How bad is your management?
4 months ago we enacted a "work from home" policy where each person got 1 day a week that they could work from home via VPN. This was well received and going very well. Our systems are set up that most of us can do 100% of our job remotely.
Statistically, employees are more productive when they work from home (on average). I was very proud of this as I spear-headed the effort in an attempt to increase moral, which is low here.
Our glorious leader, a work-a-holic who commonly puts in 60 hours a week in the office and more at home, decided that we had a lot of "projects" to do and that with people taking vacation at various times this summer, that he would end the practice at least until September. He thinks that we will be much more productive now that we will be "working" an extra day each week. As a little joke to lighten the situation, he said employees will still be able to work at home if the want - at nights or on weekends as much as they want. What a jerk!
I guarentee you we will now lose at least a day or two in productivity from each employee.
Does your management suck too?
Statistically, employees are more productive when they work from home (on average). I was very proud of this as I spear-headed the effort in an attempt to increase moral, which is low here.
Our glorious leader, a work-a-holic who commonly puts in 60 hours a week in the office and more at home, decided that we had a lot of "projects" to do and that with people taking vacation at various times this summer, that he would end the practice at least until September. He thinks that we will be much more productive now that we will be "working" an extra day each week. As a little joke to lighten the situation, he said employees will still be able to work at home if the want - at nights or on weekends as much as they want. What a jerk!
I guarentee you we will now lose at least a day or two in productivity from each employee.
Does your management suck too?
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quote:Originally posted by Stink Foot
quote:
How bad is your management?
My wifes allright I reckon.
[:D][:D]0 -
I am guessing that managers in the police game are a different animal than the business game.
In my experience I have seen easy-going cops change into micro-managers when promoted. When I worked with that type and the supervisor came to my call, I would defer to micro- manager and let them make all the decisions.
When a great supervisor would come to my call he would not interfere and just observe. We had a few of these and they were gone mostly when I retired.
The department wanted supervisors to stir things up, to keep the tension level high, and to have supervision at all major incidents. In my opinion they lost efficiency and cohesiveness when they got that change. They became almost a mirror image of San Diego Police Department, no one could make a decision unless they asked a supervisor.0 -
I work at a manufacturing plant. It's in no way your typical assebly line production plant. It's a Corn Wetmilling and starch production plant. Every manager out here is a chemical engineer, their management styles SUCK, they have no personel management experience and have no idea how to be a supervisor. They were traied to sit behind desks and work out solutions to problems, not create more.
This is the only job I've ever had where I haven't been the boss of somebody. I managed a fastfood resaurant when I was in High School and College. I was a Service Manager for Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and Suzuki, I was a foreman of a Scaffold, insulation, and painting crew.
I am a natural born manager. I know that you cannot be a supervisor of anyone until you gain respect, and you won't gain it until you give it. My supervising styles were well liked, dicipline was fair, and everyone got along and did their job very well. I loved being a supervisor/manager, I may never be one now as our company has no idea how to hire legit leaders.0 -
Leadership vs. Directing.
Some are good at one or the other. Few are good at both. Good ones sets the goals to reach and then works to provide the resources to help us reach the goals. Good ones are there in the middle of the crisis with us. They don't need to be doing the job for us, but when needed, they get their hands dirty, while still allowing us room to do our job.
One of my supervisor's best skill is playing armchair quarterback.quick to fault what you did on a night shift. Sometimes I laugh cynically. Everything is perfectly explainable, no matter how bad it is, when it was done on day shift, but have a little difficulty on night shift... He's a better director but nowhere to be found when leadership is required.
Another supervisor allows you the room to do your job. He is understanding and supportive when you have difficulties. While sometimes aloof, you know where he stands. It can be a challenge to get him to open up or give out information if he doesn't want to. He is a good leader and can be a surprisingly decent director when he needs to be an a-hole.
He replaced a guy who treated the plant like it was a playground and he was the playground bully. One would think that would be a good management skill, except he got too arrogant. One night he beat the crap out of a "friend" and killed him. After he was finally indicted by a grand jury and arrested, he was making comments about the case at work. That got him fired, but he did get away with murder. I brought in cake and ice cream the day he was fired.
The third supervisor was fired about a month ago. He is a lazy SOB but full of crap. He did pretty good with the crap, but it finally caught up with him. We peacefully coexisted. He despised my ambition and his ineptness really annoyed me. He was neither a good director or leader. He was the playground bully's fat little buddy. I haven't brought cake and ice cream in yet.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
quote:Aren't you the "manager" here?
