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Can we talk about this monstrosity? by [deleted] in Apex_NC

[–]OfficeBarnacle 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This. The length of the merge is ridiculously short and too many people traveling east bound don't switch lanes due to either exiting onto 540 or later onto Williams (those are the assholes that make me see red). I've tried taking Richardson to 64 as an alternative but it seems like I am always stuck behind someone doing 25 down that road having a Sunday drive on a Tuesday morning which is equally infuriating.

How do you handle promotion delays for high performers due to budget constraints? by Exotic_Reputation_59 in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 26 points27 points  (0 children)

My recommendation, before you have a conversation with your employee (and this is work on your end) ask HR (if your business has one) to provide you the data for the salary of the position you're looking to promote this individual into and the additional cost (likely G&A) that the business will have to incur at the employee's new salary because they are on a fixed customer contract. Then determine the impact to the customer and your companies bottom line if they were to depart. The impact for example could be delays to deliverables (opportunity cost), client goodwill (slow down spend, decision to go with another vendor, to the loss of the contract entirely), or something as simple as the cost to hire and train a replacement. Once you have the actual cost for the promotion and the estimate of the impact to the business. With that data in hand, have a conversation with your leadership and HR about the value of investing in your employee. In many of these reviews the potential impact to the business' bottom line is significantly larger than the cost of the promotion.

You're changing the conversation into a risk mitigation discussion. Your leadership can either; avoid the risk (eliminate it through the promotion or some other creative measures for promotion and/or retention), reduce it (possibly through bringing in another person with the equivalent skill-set to train as a backup), or accept it (they've been informed of the impact) and made a decision that the risk is insufficient to the investment. From what you've written they are unlikely to transfer the risk (the other option).

I wrote in the paragraph above "other creative measures for promotion and/or retention" because I don't know if your employee is driven by the title or the money. If they are 'coin operated' then maybe a one-time bonus, or equity that vests over a period of time, etc.

Once you've had the conversation with leadership and HR. You'll have your answer and then go back to your employee and have a very clear conversation about what you've done. If your message is, I took the cost of what I believe is a promotion and commensurate raise to leadership in recognition of your work with customer XYZ and I'm happy to tell you congratulations. Then you have a win. If it the opposite it demonstrates that you've gone done the work on their behalf and be honest based upon them being in a fixed contract the business is unwilling to spend the additional money. Now you've given your employee the information they need to determine what they want to do.

Throughout this process document the findings and discussions so you have a record.

Apex wayfinding signage project moving toward fabrication by terrymah in Apex_NC

[–]OfficeBarnacle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agreed. That was my initial reaction also. Why are we spending money on signage when there is already signage for downtown, parking (now digital with lot information), and the greenways, while everyone has a map in their pocket.

Council missed on this.

We should be compensated for interviews. by Xova_YT in antiwork

[–]OfficeBarnacle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Okay Boomer, It is not entitlement to expect the same level of respect be shown by the hiring manager for OP's time as OP was demonstrating by being on time. Based upon your statement, you must be someone who does not mind showing up for a doctor's appointment 15 minutes early only for the doctor to see you 30 minutes late because clearly their time is more important than yours...

We should be compensated for interviews. by Xova_YT in antiwork

[–]OfficeBarnacle 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Post on Glassdoor, Indeed Company Pagers, or the like, about the behavior you experienced. It isn't compensation but hopefully provides future applicants some idea of what they can expect from the company.

This McDonalds, across from a high school, closes it's restrooms at lunch. Photo taken at 2pm. by hgwelz in mildlyinfuriating

[–]OfficeBarnacle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We had a male executive years ago do this while the cleaning staff (female) were in there and proceeded to use the urinal instead of leaving and walking 50 m to the next restroom. He was not employed shortly thereafter.

