Middle Managers caugh in the middle.

In this organization, there are 30 to 40 middle managers, defined as those sitting in between junior executives and senior management teams. They are normally heading a section or a small department less than 20 people or so. The internal survey done has indicated middle managers are a trouble lot. Their subordinates labeled them as selfish, work-centered and spend less or no time in providing direction and guidance to juniors. CEO was upset and wanted the root cause be identified. He invited them to his Company-provided sprawling house for a barbeque. Being one of the troubled lot, I was there too.
Foods were lavish from eastern fried noodle to western tender juicy steak. After that, everybody was seated around the big rectangular-shaped table. A small presentation from organization development department manager followed, on definitions from wikipedia and survey results. We debated quite intensely on who middle managers really were. Then CEO asked what did we think about the issues facing us. Every was made to speak their mind out. Ideas flowed like water. Most believed middle managers are trapped between delivering results and developing young executives. Their experienced staff are taken away due to downsizing. They are overworked. They have to guide and coach new entrants. It is their KPI now, part of their performance contract. They have datelines to meet. Their superiors keep saying they are slow in delivering results., Opportunities at the top are limited. A manager from project engineering department said his 2 experienced project engineers were moved to HQ for promotion, and he was doing everything from writing status report to chairing progress meetings with contractors. And even worst, he blamed HR people, which is me, for not acting fast enough to find replacements. I got the heat. I listened without a word. Yes I am a good listener now.

I talked about an arsenal of tool HR has got. We had the best consultants hired by the HQ working for us. The problem with us is the implementation. Even though the intention is good, how we deliver the initiative can make or break the organization. Take one example – performance appraisal. We’ll talk about this monster later.