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Thread: Employers, Managers, what irritates you about your employees?

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by kilaj1 View Post
    heres an example...I was put in charge of a department...pretty much by my self since it was a pilot program (test), It involved talking directly with the front line agents and processing projects within 15-20 mins otherwise it would be placed into a queue...the project was going pretty good...soo good that i couldn't keep up with the load..well my system, I could only upload 1 client's data at a time...solution GET ME ANOTHER SYSTEM...simple and by the end of the day I had 2 of the most powerful systems in the company at my desk with 2 22" CRT monitors

    now this same issue happen to someone else on my team...if he even came to me and said give em another PC I would say hmm Ill look into it, its a possible solution...but no instead the person comes to me wining ...literally wining that the system is too slow and they wont be able to meet there target and its unfair and they cant work with this..blah blah blah..
    Sounds like bad management to me.. i dont know the setup of your team or w/e but if the system was too slow for you, chances are its slow for someone else? And chances are they were b1tching long b4 you got your new system with two 22" crt's..
    Sounds sorta selfish if u ask me - employee critique

    Looking back at your post, you weren't meant for the management work..

    Your solution was to get another pc & some big monitors, when u could've bought more pc's for ur staff to help distribute the workload.. SICK!!
    Last edited by Virus; Jan 17, 2008 at 12:49 AM.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Virus View Post
    Sounds like bad management to me.. i dont know the setup of your team or w/e but if the system was too slow for you, chances are its slow for someone else? And chances are they were b1tching long b4 you got your new system with two 22" crt's..
    Sounds sorta selfish if u ask me - employee critique

    Looking back at your post, you weren't meant for the management work..

    Your solution was to get another pc & some big monitors, when u could've bought more pc's for ur staff to help distribute the workload.. SICK!!
    And its that kind of mentality I had to put up with, the "system" was slow for me because I could only process one job at a time per computer AND it had nothing to do with the PC specs it was there main program for uploading images and even with my second computer the it was still slow, everyone else where to only be doing ONE job at a time, I at times had 10-15. The second PC I got was already deployed (from a terminated employee) it wasn't bought...the company wasn't going to buy anymore. These where top of the line dual core systems with 3GB of memory and 256MB grfx cards (i think). Eventually they started using that same second system I had. Selfish? I wasn't the one that authorized it, I made a suggestion and it was approved. There was nothing wrong with the workload that they where getting, before I went into management I did the same lvl of work, and one of the reasons I got the management position was because I was performing above there requirements.

    Every management situation is different, its easy for you to say I should be in management, but, you never worked with the team I had nor have you work with the management I had. But in most cases front line agents will never agree with management...I know ...place i worked was nothing but drama.

    @ Black..
    I get what your saying ...management should be making the decisions BUT...as you said one of the main problems is that employees make a suggestion or states there opinion and management ignores them. What I tried to instill with my team was that I would always listen to there suggestions and comments, and if it makes sense I take it to management, which I have done on many occasions. If it doesn't make sense I don't just sit there and be a hypocrite and talk with them and explain from the companies point of view. And in some cases management would make the decisions and the team wouldn't agree so in this case I would need constructive feedback on why they don't like it...not that its unfair, or it too hard.

    Back at Virus...in that same situation previously posted...this was a general complaint on the team, but i knew that this was more of an excuse because as I said I've worked in the same position and made my goals (pre-management) and even some members on the team where exceeding the goals so there was an underlining problem....Through couching sessions I found out what it was...and it was fairly simple, they weren't aware of how much work they where doing each day...sounds strange but it was the case...the solution was to have the write down how much work they did throughout the day, that simple, and every member on my team improved there overall goals...but the complaints where still there, not directed to me but upper management. this was more about bonus structure and compensation, vacation, the kinda stuff thats out of my control.

    Another problem I had was that I have a dam retarded, idiotic, ***** *** dutty supervisor that always aggravated my team this was my main problem, I would come to a compromise with the team and this idiot would screw it up and get everyone pissed...now that guy shouldn't have been in management.
    Last edited by kilaj1; Jan 16, 2008 at 09:52 AM.
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  3. #13
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    "That's not in my job description." - that statement always annoy me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by slo_phkr View Post
    "That's not in my job description." - that statement always annoy me.
    Why does it annoy you?