I like to consider myself a benevolent, but all-powerful monarch.
It is a little like my job. There is a framework of rules within which to work. I know what to do and what not to do. There is very little, if any, direct interference from management, but management is there if I need them.
So, maybe I am not a monarch, nor even a manager. I am the cop of the forums.
He's not a manager here. He is a babysitter.
Then again 75% of managing is babysitting.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
OK. I admit to taking an extreme view that some might disagree with. I could even be wrong. Imagine that! I have seen some of the things that managers in my organization have to do, and I don't want to do that, so I remain where I am.
Our latest management faux pax: (at least in my opinion)
In order to reduce overtime, we now work 12 hour shifts. I am now off every day of the week, depending on which week we are talking about. Here is how it works.
Off Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Work Monday and Tuesday. Off Wednesday and Thursday. Work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Off Monday and Tuesday. Work Wednesday and Thurdsday. Off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And so on.
Actually, it isn't too bad on the 6am-6pm shift, but I don't see how the people on nights handle it, unless they maintain their night schedule on their days off as well.
Now, if one does the math on this schedule, one will find that there are four hours of overtime in each two-week cycle. Well, we can't have that, so there is one 8-hour day per two-week cycle, per employee. You pick a day, and go home early that day. Trouble is, that leaves the shift short, so the remaining employees end up really hopping. I am totally alone in my decision, but on my "short day," I don't go home early. I stay the entire 12 hours and don't put in for overtime. I don't like it when the other people take off early and leave more work for the rest of us, so I won't do it. So far, no one had followed my example.
I guess I am just not a leader. Another good reason not to seek a management position.
This guy most be friends with my wife's new 911 boss. He immediately had to redo the shift schedule, which pissed everyone off. New one is no better or offers more coverage. Actually there are more holes, but he likes this schedule. He's very hard core and by the book when the workplace WAS very relaxed and informal. He is also impersonal and inaccessible. He prefers to communicate by email rather than in person and the rudeness of his email is offensive. That corncob up is butt is about to make four people walk when the county is growing fast and they already need 4 more people now. It's going to suck for him if he ends up 8 people in the hole by the end of the year. Sooner or later a mayor or chief is going to start openly complaining about poor service.0 -
When I used to work for someone, My Company routinely promoted jerks to management. This was only to get them out of the field. We called it "damage control". The company just made it too hard to fire these Butkissing A$$wipes. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by cartod
When I used to work for someone, My Company routinely promoted jerks to management. This was only to get them out of the field. We called it "damage control".
I couldn't have said it better-[^] 18 years at a large corporation and I could see them coming a mile away!
quote:The company just made it too hard to fire these Butkissing A$$wipes.
Our crew made it easy to get rid of the butt kissers, we used the system[:D]. Love to see a butt kissing manager cave under pressure.0 -
What I have figured out is that, when I retire, which won't be long, I will still earn money, but I won't call anyone boss but Dawnie. 0 -
The managers at four of the companies I worked for did such a fantastic job that they ran them right into the ground, causing them to declare bankruptcy and ultimately go out of business. The really tragic part is that when the first one went under, the second company hired a lot of the losers from the first company. That company collapsed and, you guessed it, the third company hired the losers from the first two companies. As somebody once said, it was like de ja vue all over again. In each case but the last one, I bailed out when I saw the situation start to go south. I tried to tell the big shots not to hire the idiot managers from my previous company, but I was just a lowly worker and really didn't "see the big picture!" I saw it just fine; you hire these idiots and jerks and they're going to ruin the company and I'm going to be out of a job. Did they listen? Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0 -
I can't complain. I work in an area surrounded by some very smart, very capable people. The boss man is well aware of that, and basically just shows up to mention the direction he wants everyone to go every now and then. As for the work at home thing, We are doing a shutdown on July 5th and 6th, where you have to take vacation, I am already taking vacation later in July, so he told me, to email him and ask to work from home on those days, he instantly approved it. Of course we get billions of dollars in government contracts so it we have to show each person is "working" at least 40 hours a week to keep the piece with Uncle Sam. If that rule were not there I could very likely work from home more often then not. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
All managers are jerks, to some degree or another. Some are just bigger jerks than others, but it is a necessary trait of the successful manager. Some are born jerks, others learn to be jerks in management classes, still others learn it on the job.
