What Management Doesn't Want You to Know

When I made my way into senior leadership I came in with a mission to make things better. The way I see it (and the way research has it) the better things are for the employees the better things will be for the business. It seemed so simple, we all go somewhere for most of the day and do work so that we can afford to do it all over again, so why should we be miserable the whole time? Lets research ways to make this a better place to work that will also increase the bottom line. I could get on my soap box here about all the various ways that a business can give their employees an incredible experience and double their profits, but the truth is that stepping into upper management with any sort of dreams is like being thrust into a less bloody Game of Thrones.

Without getting too deep in the weeds, there are a few key takeaways from my experience that you should know so here are 5 things management doesn’t want you to know.

1. They wish you’d quit

Just about every manager has at least one employee that they really wish would go and be somone else’s problem. If you’re that employee you probably don’t even know it. You’ve not done anything fireable, but you are a bottom of the barrel employee and they wish you’d just leave. Whether you’re always doing the bare minimum to not be fired, complaining about work or other employees, you’re late, full of excuses, or just always pushing boundaries the sad truth is that when you finally turn in your notice everyone is going to celebrate.

2. They don’t care if things improve for you

Maybe you’re not the one they wish would leave, maybe you’re just another face in the crowd. They still don’t care. If the turnover rate in the organization about on par with the market, nobody cares why you’re leaving. It may make sense to be satisfied with the status quo, but if you never do anything different than the market then your results will never be any better in most cases, but “why mess with what ‘works’?” So if employees are suggesting improvements and coming up with ideas to make it a better place to work its going to fall on deaf ears, at least when its anything meaningful.

3. We promote from within, if you’re “qualified”

Sure you’ve got experience, but we need someone more qualified. You’ve been doing the supporting role for years now and shadowing your supervisor, but I don’t think you’re right for the position. We were never going to teach you what you needed, you have to get the qualifications yourself. Thats the quiet part out loud. Its actually not malicious, its just a lack of foresight. They really do prefer to promote from within, but things get busy, there’s no solid plan on how to move you up, and no thought to what qualifications you will “need” outside of the experience your current position will give you. Sometimes when it comes time to replace management, senior leadership will look outside the company just to avoid internal jealousy, and others its a lack of investing in our own people along the way.

4. They are too scared to make meaningful changes

There is a certain comfort in routine. You know what’s going to happen and how to deal with challenges. When the routine is questioned there’s always an easy answer — “its what we’ve always done”. The truth is there is incredible potential in so many businesses that goes untapped because we are afraid of change. Any meaningful solution is often met with “yeah, but” and dies there. People like their jobs, those with careers in senior leadership often see it as more of their life than it is just something they do for a living. When you threaten to change their lives it can be very scary indeed and that is often met defensively.

5. Senior leadership is a social club

Most of todays senior leadership were actually promoted from within and that happened because they got along with their management. Those that were hired in have to adapt to the culture and become part of the team’s social members. That’s not to say that they are all friends, but meetings are highly socially charged and you have to be able to navigate egos, be respectful of positional boundaries, and adapt to a niche of corporate social protocols. If you can do that then you can make progress toward your own goals within the organization.

Now What?

Management isn’t this legion of doom that sits atop a pile of money wondering how they can further torture their employees, but there are a lot of sad facts that keep any real progress or consideration from happening. Those who want to make changes for the better have to navigate a labyrinth of social constructs, management fears, apathy, and much much more.

Its hard to say what the solution is, but until businesses begin to feel more pressure from employee resignations or something big happens businesses will continue in this cycle of doing the bare minimum to keep labor showing up.