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    He wants an "all-rounder".

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    I think the main problem is i dont know what kinda business we talking bout here. Im thinking along the lines of sales/merchandise?? But you talking bout uploading images.. so im not sure

    Quote Originally Posted by kilaj1 View Post
    I could only process one job at a time per computer AND it had nothing to do with the PC specs it was there main program for uploading images
    Point 1 - I guess my first question is, why dont they fix the system? Its obviously slowing down staff & slowly but surely crippling the company.. Where are u uploading these images to? To a site, drive???

    and even with my second computer the it was still slow, everyone else were to only be doing ONE job at a time, I at times had 10-15.
    Point 2 - Everyone else was only to be doing one job at a time, while u at times doing 10-15?!?!?!? So your in "management" and doing the bulk of the work.. more than your staff ??
    The same work???

    These where top of the line dual core systems with 3GB of memory and 256MB grfx cards (i think). Eventually they started using that same second system I had.
    Point 3 - To increase their productivity? If thats the case its conflicting with point 2.

    Selfish? I wasn't the one that authorized it, I made a suggestion and it was approved. There was nothing wrong with the workload that they where getting, before I went into management I did the same lvl of work, and one of the reasons I got the management position was because I was performing above there requirements.
    Point 4 - Key point, gonna elaborate

    Every management situation is different, its easy for you to say I shouldn't be in management, but, you never worked with the team I had nor have you work with the management I had.
    True, i take that comment back then...

    @ Black..
    ...as you said one of the main problems is that employees make a suggestion or states there opinion and management ignores them.
    Point 5 - Look back at point 4 then go to point 6...

    What I tried to instill with my team was that I would always listen to there suggestions and comments, and if it makes sense I take it to management, which I have done on many occasions.
    Point 6 - So basically what ur saying is....
    If i came to you and said "the system doesn't upload images fast enuff, i need another pc.. how bout the one BCK was using.. the one with the 256mb gfx card and 3gb of memory. I need to increase my productivity to your level". Based on ur comments quoted from point 2 & 6.. this wouldnt happen?? I should only be processing ONE job at a time...
    which translates into..
    you who i consider management wouldn't suggest this to top management??? - Sounds like bad management to me
    ( from an outside perspective, ur not cut out for the role)

    What has me even more confused is that your team improved their overall goals, just by keeping a track of how much they've done for the day.. Same ole process... what happened to the uploading program.. it just started to play nice now that ppl logging their productivity??
    Last edited by Virus; Jan 16, 2008 at 10:06 PM.

  7. #17
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    thats a very good break down virus because before reading your last post, i was totally lost...

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    Once again stating that I shouldn't have been in management without even slightly understanding the situation...sound like one of my former employees..

    This company was a online printing company, the team I managed was a group of about 22 graphic designers. There job entails pulling or getting assigned jobs from a queue. There daily goal was 8 project per day. As a graphic designer they would have to create concepts and based on toughs concepts they would eventually narrow it down to a final design. There where two groups of designers, 1 group would (should) use the in house software and some of the Adobe apps to create designs and the other would use Adobe Suite only (they had a gal of 3 projects a day)

    Point 1 That was one of the issues out of my control, For over 1 year there system has been buggy, mainly because it was developed in house. Unfortunately my team was not made a priority in upper managements plans, which added to there aggravation, all systems (software) that needed to be updated for my team was put on the back burner in favor for the front line agents.

    Point 2 If you read what I said, I was put in charge of a new department and was basically on my own as it was a pilot program (testing) so yes I had 10-15 jobs to process at times. Once upper management saw the value of the project (faster turn around times) they expanded my department and I eventually had a team.

    Point 3 They eventually started using that system because I was no longer doing as much projects since I was not the TL so I didn't need it as much. It was one of the few PCs that had Adobe Suite on it.

    Point 3, 4, 6 Refer to points 1-3

    As I was saying the slow system (which was not all the time) was not the main issue, I made the departments goals when I was a graphic designer and other members of the team would make the goals. So as a TL I had to figure out why is it that other members of the team (not even me) can make there goals and the rest cannot. I considered the possibility that its well the system is slow...fine, are you saying I should just take that as face value and say yes its true and don't worry about your goal for this week since the system was slow. No, I constantly monitored the systems for this type of issue so that I can report it to management. because in the end there lack of productivity affected me as well.

