Read on Twitter
I read through a few threads this morning about what stares as “Contextless requests.”
Like: “hey have a second?” or a calendar invite just appearing on your calendar. I think we can agree that is anxiety-inducing for many, particularly in a pandemic.
Like: “hey have a second?” or a calendar invite just appearing on your calendar. I think we can agree that is anxiety-inducing for many, particularly in a pandemic.
That convo in isolation seems solvable to me:
When we can, providing lead-in context, “hey have a second to [thing you need]” and scheduling meetings with clear agendas and titles.
When we can, providing lead-in context, “hey have a second to [thing you need]” and scheduling meetings with clear agendas and titles.
But I think the things we’re talking around are:
As individuals, how do we job hunt in secret and provide notice without jeopardising ourselves?
As managers, what can we really expect be of employees who leave?
As managers, how do handle a layoff/firing meeting?
As individuals, how do we job hunt in secret and provide notice without jeopardising ourselves? As managers, what can we really expect be of employees who leave? As managers, how do handle a layoff/firing meeting?
I also think that talking about power dynamic is critical.
Yes, an employee has less power than their manager.
But often, the manager is a *middle manager* who is ultimately just executing actions from their * C-suite manager. So they have relative but not absolute power.
Yes, an employee has less power than their manager.
But often, the manager is a *middle manager* who is ultimately just executing actions from their * C-suite manager. So they have relative but not absolute power.
When an employee quits and they inform their manager, that manager is responsible for figuring out how to backfill.
The pressure they feel isn’t from the employee though. It’s from their C-suite manager who is going to expect x, y, z anyway. Because “company metrics!!!!”
The pressure they feel isn’t from the employee though. It’s from their C-suite manager who is going to expect x, y, z anyway. Because “company metrics!!!!”
So something that is entirely under C-suite control becomes an employee-mgr fight. Sound familiar?
Yet again the one who holds the power (C-suite) gets people who have a little controlled power (managers) to feel slighted by the employee rather than by them. This is by design.
Yet again the one who holds the power (C-suite) gets people who have a little controlled power (managers) to feel slighted by the employee rather than by them. This is by design.
So instead of managers and employees working together to shield the impact of C-suite onto everyone, they fight each other.
It’s by design. It’s an anti-union tactic that has worked since forever. Employees see managers as enemy, managers see employees as the enemy.
It’s by design. It’s an anti-union tactic that has worked since forever. Employees see managers as enemy, managers see employees as the enemy.
When I was a manager, many of my employees told me they were thinking of leaving.
We built it in as part of their performance review and 1:1 planning. We worked together to ween them off projects as leads and into backup training-support roles. I felt lucky they trusted me.
We built it in as part of their performance review and 1:1 planning. We worked together to ween them off projects as leads and into backup training-support roles. I felt lucky they trusted me.
Employees don’t owe any of this to the company (to the managers or anyone else).
Managers often peddle some whack company messaging because of their proximity and taste of power. They often exercise that power against workers instead of against those in power.
Managers often peddle some whack company messaging because of their proximity and taste of power. They often exercise that power against workers instead of against those in power.
I think rounding back to my original questions, we struggle to know how to adequately fire and quit because we’ve created no policy infrastructure around it.
If an employee quits and you’re fucked, it’s on the company leadership for not protecting against a COMMON EVENT.
If an employee quits and you’re fucked, it’s on the company leadership for not protecting against a COMMON EVENT.
Managers should also learn how to properly fire people. What about a world where how firings happen was written in the employee guidebook so you all knew what it would look like?
I know it’s unlikely because there’s so much shame and secrecy, but I can dream.
I know it’s unlikely because there’s so much shame and secrecy, but I can dream.
I also think this “courtesy” two weeks thing we have in the U.S. is so weird. In most instances, I found the employee mostly became useless and their head was elsewhere. I wish we’d just let people leave when they were ready.
All this to say, I read threads that naturally deviate to other places, and they reveal what actually is the core issue. To me, the core issues felt two fold, and we weren’t able to parse out the separate convos, so it was a mess.
Thanks for tuning into Worst Tweets Ever.
Thanks for tuning into Worst Tweets Ever.