BTW, I have chosen to remain at the lowest echelon of my job. I know I just don't have it in me to be a manager.
Some do, some don't. I chose a different path after working from street patrol, through investigations, into street patrol supervision (Cpl and Sgt) and also investigations supervision. Ultimately I promoted into my current management (Captain ranked, Bureau Commander titled) position.
I felt that someone had to get into management that understood the rank and file and its related issues, but who also can adopt an "overview concept" to departmental issues.
I lead from the front and by example. I may not be the most popular person in the agency, but I am generally well liked and more importantly, respected by line staff.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
OK. I admit to taking an extreme view that some might disagree with. I could even be wrong. Imagine that! I have seen some of the things that managers in my organization have to do, and I don't want to do that, so I remain where I am.
Our latest management faux pax: (at least in my opinion)
In order to reduce overtime, we now work 12 hour shifts. I am now off every day of the week, depending on which week we are talking about. Here is how it works.
Off Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Work Monday and Tuesday. Off Wednesday and Thursday. Work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Off Monday and Tuesday. Work Wednesday and Thurdsday. Off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And so on.
Actually, it isn't too bad on the 6am-6pm shift, but I don't see how the people on nights handle it, unless they maintain their night schedule on their days off as well.
Now, if one does the math on this schedule, one will find that there are four hours of overtime in each two-week cycle. Well, we can't have that, so there is one 8-hour day per two-week cycle, per employee. You pick a day, and go home early that day. Trouble is, that leaves the shift short, so the remaining employees end up really hopping. I am totally alone in my decision, but on my "short day," I don't go home early. I stay the entire 12 hours and don't put in for overtime. I don't like it when the other people take off early and leave more work for the rest of us, so I won't do it. So far, no one had followed my example.
I guess I am just not a leader. Another good reason not to seek a management position.
So let me get this straight, Your company sticks it to you with 12 hour shifts to prevent OVERTIME, and you get upset when people go home after 8 hours on their "short day" because more work is left for others, so you work the extra 4 hours on your "short day" at straight time rate.(but should be overtime) wow! And for gosh sake why would anyone follow your example? IMHO you maybe a manager and not even know it.0 -
All managers are jerks, to some degree or another. Some are just bigger jerks than others, but it is a necessary trait of the successful manager. Some are born jerks, others learn to be jerks in management classes, still others learn it on the job.
BTW, I have chosen to remain at the lowest echelon of my job. I know I just don't have it in me to be a manager.
Nunn, you hit that nail right on the head.
My cousin was an everyday guy who grew
up in the neighborhood with us regulars
and now after being a vice president of
a plastics company for years he is exactly
as you say, and I can't understand it.
He had to work hard for what he got,we all helped
him through college,gas money and crap like that
(he had a wfie and young kid).He used to know
how the grunts lived and what they needed but
now he has gone over to the "dark" side
a complete company man and I don't understand
it, a regular guy turned into a complete
dick forgetting how he got there and where
his roots used to be.I"m a company man
but I (hopefully)am still normal and caring.0 -
Don't confuse workaholic from having good work ethics. Managers manage programs while leaders lead people. Leadership is an action, not a position. Successful organizations employ minimum manning factor (minimum number of personnel required) to effectively lead and manage.
Any work pass normal shift (i.e. 8 hours) sucks. Short and temporary overtime is OK due to workload backlog. If workload cannot be done in a normal duty hours start looking for the root cause - the right person for the job, training, indirect workload, new requirements, assumed and non-value added workload, etc.
As a management analyst, I see it all the time, esp. in the military. I conducted a management advisory study one time in which I identified about 40 percent of the workload during my operational audit as assumed workload and non-value added to the organization and to their customers. The organization were in 12-hour shifts for over two years and they never caught up on their backlog. They have been doing it for many years but no one can prove or know why they were doing it to begin with. It took an outsider to help them realize part of their problem. They were both the problem and the solution.
Sometimes (if not all the times) organizational culture is hard to break. For instance, a lot of people and organization are stuck in the adage "if it's not broken, don't fix it". This is where the Japanese have a slight edge on us - they were into quality such as the Kaizen. Kaizen means "improvement". Kaizen strategy calls for never-ending efforts for improvement involving everyone in the organization - managers and workers alike. Remember when the Sony walkman first came out. The Japanese have added improvements every year to this date. BTW, this movement was not pioneered by the Japanese, we did - people like Deming.