    Quote Originally Posted by Virus View Post

    Point 6 - So basically what ur saying is....
    If i came to you and said "the system doesn't upload images fast enuff, i need another pc.. how bout the one BCK was using.. the one with the 256mb gfx card and 3gb of memory. I need to increase my productivity to your level". Based on ur comments quoted from point 2 & 6.. this wouldnt happen?? I should only be processing ONE job at a time...
    which translates into..
    you who i consider management wouldn't suggest this to top management??? - Sounds like bad management to me
    ( from an outside perspective, ur not cut out for the role)

    What has me even more confused is that your team improved their overall goals, just by keeping a track of how much they've done for the day.. Same ole process... what happened to the uploading program.. it just started to play nice now that ppl logging their productivity??
    And thats the problem right there, you think that the lvl I was at is on par with upper management (General manager, ect) its not, by far its not. In this company they have different lvls of management. Lowest lvl would be Team Lead> Supervisor> Managers. I don't know what kind of management structure your use to or if you have even bin in management, but thats how this companies structure was. If you where to bring a suggestion like getting a second PC (which no one suggested by the way because they knew it wouldn't help) I know that upper management would not approve it, why, because they are only to be working on 1 project at a time. When i was processing multiple jobs it was on a much shorter time frame, 15-20 mins, they had 3 days to work on there jobs. Would I consider your suggestion, yes, would I take it to upper management no, and I would tell you why I wouldn't. I worked for the company long enough to know how upper management would respond

    Quote Originally Posted by Virus View Post
    What has me even more confused is that your team improved their overall goals, just by keeping a track of how much they've done for the day.. Same ole process... what happened to the uploading program.. it just started to play nice now that ppl logging their productivity??
    Why is that confusing? as I stated before there was an underlining problem apart from the system slowness. Heres how that suggestion came about and why it worked. In my couching sessions the first thing I ask them is how do they think they did for the previous week and they would usually say they did great (the reporting tools where not always accurate refer to point 1), when I check the detailed stats they averaged less than 3 projects a day, this right away is a red flag for upper management. and members on my team would always say that the reports where wrong (the one that they use was at time inaccurate because of the refresh intervals). They would say they know they did more jobs than that. so I asked them how do you know....they couldn't give me a good answer so i told them, just write down how much you do on a daily basis. Turns out most of the persons who where performing bellow average where spending too much time on 1 particular project which they realized through recording there daily stats. Another benefit of writing there own stats was that they could see how much they needed to do to make the average. So yeah that did help the overall team.

    So tell me something Virus, what would you do in a case like that? If your team member are all complaining that the system is slow would you just ask for another PC? or just cus management to get the software fixed? is that the only thing you would consider? from your post it looks like thats what you would do...and imo thats not good management and the company I worked for wouldn't keep you around for long if thats all you had to offer as a reason for the department not meeting there goal(Not an insult just a fact, I've seen them fire TL and other MANAGERS for less)...mind u my department goal was at times over 100K US and it wasn't even up to the designers to make the sale.
    Last edited by kilaj1; Jan 17, 2008 at 11:16 AM.
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  9. #19
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    My company has the same basic structure & no i havent been in mgmt.. anyhow

    Your responses:
    Point 1 - dismissed
    Point 2 - "fast system but system still slow" - dismissed needs some priority
    Point 3 - @ first glance can be dismissed *
    Point 4 & 5 - dismissed

    Point 6:
    Quote Originally Posted by kilaj1
    If you where to bring a suggestion like getting a second PC (which no one suggested by the way because they knew it wouldn't help) I know that upper management would not approve it, why, because they are only to be working on 1 project at a time.
    Quote Originally Posted by kilaj1
    I would always listen to there suggestions and comments, and if it makes sense I take it to management, which I have done on many occasions. If it doesn't make sense I don't just sit there and be a hypocrite and talk with them and explain from the companies point of view.
    ?? Conflict.
    Ok, lets say im fairly efficient at what i do and i "want" a second pc to try and improve my performance.. would u suggest it to management and or pressure them into getting it..? I now know ur not on par with top mgmt.. but would u pressure them even though u already know their answer..?
    Edit: see answer below

    Would I consider your suggestion, yes.
    you would, maybe bcuz u know the runnings..
    would I take it to upper management no, and I would tell you why I wouldn't. I worked for the company long enough to know how upper management would respond
    FUD, *fear of top mgmt maybe..

