Being responsible for people...

[armor99]

It was always amazing how that troublesome 2% fought to hang onto the jobs they spoke of hating, digging in their nails and refusing to look for something else, even within the company.

I have seen this one too. And the only conclusion that I can come to is the following. "Men (and women) of ability never fear loosing their jobs..." They always know they are marketable, can find work elsewhere, have contacts, etc. In general, those that are terrified of loosing their jobs have lesser, or no real skills, in comparision to their co-workers. These are people that reguard their jobs as just one elaborate con-job. As in "how long can I hang out here..... get paid, while not really doing, or knowing anything useful?"
At the same time, most of these people subsonciously really DO envy people that they know are their betters. They in fact do not want to succeed, or even to be happy. They would much rather everyone else fail like them, and be miserable with them. Why Because only that will help them bear the pain of the bad decisions they have made in life. By their twisted reasoning, "if everyone is just as miserable as me, then my mistakes are not so bad in comparision...." It is an interesting mindset to watch....

 

[2B]

I have seen this one too. And the only conclusion that I can come to is the following. "Men (and women) of ability never fear loosing their jobs..." They always know they are marketable, can find work elsewhere, have contacts, etc. In general, those that are terrified of loosing their jobs have lesser, or no real skills, in comparision to their co-workers.

Wait until you reach 50. Somehow when almost every "poor performer" shuffled out in a layoff is 50 plus then you can be justified in feeling fear. Marketability in a slow job market goes to crap also no matter what your skills. I had to reinvent myself and it wasn't easy or quick.

These are people that reguard their jobs as just one elaborate con-job. As in "how long can I hang out here..... get paid, while not really doing, or knowing anything useful?"

Hey, I resemble that remark.

At the same time, most of these people subsonciously really DO envy people that they know are their betters. They in fact do not want to succeed, or even to be happy. They would much rather everyone else fail like them, and be miserable with them. Why Because only that will help them bear the pain of the bad decisions they have made in life. By their twisted reasoning, "if everyone is just as miserable as me, then my mistakes are not so bad in comparision...." It is an interesting mindset to watch...

I'm pretty happy doing very little work, in a job without stress and without the skill level of many of the more junior people I'm working with. Even though the more junior people probably all make less money than me, I wish them all the success in the world. In the next market downturn, I hope to be able to give my position to one of them.

 

[Midpack]

Not in management and will quit and go elsewhere if they put me in it. But I am dealing with a very different problem. I work in a small shop where there really is no room for deadweight, and we really don't have any. The issue is that there is one individual who has a humongous attitude problem and who has absolutely poisoned the atmosphere because of the way he acts and the constant stream of nasty comments projected at just about everyone. This person is plenty productive, but has largely cratered any attempts to build a more coherent team and really makes time at the office far more miserable than it needs to be. Management appears to know that something is wrong and has apparently started taking baby steps in addressing the problem, but based on the history of the firm it is highly unlikely that the situation will be resolved or that this person will be shown the door. I spend at least a small portion of each day trying not to plot the perfect murder, and no doubt my colleagues do the same.

I'm positive it doesn't apply to you, but in my experience management is almost (if not) alone in dealing with toxic employees. Co-workers usually don't oppose the bad actors (which is taken as tacit acceptance) and often even encourage it in the interest of 'going along to get along.' So when management confronts the bad actor, the toxic employee turns to his co-workers and gets support/sympathy, and confirms to the bad actor that 'he/she is right!'

I've been in management most of my career, I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I fully accept responsibility (for the pay that goes with it) to deal with employees with bad attitudes. But imagine how much easier it would be for all concerned, and how much better the workplace could be, if management wasn't the Lone Ranger? I don't expect or want co-workers to pick a fight, but it wouldn't hurt if they'd at least not encourage bad behavior. Just refusing to listen to it without reacting would help. It wouldn't take that much if the toxic employee was getting the same message from all. The irony is, most of the co-workers who are fed up with it come to me in private and plead with me to do something, all while passively/actively supporting Mr./Ms. Toxic.

Just imagine...

 

[brewer12345]

I'm positive it doesn't apply to you, but in my experience management is almost (if not) alone in dealing with toxic employees. Co-workers usually don't oppose the bad actors (which is taken as tacit acceptance) and often even encourage it in the interest of 'going along to get along.' So when management confronts the bad actor, the toxic employee turns to his co-workers and gets support/sympathy, and confirms to the bad actor that 'he/she is right!'

I've been in management most of my career, I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I fully accept responsibility (for the pay that goes with it) to deal with employees with bad attitudes. But imagine how much easier it would be for all concerned, and how much better the workplace could be, if management wasn't the Lone Ranger? I don't expect or want co-workers to pick a fight, but it wouldn't hurt if they'd at least not encourage bad behavior. Just refusing to listen to it without reacting would help. It wouldn't take that much if the toxic employee was getting the same message from all. The irony is, most of the co-workers who are fed up with it come to me in private and plead with me to do something, all while passively/actively supporting Mr./Ms. Toxic.

Just imagine...

At least in this case, I think all of us do not encourage or support the bad actor. Some have said something to management, but nobody eggs him on or encourages him. As for myself, I have gone to other management teams in other situations and I will never, repeat, NEVER do so ever again. There is very little upside and lots and lots of downside. So I am in the position of waiting for one of: management figuring out that they need to deal with this; me getting sick of the BS and leaving; one of my coworkers showing up with a shotgun loaded with slugs.

 

[Khan]

I have seen this one too. And the only conclusion that I can come to is the following. "Men (and women) of ability never fear loosing their jobs..." They always know they are marketable, can find work elsewhere, have contacts, etc. In general, those that are terrified of loosing their jobs have lesser, or no real skills, in comparision to their co-workers. These are people that reguard their jobs as just one elaborate con-job. As in "how long can I hang out here..... get paid, while not really doing, or knowing anything useful?"
At the same time, most of these people subsonciously really DO envy people that they know are their betters. They in fact do not want to succeed, or even to be happy. They would much rather everyone else fail like them, and be miserable with them. Why Because only that will help them bear the pain of the bad decisions they have made in life. By their twisted reasoning, "if everyone is just as miserable as me, then my mistakes are not so bad in comparision...." It is an interesting mindset to watch....

One thing that has always amazed me is how much time and effort people will expend in being miserable, and in making others miserable.

 

[Gumby]

One thing that has always amazed me is how much time and effort people will expend in being miserable, and in making others miserable.

Agreed. It has been my experience that people are generally about as happy as they decide to be. Why some appear deliberately to choose unhappiness is a mystery.

 

[2B]

Back in my management days, I would get the problem children moved to my area. I had a reputation for "rehabilitating" a reasonable percentage and not putting up with non-performers for long. I was always very specific on job expectations and held very regular meetings with employees and very, very regular meetings with the screw ups.

I never really worried about "bad attitudes" since I usually had one when I was in my management positions. I just tried to coach them into keeping their mouth shut and play the game. I usually would get a big grin when I'd tell them you can think your boss is a big jerk even if you smile at him.

 

[megacorp-firee]

I actually enjoyed running parts of the business and leading teams.
What I hated was the personnel (performance reviews, paperwork, corporate mandates) side of it, not dealing with people, just all of the B.S. buearacracy sh*t. I enjoyed developing the strategy, setting the direction, getting things organized and accomplished through the collective organization. I was told I was good at getting sh*t done.
I got a kick out of moving high performers to their next opportunities. Very fullfilling.