Need some advice - Unpopular Manager

GLC · July 2003

We have a sr. level manager who have several program directors who report to him. I am constantly getting complaints in HR about him regarding his lack of communication, the tone in which he speaks to people, showing little appreciation for his staff. His staff constantly say they do not know what he wants. The list could go on and on. His boss is my boss and I have tried to tell my boss what I am hearing but he cannot really tell him specifics without him knowing that his staff have complained about him. If he finds out that his program directors have complained about him, they will be on his hate list for life. Worklife would be miserable for them. Any suggestions on how to get this sr level mgr to realize that he is a lousy manager, which I agree with as well, without exposing any names?

Pork · July 2003

GLC: Your posting reads like there must be a boss, the CEO, COO, or someone in the chain of authority to whom you should be able to speak. In HR we have a duty and responsibility to make sure there is action taken at some level. If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it probably is a duck, it fits in this case! If you are the HR then seek out your boss with the specifics. It is this type of manager/supervisor that gets away with all sorts of "poor leadership antics" because he is probably not a leader at all and he has made it to the level of Sr. level manager for the wrong reasons, most likely good numbers, so let's put him in charge of these people. It maybe time to admit to a Peter's Principle example and either shore him up with more people who can tolerate his behavior, or call a spade and spade and take him out. As the HR if you have received complaints and you do nothing then the company is neglecting a responsibility and when someone gets badly hurt the company can suffer dearly and you personally good be held accountable for your lack of action. Have a whisleblower meeting with your boss! Good Luck, hope this helps. Pork

PS I have been there and my boss had a direct discussion with the manager; his vulgarity and mean talk with his managers has changed for the better, at aleast, I took action and now the General Manager and the President are both aware of the complaints. Should anything happen at least the HR Department has taken care of the concerns for now.

GLC · July 2003

I have talked to the CEO before but he does very little because he does not wnt this sr mgr. to know his directors have complained about him. The problems is his directors have told me in confidence and they do not want me to say anything because of fear of retaliation from him. I told the CEO in confidence and the on the promise, that he would not reveal any names. I feel stuck in the middle?

hrbanker · July 2003

Do you have a board of directors or someone with ultimate authority for the top management? We had a similar situation with a very nasty Exec VP. The CEO didn't want to handle the problem. The creep was nasty, intimidating, and kept everyone on the edge. Turns out he was also handling some business operations in a marginal manner. He was able to get away with a lot because everyone was afraid to cross him. ...End result, my retirement plan went from six figures to four. (Expect to see me on the forum for y-e-a-r-s to come!)

mwild31 · July 2003

First, don't be stuck in the middle. If the employees complaining don't want to reveal their names or speak directly with the person they are having the problems with, then chalk it up to a 'vent session' on the part of the complaining employees. When they meet with you again, let them know that without them revealing their names or confronting the poor manager, they aren't helping the situation and there's very little you can do. If HR runs behind the scenes every time employees come in to complain about their managers - HR loses it's credibility. Nobody likes policies, procedures or disciplinary actions taken against them in a covert manner. You may want to ask the complaining employees if they would rather know directly or indirectly (covert) if they are not performing well at their job. My guess is 100% would say directly.

rad · July 2003

I agree...if they are not giving you specifics there's not too much you can do. But if you do get specifics, treat it just as you would any other performance problem...get the supervisor's perspective, let him know his behavior is not appropriate and provide coaching. If no one has complained he may not realize he is doing anything wrong, most people who treat others badly don't.

Shawn · July 2003

I agree with the last 2 posts. Don't go to the boss with employee complaints and ask him not to reveal names to the alleged bad manager. It makes you look like you are handling the situation like a gossip. Tell the complaining employees it is fine to vent, but at the end of the meeting it is time to put their complaints in writing or go back to work.

How would you feel if the boss brought you in and said a number of anonymous employees have complained about your interpersonal skills, but I'm not prepared to share names or the circusmatnces as they do not want to be revealed out of fear of retaliation? How can you fix something if you don't know exactly what people are talking about?

mbeam · July 2003

What you may want to mention in the meeting with those stating their concerns to you is that retaliation is not tolerated.

Have they talked to their manager about their concerns? If they have and nothing has been done about it, the time has come to chat with the manager directly. I would indicate to that manager that team members are concerned about his reaction and that you trust it will be handled in a professional manner. You may also indicate that retaliatory behavior which includes cold shoulder, etc. is unacceptable. You will then want to follow-up with both the manager and his direct reports to see how things went.

The other area where you can help is to do a trial run of the meeting with his direct reports to allow them to get more comfortable with confronting him and gain confidence in doing so.

Paul in Cannon Beach · July 2003

You are stuck in the middle. Welcome to HR!

On one hand, if you do nothing to stop this knucklehead, the employees will see you (HR) as ineffective - all talk, no action.

On the other hand, you can't go into battle alone. If you can rally support, identify specific behavior that needs to change, and guarantee intimidation and retaliation won't be tolerated, then I vote that you sound the battle cry.

What's the point of being in HR if we can't scrap a little and take on bad guys every now and then? Get your ducks in a row and march em into battle.

Paul in Cannon Beach

deniseE · July 2003

Maybe you can take the path of least resistance...we've sent some of our managers to "how to be a manager" seminars. SkillPath offers a few good ones. While this does not lead to any great epiphany on the Manager's part-it has helped. And if the problem continues, you have a point of referral to build upon.

Need some advice - Unpopular Manager

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