Poll of the Day > Anyone else hate when their company hires people straight to manager?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel like every good boss I had started at the bottom and worked their way up within the company, also it seems like people hired straight into management has little to no idea how the jobs of the people they manage actually work so regularly make stupid ass decisions.

yeah, I agree

VampireCoyote posted...

yeah, I agree

Didn't you never work and lived off your spouse? What would you know?

i haven't had a job long enough to get any experience in this manner, but; Why would a labourer make a good manager?

Not really, no. My current manager was hired from outside the company and is 4 years younger then me. Conversely, his boss worked his way up from junior developer to his current position over the last 25 years. I think both of them deserve their positions about the same.

I care more about if you can do your job rather than how you got it.

Yep, I've had many over the years
They dont know how to talk to their teams and often ask the vets for advice

I actually started around the same time as a guy who worked his way up, he knew what it was like several years ago compared to today, knew how to utilize his team, what was expected from us, gave tips and tricks and even jumped in to help (as sometimes show off because he knew what to do and how to do it quickly)

Still a mystery to me, we dont have as many people looking to advance as we used to, but there are still a handful of dedicated workers over looked for higher roles.. even if its up to them to look for opportunities, it wouldnt kill management to at least ask

Muscles posted...

I feel like every good boss I had started at the bottom and worked their way up within the company

If they've worked in a similar company in a management position, then they may very well be far more qualified at management in general than anyone below them in the hierarchy. At which point all they really need to do is learn the specifics of the corporate culture of the specific company they're now in.

You also need to consider things like the Peter Principle - ie, just because someone is good at a low-level jobs in the company, it doesn't mean they'll be remotely competent in a management position regardless of their experience. Because management roles in general are often qualitatively different from the direct tasks they oversee.

I'd be willing to agree that in some cases people who are promoted up the ladder may be more effective than people brought in laterally from outside, but I'd never accept it as a universal rule. Because there are plenty of scenarios where the opposite would be true.



Muscles posted...

it seems like people hired straight into management has little to no idea how the jobs of the people they manage actually work so regularly make stupid ass decisions.

Unless you work your way through every single job in the company in order, there's a good chance that people promoted upward from underneath might not have any idea what the people under them are doing either. The higher the manager and the more people they have under them, the more likely it becomes that they'll have never directly interacted with a number of those positions in their own roles.

As for stupid decisions, pretty much anyone is capable of making them, for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes it's because they're pressured into making bad decisions by people above them in the chain. Sometimes they're aware of circumstances that the people below them aren't, so their decisions can seem worse than they actually are. And so on. And a lot of those reasons will apply regardless of whether or not the person was promoted into management from below or from outside.

No?
That's like... expected?

CinderLock posted...

Didn't you never work and lived off your spouse? What would you know?

@cinderlock

I know many things and have worked for the majority of my adult life

so jot that down in your damn diary

VampireCoyote posted...

@cinderlock

I know many things and have worked for the majority of my adult life

so jot that down in your damn diary

yeah what a thing to assume. Get a life mate

PO touched on my thoughts for the most part. We've got people in supervisory positions that worked their way up from laborer positions. They were great in the field and understand how to get that work done, but have absolutely no skills in management and don't seem to fully understand what job they're supposed to be accomplishing on a daily basis. This has led to them either micromanaging or spending time coming up with ideas and implementing them while ignoring the input of other people who work under them. Generally these ideas are quickly scrapped and they go back to coming up with more shit ideas.

hockey7318 posted...

PO touched on my thoughts for the most part. We've got people in supervisory positions that worked their way up from laborer positions. They were great in the field and understand how to get that work done, but have absolutely no skills in management and don't seem to fully understand what job they're supposed to be accomplishing on a daily basis. This has led to them either micromanaging or spending time coming up with ideas and implementing them while ignoring the input of other people who work under them. Generally these ideas are quickly scrapped and they go back to coming up with more shit ideas.

the Michael Scott archetype

I guess, just less loveable and he at least would come through in a pinch. In our case it's generally the staff that will come through and get shit done despite the fuck ups from management.

JixHedgehog posted...

Still a mystery to me, we dont have as many people looking to advance as we used to

It's because most people see the BS their boss goes through and don't want that. My current and my boss from my last job was expected to have access at pretty much all times for anything to come up. Some of us don't want to be leashed to their computer their whole life.

I personally have been trying to transition to a "engineering lead" style position for a few years now. I seem to be good at it, just haven't gotten that recognition yet and don't want to necessarily reduce my development workload.

No, I don't care because I don't want to be a manager so it doesn't affect me at all.

I've had this.
Do you know what causes it?

You. You forgot to apply for the job and expected it to be handed to you.

SinisterSlay posted...

I've had this.
Do you know what causes it?

You. You forgot to apply for the job and expected it to be handed to you.

This, there is a guy at my job that wants the lead position of his department but doesn't feel he should apply for it.

Handing things to people that dont expect them could cause injury in the workplace.

hypnox posted...

This, there is a guy at my job that wants the lead position of his department but doesn't feel he should apply for it.

That happens so damn often. People think way too hard about job requirements and eliminate themselves.
If you see someone doing this. Remind them it's the recruiters job to reject your application. Not yours. Apply for the job. The worst outcome is exactly the same as not applying at all.

As for companies with several layers to get through. Usually the generic HR person that does the resume key word search. To fix that. Apply for the job, then tell the person leading the team doing the hiring that you have applied. If they like you, they might request your application from HR and move you through into the second stage. Example would be like a senior software developer wanted to be manager. You don't have management training but if you already have business knowledge, it can be way better to send you for management training rather than trying to get a new person caught up. And it improves moral for everyone under you that can get bumped up. Win win for everyone. It'll be seriously considered if you apply.

SinisterSlay posted...

I've had this.
Do you know what causes it?

You. You forgot to apply for the job and expected it to be handed to you.

Ohh I don't want to be a manager, I'm just sick of them moving all the good managers away to fix other locations and leave us with a bunch of people that have no idea how this company works as managers. I swear we went from a bunch of great managers to the 3 stooges and it really annoys me because they act like they know my job better than me then do dumbass shit that I have to fix.