I can't think of a good argument why we need as many of them as we have now.
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No more 25 employees to 1 supervisors ; else all redundant
My site director would usually take the slides and information to update his superior. Typically won't amend any bits. After few years he has now promoted and move on to another job. And yet nothing done to groom those left behind. Leadership su.cks here.
My improvements would always get thrown out and magically completed by my management. Gotta move up, ya know? Lol!
I prepare presentations all the time for my boss where im not identified as the author. So thank u, here and your two cents. Now go sit down.
I prepared a presentation for my supervisor, my supervisor changed the authorship to her name and then gave it to her boss who is a director. The director deleted my name and then gave it to VP. The VP sent it to the division president. I saw My presentation at the town hall meeting.
We run fine when ours is gone. Usually better, actually. Perhaps that's a hint.
Apparently it depends on where you are at 3M. My reporting line is much shorter then 7 to the CEO and I am at the end of the food chain.
Also, we don't have project managers anymore. I wish we had. Nowadays we do the project management tasks as well which doesn't allow for much time doing the real job. We get more and more processes and less and less people.
The problem is those same Supervisors that write people up for being on their phones, sit there on their phones during work hours too. They're hypocritical overpaid babysitters, at least at my plant.
When Lew Lehr became 3M CEO in 1979/80 he reorganized the corporation into business sectors or "business groups." In doing that, he developed the "Lehr Rule of 7," i.e., there should not be any more than seven levels between the CEO and you. In those days, I was in marketing for one of the business units and consequently, that "Lehr Rule of 7" worked: CEO > EVP/GVP > Division VP > Sales & Marketing Director > Marketing Ops Manager > Marketing Portfolio Manager > Me. By Y2000, most 3M'ers didn't know or forgot and didn't practice this Rule. Along comes McNerney with Six Sigma and promises those who complete an 18-month stint as a Master Black Belt a promotion somewhere in the organization. Unfortunately and in many cases, there were not open, readily available jobs for these people and consequently extra layers were "creatively" developed to accommodate or sandwich them in. That, of course, doesn't include nepotism which has been pervasive in 3M and especially in the manufacturing plants for many years.
No, you don’t
I am so tired of people complaining/bashing on job levels of a company, not just 3M but every where. I have worked hourly jobs all the way up to low level sr management and everyone always wants to point the finger at others as non value added. Sure there are people who are not good at their job, and layers that might not be warranted but in most cases If the right people are in those layers there is value added from them.
We get mad cause a supervisor writes up a good employee for being on their cell phone or doing something “insignificant” but then blame the company for safety incidents and the culture they create. That supervisor is there to set an example and hold people accountable. If they are not then that’s on them but it doesn’t mean their position is useless.
Off my soap box.
I legitimately have no idea what my boss does. Middle manager, asks me for things that have nothing to do with our department, doesn’t have a clue what my workload actually is, openly admits they have no idea how to do anything I do, so I am basically on my own. Umm, why are you my boss?
Why does a company need so many VPs, Senior directors, Directors etc? There are many directors who are single contributor roles. Wonder how 3M can justify such excessive headcounts
Why do we need:
Plants VP - Plants POL - Plant director/mgrs?
The dip**** supervisors at my plant are worthless. They're glorified overpaid babysitters, and only walk around and find stuff to write people up for. They have got rid of some damn good employees for getting caught on their phone, while keeping some of the slowest, brain dead mo--ns around.
The main job for most mid managers is to do the horse work for upper management.
How do they contribute effectively to the enterprise is something that I have been able to figure out even after being here for > 20 years.
What do most project managers do?
My take is they schedule meetings for team members and get updates and populate an Excel spreadsheet!
Why do we have so many PMs esp. in the Maplewood HQ?
In our plant, we only have one production supervisor per shift. If that person is on vacation or out sick, then the inmates are running the institution.
Most of these regional managers are not needed. Another layer contributing to delayed decisions. Mine was afraid of his own shadow - "managing" that regional team. Most of them know that they are useless plus they come from sales positions.