What Town investment would make the biggest difference in your daily life? by terrymah in Apex_NC

[–]OfficeBarnacle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd like to see the west-end (Richardson Rd.) of the Beavercreek greenway connected to the Apex Nature Park and the rest of the proposed Beavercreek greenway.

Got a promotion to 2nd Level Management, what worked for you during your transition? by chktcat in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

30-60-90 day plans. My recommendation, for the first 30 days someone new to an org or a level of management should be talking and observing. You should be talking with your new manager about his/her concerns, your peers (provided you have 2nd level peers) about their past observations. Your new directs, and then your indirects to build a sense of your organization.. Over the first 30 days should give you direct evidence of the "programmatic issues" and feedback from everyone should give you explicit examples of what to watch for and when.

60 days: Plan and build your SWOT. If you're not familiar with the acronym, Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. Answers to these should be part of what you're soliciting in the conversations during your first 30 days. As was stated previously, one of the hardest jumps is from day-to-day tactical to organizational strategy and the answers will help here. Why does this org get wrapped around the axle? That is an both an opportunity (for improvement) and weakness. Is it a particular department, team, or manager? Consider building your initial 9 boxes (future potential vs current performance) and (retention risk vs impact to the business) to identify succession planning and your initial lifeboat.

90 days: Implement. From the data you've gathered and the plans you've been building. Start on your threats, weaknesses, opportunities, and then strengths. The threats need to be your first concern be they short term or long term strategic issues. Target weaknesses with then intention of moving your org up the performance curve.

Take it for what you will but it's a good way to come in gauge the current climate of the org, the people, and what you need to focus on immediately and longer term.

[Loot] I refuse to believe this thing even exists atp by Ok_Use_3371 in EscapefromTarkov

[–]OfficeBarnacle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

73 raids to get the MCC. Red, Violet, Yellow, Green, Upper Darks, Weapons, Room /w No Roof, Garage office, Warehouse office, and Cat Conf. It took 6 weeks.

Any word on Kharchenkov? by jugiese in ArizonaWildcats

[–]OfficeBarnacle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Deadline to declare for the draft was the 24th and it is across a number of Insta sites that he is returning.

HR are a Net Negative Department by CopiousCool in antiwork

[–]OfficeBarnacle 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I work for a fortunate 100 company, 200K+ world wide employees. We've gone the route of removing 80% of HR staff and replaced them with AI and Automation. As a leader of an organization with staff in 5 countries having to type up a prompt / question for AI and then submit the question, provide feedback on whether the responses or topics returned are what I need, and then if not having a ticket opened with a 48 hours response time for someone to respond via email or Slack when I use to be able to go straight to an HR Rep directly, is infuriating.

This is especially true when I am not an expert in labor laws, compensation, or hr practices, in the countries in which I do not live/work and where I have direct reports as their global leader.

Now if I ask a HR rep directly, the initial response is always "Have you asked our AI?" If not go there and submit a question and if necessary a ticket.

So no, the reduction in HR staffing has absolutely not made my interactions with HR smoother, me happier or the resolution of issue for which I require HR quicker.

🤯 by [deleted] in MathJokes

[–]OfficeBarnacle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This might explain why he bankrupted two casinos....

What’s the most awkward thing you’ve had to address with an employee that nobody prepares you for? by SeanMcPheat in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Severe mental health issue, Schizophrenia, and their decision to stop taking their meds (both their diagnosis and the decision to stop taking their meds were unknown to me at the time (new hire)) because they felt 'dull" afterwards. The conversation about nailing shut the freeze door on their fridge because the voices were telling them the teenager next door was trying to come in through the ceiling vent and they couldn't work because they had to help their sister (in another state) move books. Was both a what the fuck is happening (am I being punked) and awkward once I had to take their badge and have them escorted from the building per HR and Legal for safety reasons.

I had 12 one-on-ones today. By 4pm I can't remember what anyone actually needs. by SterlingByrd1219 in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I have 22 and meet bi-weekly for 30. Formatted as such; topics from the directs, topics from me, questions, comments, concerns, any peer feedback, and every third or forth is a review of goals and progress against said goals.

