I supervise about 50 people. I try to do right by them, but sometimes I get screwed by my management/structure, too. I have a couple workers who have stories worthy of ending up on here:
I'm now on my second worker who I'm going to have to terminate on the spot for not having done their renewal paperwork in a timely manner. In the first case, my predecessor (idiot) forgot to send it to them and it was too late. Now, though, I've sent MULTIPLE requests to HR on this one's behalf so that we could complete the requisite forms. I've communicated with the worker, too, and she's heard crickets from them when she's reached out directly. I'm advocating on her behalf, but because of HR's negligence, now I have to terminate. It's a policy thing, and I can't do anything about it but complain (and if I complain too much — like I did with the first worker's case, I get in trouble).
The employee in question is a sweet, solid worker. She's late on her timesheets, which is going to make me lose my case, but we have an easy system to solve that and it shouldn't be what makes or breaks the issue. I look like an incompetent manager to the rest of my employees, and I feel like my hands are tied.
Just a rant from management that tries not to be horrible…