Help, I need some human relations at work advice- thanks

[Mountainman]

I am new at this company. I report to the owner. The middle managers report to me.

What follows is from observations and my opinion on them.

The owner and one of the managers are conservative ideologues. They treat the accounting office staff as if they were on a lower social scale. We have a sort of caste system here.

The manager is a control freak. Today she had the internet taken off the staff's computers because she said they don't need it. The staff are stressed and will probably reach a point were they will individually walk out and look for another job. One did that last month.

It's the manager's way of managing them that stresses them out. The owner supports her. He comes from a ethic background that sees a good in treating people that way. He is wealthy and very conservative.

On edit, The manager and the owner have been personal friends for may years.


I am a believer in and try to practice Stephen Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people. One of the habits is "seek first to understand ..... then to be understood. Another is to "think win/win." Another is to synergize, meaning the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts or working together for a goal is better than to work individually toward the goal or something similar to that.
The way the manager and the owner run things is contrary to the 7 habits I think.

I would like the owner and the manger to change and be more like Stephen Covey's way of doing things because I would like to train and keep valuable employees.

Now the obvious thing to do is to go to the owner and manager and try to explain my thinking and try to get them to change. But being Conservative ideologues they see things through a different paradigm than I do. They see nothing wrong in the way things are. Until they change their paradigm they won't accept what I am saying.

From a human relations stand point what do you suggest I do?

Thanks.

[Dookus]

1. look for a new job

I learned a long time ago that a company reflects the values of the CEO/Owner. If he's a conservative prick, that will be reflected throughout the company, and there's fuck all you can do about it. Sorry.

[kodi]

13. yeap, that first sip tells how the rest of the bottle will taste

sunk costs are sunk.

move on.

[rocktivity]

2. Does the "control freak" manager report to you?

Or is she your peer? That is, does she also report to the owner or to you?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Mountainman]

5. She reports to me

[rocktivity]

7. Then restore the Internet access AT ONCE...

call her on the carpet, and BARBECUE HER @SS!!! Ask her why she didn't clear her decision with you since it affected the entire staff (not just the people who report directly to her), and tell her she's history if she does it again. Internet access is a useful productivity tool, especially if your company has a Web site. Tell her if she was so concerned about staff abuse, she should have submitted a formal report to you and included alternative solutions such as the tracking software GainesT mentions.

Since you're new, it's especially important that you pre-emptively strike this assault upon your authority. Make sure ALL your subordinates know that dealing with the owner when they should be dealing with you WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. And if the owner doesn't back you (presumably he hired you because he is now too busy to handle such matters), then you'll have to take a hike yourself. Pull your nose out of that book and get a little more hard-nosed about commanding respect and authority, and about doling out pleasure and pain--THAT'S how you create "highly effective" people!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Bertha Venation]

12. Rocknation's right.

Since that person reports to you, haven't you the authority to override her decision? Restore access.

[tkulesa]

3. Lots of luck

You were hired to make their system run smoothly, not yours. That may not have been explicit in the job description from from experience working directly for small business owners I can say this with some certainty.

If you try to change them this will turn into a power struggle and there just isn't any way you can win.

You can find ways to act as a buffer, smoothing off the sharper edges through your own efforts, but your chances of changing your boss and the manager are slim to nothing.

[GainesT1958]

4. In that system, are you "over" the "manager"?

If so, suggest to her that she retore internet access, and use "tracking" software (though personally I HATE that stuff!) if that makes her feel better about "accountability". Justify it to the owner by stating that giving employees access to websites that may help them do their jobs better is just plain good business, and will improve employees' self-esteem at the same time;

Mention that hard work is good, but hard work coupled with RESPECT is even better as it leads to more and BETTER PRODUCTIVITY EVERY TIME (i.e. the old "work smarter not harder" thing). Not to mention less turnover and so a smarter workforce through retention of the best and brightest workers;

Tie raises to "merit" (i.e. sales or productivity increases) if the haven't been before. Restores fairness;

Think about the above if you feel comfortable with--and are in a position to--suggesting them!

B-)

[Az]

6. Not sure there is a solution unless

you can convey the efficacy of motivated people over the efficiency of distracted people. You are dealing with disconnected social darwinism here. They have become disconnected from the people that make them money and only see them as tools to enrich themself further.

For the owner there is no logical reason to extend them any consideration. In the current market jobs are hard to come by so moral as a consideration becomes less critical. So it is completely feasible to crank up efficiency by taking it out of the people in the form of stress.

[mkultra]

8. The real question is

What is your role? I realize that you are close to the owner and that they report to you, but do you also have authority over them. If so, I would still try to lead by example. I would be inappropriate for you to micro manage your direct reports. They where hired to manage and they should be allowed to.

It might be best to do some research on turnover costs as they relate to training and error expenses. If these costs can be identified and shown to be linked to poor moral, you can try and convince your owner to improve moral by providing the staff with benifits that equal half to a quarter the overall expense related to low moral.

You could also suggest some management training.

Most of all, i would be direct with the owner. Explain what you see in the kindest terms while explaining how it differs from your technique. Be ready to let things be and comply with the owners wishes if he disagrees though.

[rocktivity]

9. The most "highly effective" senior managers know WHEN

they should step in, when they should stand aside, and when they should back off. Allowing Ms. Control Freak to make a decision which might undermine the running of the entire company--and which DEFINITELY undermines Mountainman's authority--falls into the "step in like a tidal wave" category.

I agree with Mkultra that research into the logistical/financial feasibility of the staff having Internet access should have been done first. And as I've said, it should have been done by Ms. Control Freak and formally presented to Mountainman. Denying the staff the access might make HER feel good. But did she consider what effect it might have on the ability of the OTHER managers (and THEIR direct subordinates) to get the work done? SHE'S the one who needs management training!

If all the middle managers report to Mountainman, then I presume it's part of his job to keep their efforts coordinated into a cohesive whole. What Ms. Control Freak did is the equivalent of a football player deciding to catch passes with a butterfly net, and not bothering to ask his coach what he thinks!

:headbang:
rocknation

[chaska]

10. Mutiny!!!

Go get 'em Fletcher Christian.

[Deja Q]

11. My company is the same way

We'd all love to leave, but it's corporate america. No money = no living.

Corporate america is poison to the human soul and spirit. Anybody who doesn't realize that is incredibly naive.