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Perhaps its just me but does anyone think that corporate managers just seem to do as they please - Rarely if ever do you see managers getting fired. They seem to just fire staff around them, pass the buck and blame others - nothing is ever their fault, they avoid responsibilities they don't seem to know the specifics of anything and are somewhat untouchable and above everyone else.
If they do perform really badly, and cause some huge problem most likely they will fire someone on their team, or if its not possible to find a scapegoat they will be reprimanded in private and moved quietly with plenty of notice to another role within the company free to cause more disasters and spreading chaos and dysfunction, or they go and get another job through word of mouth from their friends.
In fact many organisations have had the same managers floating around for years, there all friends and look out for each other while firing new people all the time, they have built them a little niche and will cling to power as long as possible, hopefully until retirement.
Compare that to the lowest levels where people gotten rid of for all sorts of picky reasons.
I am not saying these managers are not under pressure, and working hard - they just seem to get protected/supported by the organisation where as employees are seen as expendable resources.
Why do you think bad management is an epidemic in some companies? That's right, because no one takes action. It's a top-down model. The bad managers reflect the poor management over them, so and so forth, snowball...
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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I've not seen this. I've seen people get re-assigned all the time... or they're told they're opportunities for advancement are finite which is effectively being told move on.
1) Connections: Many get into positions of power via who they know, so it is no surprise that those same people will protect their buddies, regardless of poor performance.
2) Confusing aggressive, sociopath behavior with "leadership": Our culture does this all the time. You get some screaming nut running part of a company, and everyone tip-toes around, claiming that he's "a real go-getter" or "he has to act that way because he has a business to run." It's all apologist nonsense since nothing justifies a person denying facts, picking fights, and otherwise being an all around idiot.
3) Disappearing into the woodwork: This is more common in larger companies and with incompetent leaders who are relatively quiet and useless. They just vanish into the background and nobody in charge ever figures out that they are the cause of the problems.
4) Scapegoats: Common at many companies, the more skilled sociopath manager will have a few scapegoats lied up to take the fall for him when he fails.
Based on my experiences, the above reasons explain why terrible management can last for so long at a company, even when the troublemakers are rather obvious to the workers.
1. Managers have just enough authority to either conceal a lot of the mistake they made from their boss, or throw their employees under the bus for their mistakes.
2. Connections. No one wants to fire their son, brother or nephew (their own flesh and blood) short of extreme circumstances.
3. The manager of said manager will have to admit they made a huge mistake in promoting said manager to the position, which also makes the manager of said manager look bad to their own manager.
I've not seen this. I've seen people get re-assigned all the time... or they're told they're opportunities for advancement are finite which is effectively being told move on.
Not getting promoted or re-assigned is not the same thing as getting fired or demoted
It's all about AUTHORITY. Authority must be preserved at all costs.
This is a valid point and should be on the list:
5) Saving face: In modern corporate America, it is better to fail as part of a team than succeed as an individual. Similarly, it is seen as better to allow idiots to remain in power - thus "proving" that the company knows what it is doing - than remove them from power. Besides - even if the idiot screws things up badly, you can always lay-off some of the working class stiffs to balance the books.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742
I've not seen this. I've seen people get re-assigned all the time... or they're told they're opportunities for advancement are finite which is effectively being told move on.
Same here, in fact that's how I got my managerial job, when someone was demoted.
Ive seen some people within middle-upper management positions that have been there for 15-20 years and it just AMAZES me how they were able to last a year much less last decade or more. Real managers that do not understand their job function or the industry in general. You ask them a question or an issue, they can't give you an answer.
Its so sad when you know how many knowledgeable, well educated, hard worker individuals are either out of work or underemployed and these WORTHLESS wastes of space in high paying power positions get to continue on abusing their authorities or walking around like a deer in headlights
Why would you want unprofessional, people that aren't knowledgeable who only real "talent" is butt kissing in those positions. Wouldn't you wan't efficiency, great knowledgeable true Leaders in those positions even if they are a little more hard headed, honest, and not buttkissers but at least give it to your straight instead of just telling you what you want to hear?
You get these useless, clueless waste of space managers with limited knowledge and professionalism that stay on to these positions for YEARS, that should have been either shown the door after a month or better yet, should have never been put in that position anyways.
Well I guess thats why the American Workforce is in the state its in. Im willing to bet 90 percent of those in positions of power in the workforce have no business being in those positions. They aren't qualified, and they managed to attain these positions through no meritocracy at all but either:
1. Nepotism
2. Politics
3. Clique Buddies
etc.
Still. I don't know why the "powers that be" want to endorse an environment like that
Last edited by DorianRo; 06-03-2014 at 08:06 PM..
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