.
I dislike the phrase “teachable moment” but Paddy’s email question is such a moment not just for that employee but for the rest of the department. A good opportunity for management to help employees write clearer emails.
Wow, that sounds bad. I remember reading years ago that they had a problem with that in Japan. In their corporate world, many solid employees that did decent work but really did not warrant promotion would reach a point where it was demeaning that they still held the same title after so many years. In order to not lose them they had to come up with a profusion of titles. These did not really involve more responsibility or much if any money, but gave a face saving title to seem like the employee was moving up. It resulted in a confusing array of titles and a situation as you describe.
Too many “managers” don’t manage and don’t even understand what managers do. This was one of the early steps in training a manager. Too many had an employee outlook that a good excuse got you off the hook. It sometimes took a bit of pushing to get them to understand that a manager’s job was to meet his responsibilities, not come up with an excuse why he didn’t or couldn’t. It was often visible when that got through, and then the implications sunk in, what the person was going to be facing in the future. That was when some lost interest, but the ones who wanted to take it on usually progressed faster after that. The realization of the responsibility they would be taking on really had a sorting effect.
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven, and Mac!
I bet that cat is going to be pissed when someone starts taking a swing at that pinata!
I had a long conversation with my direct report about communication and how the Principal and Vice-Principal interpret things, as well as their expectations for questions. She asked a great question, is it reciprocal? While of course it should be, I told her if she had any questions, she should run them by me for clarification. We don’t need to manufacture problems.
Good morning, GN.
Regarding manager comments from yesterday -- the title and function have changed over the years. While promoting someone to a management slot to give them more money in order to keep them from leaving is not new, nowadays it seems out of control. Using teh bestest place ever as an example.
I report to a Sr. Manager -- there are two of us in his “department.” He reports to a Director. This Director has four Managers reporting to him and those Managers have between two and five people under them. The total department has sixteen people with five of those having “management” titles.
I’ve had two management roles in my career at two different companies. One time I had fifteen people reporting to me; the other time, maybe a dozen. A manager having two people reporting to them is absurd. And none of the managers at tbpe actually “manage”; they are doing the same work that those reporting to them are doing. Again, that’s not anything new, but it’s a lot more common than it used to be.
I dislike the phrase “teachable moment” but Paddy’s email question is such a moment not just for that employee but for the rest of the department. A good opportunity for management to help employees write clearer emails.
Wow, that sounds bad. I remember reading years ago that they had a problem with that in Japan. In their corporate world, many solid employees that did decent work but really did not warrant promotion would reach a point where it was demeaning that they still held the same title after so many years. In order to not lose them they had to come up with a profusion of titles. These did not really involve more responsibility or much if any money, but gave a face saving title to seem like the employee was moving up. It resulted in a confusing array of titles and a situation as you describe.
Too many “managers” don’t manage and don’t even understand what managers do. This was one of the early steps in training a manager. Too many had an employee outlook that a good excuse got you off the hook. It sometimes took a bit of pushing to get them to understand that a manager’s job was to meet his responsibilities, not come up with an excuse why he didn’t or couldn’t. It was often visible when that got through, and then the implications sunk in, what the person was going to be facing in the future. That was when some lost interest, but the ones who wanted to take it on usually progressed faster after that. The realization of the responsibility they would be taking on really had a sorting effect.
Haven’t thought about that for a while.
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven, and Mac!
I bet that cat is going to be pissed when someone starts taking a swing at that pinata!
I had a long conversation with my direct report about communication and how the Principal and Vice-Principal interpret things, as well as their expectations for questions. She asked a great question, is it reciprocal? While of course it should be, I told her if she had any questions, she should run them by me for clarification. We don’t need to manufacture problems.
Missionary sisters are coming over for some dinner in about an hour and a half.
I’m still awake. Trying to flip my schedule so I can get to church this Sunday.
I have lots of the Caldo de pappas soup ready that I made yesterday. I’m going to make my “famous” cornbread.
Potato soup and cornbread -- sounds good!
it was very good.
The gals brought cookies for desert.
We had a nice time.