I see a lot of posts calling out terrible managers. As a manager myself, I completely understand the frustration, but I want to offer some perspective from the other side. Many of us have the same exact complaints about our own management teams. At the end of the day, we’re employees too, and we’re dealing with the same flawed decisions and pressures from above.
Not everyone is cut out to be a manager, that part is true. But please know that a lot of the anger many of you feel toward your immediate supervisors actually stems from decisions being made far above our level. It really does all start at the top.
The good managers, the ones who care about their teams, are doing everything they can to advocate for their employees, especially when it comes to performance ratings and merit or bonus decisions. But the reality is, much of it is out of our hands. Those decisions get pushed down from levels of leadership who don’t work with our teams, don’t know what we do, and don’t know who our top performers are.
And to be clear, managers aren’t exempt from any of this. We’re subjected to the same forced distribution on ratings, too. We have skin in the game, our own ratings, compensation, and reputations are affected by the same system we’re trying to shield our employees from.
Let me be very clear about one thing: there absolutely is a forced distribution on ratings in many groups. It’s always labeled as “guided,” but we’re told directly to change ratings even when we know they’re unfair. Some employees are going to be blindsided this year with unwarranted “Inconsistently Meets/Needs Improvement” ratings, not because of their performance, but because upper management decided someone has to take the hit.
And if we challenge it? If we push back to defend our people? That doesn’t go unnoticed either. Not only does it not yield results, it puts us and our entire team on the radar in a very negative way.
So before assuming your direct manager is the problem, please know that many of us are fighting the same battles you are… just from a different angle.