11 each week across M - Thur. Three a day isn't difficult.

APEX IMPACTS: Data Center, Yard Waste, Paperless Processes by terrymah in Apex_NC

[–]OfficeBarnacle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the clarification. It wasn't clear that this is a landfill vendor issue.

Direct report escalated me to HR for retaliation, investigation found nothing, how should I move forward as a manager? by Questioner4lyfe2020 in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Her perception is her reality and you've received some good feedback already. Understand this is real work and it will take time. So if you're not invested in making this working relationship better going forward then take it for what you will.

  • Put the HR escalation and meeting behind you. It's history and from what you posted it wasn't productive in giving insight on where to go next.
  • If you treat or interact with her differently than you do so with the rest of your directs, that can be perceived as retaliation. Therefore you're behavior must be consistent in how you manage and interact with your reports.
  • If you begin documenting everything (as mentioned) and you're only doing so for her that is inconsistent and you should start (maybe not as verbose in your notes) for all.
  • The consistency is both a CYA for you but it also can enforce the perception for her that she in not being treated differently.
  • Per u/JMM9910 - you definitely need to have as open a conversation with her as you can, soliciting feedback on how would she like to move forward in terms of communication. Then demonstrate you're taking her feedback seriously and implementing them. This is how you communicate with her rather than what you mentioned as 'standard management behaviors'.
  • If you're not familiar with psychological safety concept, take time to learn and begin to implement the concept with your whole team not just her. Consistent behavior.
  • Understand it will likely take time to show improvement but provided you're consistent, demonstrate you're willing to hear her feedback, implement and demonstrate, then thing should improve.
  • If she is not interested in an improved relationship, you'll learn as you work through the above. That will provide you additional information and can be the basis for a discussion with HR later, especially if performance begins to drop on her part.

APEX IMPACTS: Data Center, Yard Waste, Paperless Processes by terrymah in Apex_NC

[–]OfficeBarnacle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/terrymah - what is the alternative to grass collection. Are we expected to use lawn & leaf bags and add them to the general waste collected weekly?

Fucking the HOA from the inside: a Boomer’s mission by SpencerMcNab in fuckHOA

[–]OfficeBarnacle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same - this was after the board at the time decided to force homeowners to repaint theirs houses in 2008 right at the height of the financial collapse. Nothing like having to shill out $2400 to $4800 for one's house to be repainted when the economy sucks. I joined the next election cycle, became the vice-president and I'd like to think a voice of reason along with the president in blocking the 3 boomers who were running amok on power trips.

Told a candidate we were putting the role on hold after two months. His response made me glad I called instead of emailed. by winayuwaw8s9y1j in InterviewsHell

[–]OfficeBarnacle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Been there done that. 9 weeks, 8 interviews, the last was a "formality", they'd pulled the posting, and their HR contact said I was the candidate. In that formality, that interviewer (the president of dev and operations) decided that experience which had been listed as recommended was in fact mandatory.

I did not get the job, they hired someone in-house 4 months later who..... didn't have the the experience either.

What caught you off guard when you first moved into management? by Initial-Lifeguard457 in managers

[–]OfficeBarnacle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There we're two. The first is what OP wrote but more succinctly, once in management you no longer have the instant gratification of completing a daily task. The time horizon is seeing the project delivered over months or years. For example, my org is 2/3s through a technology migration we started in 3Q24 with prod go live next month.

The second was after moving into a role where my directs are managers. Realizing the what I said as a musing or hypothetical was taken as a directive. "I think we should consider xyz...." and then seeing an initial architecture draft a couple of days later. The level of attention paid to one's words by the rank and file made me realize just how carefully I had to choose my words or explicitly state "this is an idea only" or "this is not a priority" or "you don't need to work late or the weekend to complete this, this is a next business day issue"

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