    Quote Originally Posted by Virus
    What has me even more confused is that your team improved their overall goals, just by keeping a track of how much they've done for the day..
    *Employees spending too long on a project

    Quote Originally Posted by kilaj1
    So tell me something Virus, what would you do in a case like that? If your team member are all complaining that the system is slow would you just ask for another PC? or just cus management to get the software fixed?
    Yes & Yes.. would i walk into mgmt office and start cuss claat and bumbo.. no, but we know that the in-house system has bugs.. why shouldnt they fix it?
    As for the b1tching team member, im not sure which system he/she talking about. The in-house system slow; and my department is now priority.. talk to mgmt bout fixing the real problem. If its pc related and he/she thinks the second pc would make them work faster, yes i'ld give it to them
    If things dont improve, there is an easy way to get it done.. the incentive program. Your dept is priority now, they can afford to do it. Build your case and submit to the relevant ppl.. but seeing that u not ranked high in the organization thats fruitless.. and u & ur supe dont seem to see eye to eye.

    The sad reality is that ur company going down if u dont get what u need.
    Same thing happening @ my company, we battling with a system that goes down quite often.. been building our case for years.. some action taken, but the main problem of the system downtime
    I have my "crackpot theories" but i keep them to myself.
    Last edited by Virus; Jan 17, 2008 at 12:02 PM.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Virus View Post
    Point 6:
    ?? Conflict.
    Ok, lets say im fairly efficient at what i do and i "want" a second pc to try and improve my performance.. would u suggest it to management and or pressure them into getting it..? I now know ur not on par with top mgmt.. but would u pressure them even though u already know their answer..?
    I get what you saying here but here the thing...if you where efficient in what u do, meaning meeting your goals, on one PC there would be no need for you to get a second PC...in this company

    This is talking from how I know my team thinks...once them hit them goal thats it...they don't usually go out of them way to exceed what they bin told to do, why, and Ill quote one of them "they don't have to" company says they need to do 8 projects a day, thats all they do, unless we talking about there incentive, now thats when they do the extra work, but again once they hit there goal thats it. And I cant exactly argue with them nor would I. This comes back to the "not in my Job description comment)...but aside from all that absolutely no one on my team has ever requested a new PC to help improve there performance because it was never an issue with the PCs, but the in house software.

    Fear of upper management was not my problem, I actually preferred upper management to the supervisor i reported to. As I stated before, the my team was put on the back burner for over a year I personally brought reports up on reports on why my team CANT perform at the levels they want, but they put front line agents above them, even to this day. And also, what 3 years later, countless employees have left the the company and the department I managed still doesn't have there reporting tool fixed. Here is exactly what upper management would say if I brought things like more computers, overtime to complete projects ect...they would say "why is person X meeting and exceeding his goals but this person needs an extra computer or Overtime to complete his?" and that has happened when I had my meetings.

    If you go to upper management every time with the same sob story about slow systems and no alternatives or workarounds, or anything, what use are you to them? they could just listen to the members of the department for that. Me and my supervisor didn't see eye to eye because his idea of management was to give out warnings left right and center, calls couching sessions verbal warnings, and compares racism to a job promotion.

    Funny thing is that company is doing well, the department I managed say they have been improvements since the same supervisor was changed. My yout Management is not a job for the faint at heart...anyone in management is usually hated by front line employees. Why...because they have to enforce the companies policies...and sometimes...most times people don't agree to it, but they don't understand whats going on behind the scenes.

    Quote Originally Posted by Virus View Post
    but seeing that u not ranked high in the organization thats fruitless.. and u & ur supe dont seem to see eye to eye.
    the bigger problems started when the sup came on board before that I talked directly to the managers which was perfect. And I could bounce my teams Ideas off him much easier than going through my sup...because it eventually became Chinese telephone...and i knew anything I brought to him would get lost in translation to the manager.

    And just a little more insite on the systems in use...they had 2 T1 lines, using Data and Voice, at certain times of the year they would get an excess of 10K calls a day...they eventually got another T1 line to help spread the bandwitdh
    Last edited by kilaj1; Jan 17, 2008 at 01:35 PM.
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