new people being promoted

[flyonthewall]

Where I work has this thing where they bring in people for top positions when we have great talent already in house that is ready to be promoted. It makes me so mad. I don't want someone new to crap all over our morale! I want someone who is one of us!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Whatever happened to when the best guy was the boss? The best burger flipper should be in charge of the burger flippers, right?

Not necessarily; it takes more than just being the best burger-flipper to be manager over the burger-flippers.

I've seen quite a few people get promoted to supervisor or manager positions because they were "the best" at their position, and then fail in those positions. You have to think more about the entire restaurant and all the people doing all the different jobs, not just about the burger-flippers, and a lot of people can't do that well.

It doesn't mean somebody hired from outside is automatically a better choice, but it gets that way when you see a couple people promoted from within fail as managers or supervisors, and don't have time to help develop the leadership skills of the people on your team.

[Android Kaeli]

The result was that the new guy with no experience was making more money than his co-workers who'd been there a few years.

When I started working at Random Craft Store I had been making less then $7.50 an hour, people who were hired months and years after me were making up to a $1.25 more then I was. Course they also were getting the bulk of the raise money each store was allotted every year but that's a rant for another thread.

By the time I quit I was barely making the same amount I had made after my first TWO raises at the Warehouse, and I walked in off the streets making nearly two dollars more! Hell even before I quit Random Craft Store I was making nearly a dollar more at the Warehouse!

At least the raises at the Warehouse aren't less then .05. >.<

[KellyHabersham]

Not involving new people being promoted, but this thread did get me thinking about something that happened when a new position was added to my work area a few years back....

The powers that be gave us only 12 hours for the news position, and in order to bump that up to 16, an hour was taken from each of the existing positions. My understanding had been that I was the only one NOT affected by this, but apparently I was.

[deysongrey]

It just seems like a new guy can never as much xp as the veteran. Worked at wendys for fifty years? This is burger king. its not the same. Besides, if u werent good enough there, maybe theres a good reason to NOT promote you.

Whatever happened to when the best guy was the boss? The best burger flipper should be in charge of the burger flippers, right?

[taxguykarl]

As far as I know, he's still there.

I asked you not to tell me that.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

In my company, this is half the people who get manager or supervisor jobs; the other half are ass kissers.

IMO< this hiring from outside is done for the following reasons:

1. these people can be paid less
2. they will implement any idea or policy the suits come up with, not knowing that it won't work or that it was tried before and didn't work, and
3. they are less likely to have those annoying "people skills" and dreaded "compassion and sympathy" that would prevent them from wringing the most possible out of their subordinates.

[Headset Hellion]

Don't tell me he's still there....

Sorry guys, I forgot to check back for replies! As far as I know, he's still there. I'm still friends with a few former co-workers and I'm sure I would hear if his position changed (because they would be elated). The situation still baffles my mind.

[KuariKaydrith]

On the opposite side of the coin, I can see why a newbie would be promoted in some instances. For example, if they've come to the job with more experience and training than the people already there. Or, in my case once upon a many moons ago, getting singled out by the higher ups because it's clear you are 1) catching on faster than anybody else, and 2) are a natural for the position. It's how I got picked to start training as management when I hadn't even been with a company for a week...plus, I had previous retail management experience in my favour.

Even now, despite the fact that I've been at my current job for about three weeks there is talk of me being made lead guard at my site even though I'm the newest guard there. The area supervisor wants somebody he knows will do the job so that he doesn't have to be the only point of contact when something goes sideways at my site - and I've caught on very quickly, even though it's not exactly a complicated job to begin with. At least not at my site where I can surf the web on my laptop most nights if I wanted to. Trust me, I wasn't gunning for a lead guard position at all.

[taxguykarl]

And when this is discovered it sets off either a riot or a rash of people quitting, often without notice...

and the higher-ups are surprised....

[eltf177]

The result was that the new guy with no experience was making more money than his co-workers who'd been there a few years.

And when this is discovered it sets off either a riot or a rash of people quitting, often without notice...

[wolfie]

Back when I worked in high-tech, and raises were something less mythical than facts behind a National Enquirer story, I encountered a similar situation. The company I worked for gave an annual across-the-board raise, but it was less than the year-to-year increase in what it offered new hires straight out of university. The result was that the new guy with no experience was making more money than his co-workers who'd been there a few years.

[taxguykarl]

So how long did he last in that position, Headset Hellion?

Don't tell me he's still there....

[eltf177]

So how long did he last in that position, Headset Hellion?

[Headset Hellion]

How about someone who has been working at a place a long time being promoted to head of a department they have no experience in? That's my boss! I'm teaching him the bare bones of how to function in our line of work and he's not catching on fast enough. >.< He even told me "That stuff isn't really my thing." ORLY? Well unfortunately, it's your job.

*end rant*

This was the last manager I worked for at Bank of My Country. He never worked a day in my department. He transferred over from a completely different and unrelated line of business. They didn't even make him attend OJT, just the 2-week classroom training. It was ridiculous. I couldn't ask for his assistance with anything and he couldn't give me any constructive feedback during required coaching sessions. He flat-out told me that I knew more about the department and our subject matter than he did.

He also had no previous management or leadership experience. I had teammates who walked all over this guy, showed him no respect, talked shit about him behind his back...he was in way over his head.