I like change management as long as it is for the good of an organization. Resistance to change is bad enough, changing just for the sake of change is unhealthy to an organization.
Just my 2-pence for your thoughts. [}:)]0 -
As a Management Analyst you must
know that nobody, absolutely
nobody in the Professional field
works just an 8 hour shift.
Unless of course you get paid by
the tax payer!0 -
quote:Originally posted by rong
As a Management Analyst you must
know that nobody, absolutely
nobody in the Professional field
works just an 8 hour shift.
Unless of course you get paid by
the tax payer!
Not true at all! My wife works for a very successful financial service company and they highly discourage any overtime. For instance, if for whatever reason, she worked an extra half an hour one day, she is expected to work half an hour less the following day.0 -
All the manangement in my company is excellent. From the owners down to my person supervisor. They let us do what we want just as long as we get the work out. The company is a world wide company yet the owners still call me by name and ask how I'm doing when passing each other in the hall and ask me how the wife and kids are. I'll be retiring with this company if at all able to. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by select-fire
Being a Manager sucks. You are the in between of the main boss and the workers. I am no referee. 12 hours work days suck also. Anyone knows after 8 hours production fall off.
I will agree to disagree, it depends on what you are doing.
I ran a steel erection crew for nearly 10yrs. And we got more done in 4-10hr days than we did in 5-8hr days. less time spent tearing down and setting up for each day. for ex.
2hrs setup/teardown, 6 hrs wrk = 10hrs S/T & 30hrs wrk. per 40hr wk.
2hrs S/T, 8hrs wrk = 8 hrs s/t,32hrs wrk. per wk
Plus we got an exstra day off +++ big moral booster.0 -
quote:Originally posted by FEENIX
I like change management as long as it is for the good of an organization. Resistance to change is bad enough, changing just for the sake of change is unhealthy to an organization.
Just my 2-pence for your thoughts. [}:)]
I hate the morons that have a bad idea. Everyone is against it, but the guy starts throwing the "you hate change" bomb. NO. It's a bad idea that doesn't affect you so much and I'll be the one blamed for your idea not succeeding. ADM middle mgmt ar the corp. had a bad habit of making decisions for the facility when the lower mrmt wanted to discuss a problem. Often times the best decision would have been to do nothing and watch the problem a little longer and discuss it further, but their knee jerk reaction was to do something now.0 -
quote:Originally posted by zipperzap
I work from home, at the moment, and wouldn't want to do it any other way!
[:D]
Same here. Since I sit at the computer all day anyway, I
wouldn't mind doing something else.. working from home, that paid a
little better also.[:)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Captplaid
quote:Originally posted by FEENIX
I like change management as long as it is for the good of an organization. Resistance to change is bad enough, changing just for the sake of change is unhealthy to an organization.
Just my 2-pence for your thoughts. [}:)]
I hate the morons that have a bad idea. Everyone is against it, but the guy starts throwing the "you hate change" bomb. NO. It's a bad idea that doesn't affect you so much and I'll be the one blamed for your idea not succeeding. ADM middle mgmt ar the corp. had a bad habit of making decisions for the facility when the lower mrmt wanted to discuss a problem. Often times the best decision would have been to do nothing and watch the problem a little longer and discuss it further, but their knee jerk reaction was to do something now.
You're absolutely right! Arbitrary decisions and blame game sucks, management at all levels should formulate a decision for a win-win situation for all.0 -
Feenix, I wish our management
had the same attitude as where your wife works. We
have to put in extra hours as "casual
overtime" which means not comp time nor
paid over time, but we're told
in not so many words that we're
lucky to have a job.Six more years
and I'm retired, poor but retired.0 -
rong, in the same subtule langauge let them know how badly you could sue them for that.
complete BS0 -
quote:Originally posted by rong
Feenix, I wish our management
had the same attitude as where your wife works. We
have to put in extra hours as "casual
overtime" which means not comp time nor
paid over time, but we're told
in not so many words that we're
lucky to have a job.Six more years
and I'm retired, poor but retired.
Their CEO is pretty down to earth, he knows every employees on first name basis, and tries to know about their families. He always make it a point to spend time with each employees at least twice a year, i.e., anniversary date, birthday luncheon, annual Xmas banquet and picnic.
Hope things gets better at your work. Good luck!0
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