I have my MBA, and when I hear about bad managers or think about the trash ones I've had in the past, I get frustrated because everything you need to know about people in the workplace can be found in an organizational behavior book. I compare them to bad parents, because there are thousands and thousands of parenting books, yet so many parents just suck at raising children, it's embarrassing and inexcusable on both counts.
Here, it's Amazon Prime day. All you great employees go share this with your trash managers:
Essentials of Organizational Behavior (no link because my post will get removed).
Most managers think that people are motivated by money alone, which is very dumb. It's important yes, but maybe 25% of the full picture. Just think about a time when a manger overworked you, or asked you to do something outside of your skills, or took schedule flexibility away, or said something mean to you. What's their reason?
“Well I pay you, don't I?”
That's what these dumb dinosaur ass boomer motherfuckers have rattling in their distorted disrespectful brains. I pay you, so you do what I want. It's a tale we see over and over on this subreddit.
That's not what people want in a job.
They want fulfillment, a sense of belonging, time for creativity, time off, the ability to try new things, the ability to challenge the status quo, and to have their input MEAN SOMETHING.
Now the basis for this very subreddit is that employers try to convince their employees that the things I just mentioned are negotiable. They are not.
Just because you work at McDonald's or on an assembly line, doesn't mean you get to surrender these needs. These are basic needs that CAN be appreciated by every employer, but many just choose not to appreciate them for financial gain. This is the crux of the problem.
The sharing of ideas is especially important. How many jobs have you had where you have an idea for a change that could improve your job or even impact the entire organization, but you either don't say anything out of assurance that no one will care, or even worse, you say something, the managers pretend to listen, and then they don't act on it.
The last one is a widespread problem that a huge amount of managers do, even some of the “good” ones. This is the classic “we'll look into it,” line.
There's a few reasons this type of managing is so toxic and every manager who does it is fucking clueless. Management is ALL about trust. It's not about bossing people around. It's not about facilitating tasks, and it's not about keeping the organization productive. Throw that trash out the window. It is mentorship. A relationship of trust between a person and their team. A good manager listens to their employees and fights for their good ideas. They are cheerleaders. They are approachable. And when they say they will do something, they do it.
Because what happens when you say something and don't follow through, is that no one trusts you. Managers think their employees are legit children and won't notice when they sweep stuff under the rug and forget it… No…we are adults… We recognize everything you are doing.
This creates attrition, which is an entire branch of success strategies for business. Good companies conduct attrition reports based on employee engagement surveys and turnover rates. This means that if your dumb manager really wanted to, they could stop asking, “WhY iZ eVeRyOnE lEaViNg?” And actually figure it out on their own with data.
The last point is about productivity, which is the simplest thing that almost everyone gets wrong because they have little stupid monkey brains. So just consider this question before reading on.
What makes a person productive?
A bad manager will tell you that it's getting as much work done in as little time possible…bruh.
That's the opposite of the way it is.
Productivity is about comfortability and creative freedom. You need to have the space and time to be productive, and you need to have the tools to be productive. We are most creative when we have the time and space to dedicate to our work.
Take 2 different employees.
One of them works five days a week, and they have 4 ongoing projects that they are doing simultaneously. All of them are due by this Friday. They scramble from task to task, trying to get everything together on time and miss the deadline. None of the projects get finished.
The second employee works four days a week. They have four projects, but they are given the independence to organize them. So they do the most Important project on Monday, then a second one on Tuesday. They don't finish the second project on Tuesday, buts it's ok, they can do that tomorrow and then work on project 3 on Wed. That project goes into Thursday, and then they start the last one, but don't finish it. They have a 3 day weekend to relax and spend time with family. They come in Monday and finish project four.
Who was more productive? Better yet which of the two employees had a better sense of trust with their managers? Pretty simple stuff, and yet so many managers just don't get it.
So yeah this is just a few of my frustrations with managers. I'll find some other subreddit for the parents next, cause y'all trippin too.
P.S. If you get employee feedback surveys, DO THEM.
TL;DR Theres some basic organizational behavior info that bad managers could utilize if they just read a damn book. Hell, just google the shit, you lazy boomers.