Why your boss is incompetent
newscientist.com
Why your boss is incompetent
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Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#2They've shown that random selection is good when there's zero correlation between performance at level N and level N+1.
Personally, I'm more interested in what happens if the correlation is non-zero, and performance at level N+1 has more impact than performance at level N? How does the best promotion strategy change as the level of correlation and impact of being higher up the ladder changes?
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#3This reminds me of First, Break All The Rules (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684852861?ie=UTF8&tag=... to get the book). They point out that many promotions require different skills, and that sometimes works badly. This is particularly true when people are promoted to manager.
To avoid this problem they recommend giving people promotion possibilities within job roles AND requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest about whether they are seeking the job because they think they would be good at it, or because they want a raise. (A manager who is good would likely make up the pay cut with interest over time.)
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#4I worked at a major US firm who had a rotation system for managers, becuase of course someone who manages HR will have no problems managing IT. This might have worked, if the management involved didn't feel the need to enfore their position by making important IT decisions, to which they new nothing about.
Instead of rotation to deal with underperforming people, I suggest firing them. I have worked with good people, and bad people. The bad made it hard for everybody at a company, I still don't understand why they were still employed there.
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#5"The longer a person stays at a particular level in an organisation, the more most measures of their performance fall - including subjective evaluations and the frequency and size of pay rises and bonuses. It is a finding entirely consistent with the idea that people eventually become bogged down by their own incompetence."
That's a conflation of cause and effect if ever I've seen one. It's also entirely consistent with the fact that people who don't get promoted (the majority, given the pyramidal structure) are stuck and get fed up with their jobs as they aren't challenged any longer.
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#6This reminds me of First, Break All The Rules (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684852861?ie=UTF8&tag=... to get the book). They point out that many promotions require different skills, and that sometimes works badly. This is particularly true when people are promoted to manager. To avoid this problem they recommend giving people promotion possibilities within job roles AND requiring that moving into management…
> requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest
What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#7This reminds me of First, Break All The Rules (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684852861?ie=UTF8&tag=... to get the book). They point out that many promotions require different skills, and that sometimes works badly. This is particularly true when people are promoted to manager. To avoid this problem they recommend giving people promotion possibilities within job roles AND requiring that moving into management…
> requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
If you can't find a way to deal with a pay cut, you're probably not cut out to be a manager.
If you're spending 100% of your income then you're not good at planning ahead.
If you can't find things to cut in your personal budget, you'll suck at managing the company's budget.
And if you can't talk your wife into making do with less, you're not persuasive enough to handle employees.
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
> requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
If you can't find a way to deal with a pay cut, you're probably not cut out to be a manager. If you're spending 100% of your income then you're not good at planning ahead. If you can't find things to cut in your personal budget, you'll suck at managing the company's budget. And if you can't talk your wife into making do with less, you're not persuasive enough to handle employees.
I don't understand the down vote at all - every single one of these points is true.
It sounds so trivial, but actually applying it is the difference.
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
> requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
If you can't find a way to deal with a pay cut, you're probably not cut out to be a manager. If you're spending 100% of your income then you're not good at planning ahead. If you can't find things to cut in your personal budget, you'll suck at managing the company's budget. And if you can't talk your wife into making do with less, you're not persuasive enough to handle employees.
Ironically the research that book was based on found that most of the skills you've listed are not important for good managers.
Re: Why your boss is incompetent
#10This reminds me of First, Break All The Rules (see http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684852861?ie=UTF8&tag=... to get the book). They point out that many promotions require different skills, and that sometimes works badly. This is particularly true when people are promoted to manager. To avoid this problem they recommend giving people promotion possibilities within job roles AND requiring that moving into management…
> requiring that moving into management always come with a pay cut to make people honest What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
What about people that can't afford a pay cut financially?
Isn't it obvious? If you can't afford the pay cut, don't try to become a manager.
Stop and think about it from the employer's position. If your star programmer becomes a manager, the only guarantee is that you've lost a good programmer. The odds are low that you'll get a good manager out of the deal. So why should they pay more for less value?
Remember. Smart companies don't hand out money out of some notion of what is fair. They pay money because that is the cost of the value those employees are expected to provide. (Note that companies avoid paying the actual value provided, because doing so is a recipe for going bankrupt.) If the deal that they are willing to offer you does not meet your needs, you are free to find a deal that is more to your taste.