Career advice part eleventy

In reply to Peabody :

Good point. If the op wants to grow with the company this is a good step no matter the comp situation. I did a similar thing 12 years ago went from IC to manager and now I'm a director.  But it's not for everyone 

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

It's never even been a consideration.  I still haven't thought that part through.  It seems as though they are willing to help if I decide that's a direction I want to go. 

Long term maintenance is gonna be more valuable to the company.  They can always get someone above you to yell at the drones when times are tough and you get canned.  If the machines dont work, they are not gonna be making money.  From where I am sitting this sounds like a bad idea.  

Another no.  What's in it for the guy offering the "promotion"  to you.  He has some sort of motivation and it is not giving you something better for nothing.  You may never find out the answer to this question but think about it.

Does the company offer paid training/education?  Go to HR and tell them you want to take some training to make you a better employee/asset to the company.  Management training, maintenance skills, whatever they think.  You need to solidify your current position and make yourself bulletproof.  In an environment of political BS real skills and results are your best protection.

I think other people have OPs specific situation covered. After working at more than a few Fortune 500's, here's what I've found to be universally true:

-Your company will try to extract the most labor from you while paying you as little as possible

-Middle management is often the worst place to be. C-level execs make absurd money. The grunts don't have to think about work after they clock out. Middle managers have the worst of both worlds

-Companies absolutely love to dangle "this will be good for your career" carrot. That may or may not be true. If it makes you a more attractive candidate to other companies, the juice might be worth the squeeze. Once you get into middle management, promotion is nearly 100% political, and often is completely outside of your control.

-Currently I evaluate opportunities based on efficiency. How much money will I make for the amount of effort I put in? Is the compensation structure there to reward you, or take advantage of you?

In my company we joke about a certain position called "Operations Support Coordinator" - it's basically the "coasting" position. 

You've been with the company for a long time and usually are worth keeping around to provide advice and support to your potential replacement, but we'll ease up on having you manage anyone. 

We all call it "the dream job" of our company because you can make supervisor or management compensation, while basically reporting to no-one except director level, and not having to supervise anyone. 

It often is followed by the Office Space question of "what is it that you do here?" 

pheller said:

In my company we joke about a certain position called "Operations Support Coordinator" - it's basically the "coasting" position. 

You've been with the company for a long time and usually are worth keeping around to provide advice and support to your potential replacement, but we'll ease up on having you manage anyone. 

We all call it "the dream job" of our company because you can make supervisor or management compensation, while basically reporting to no-one except director level, and not having to supervise anyone. 

It often is followed by the Office Space question of "what is it that you do here?" 

Ive recently found out its called Operations Manager at my company but the same job description.   And its all mine :)    When the position was being presented to me by my VP my director was on the call and was texting me "dont worry, no people management" because she knew I was over all that :)

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

Huh?   Not if you discuss this up front.  I'm not following. 

My experience is conversations with managers are about as useful as conversations with pathological liars. There have been very infrequent surprises, but generally they will say anything to get a subordinate to do what improves their (manager's) life, career trajectory, and/or financial situation.

Backsies tend to result in being stagnated & lack of consideration for future performance pay incentives no matter how successful your performance is.

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

Huh?   Not if you discuss this up front.  I'm not following. 

My experience is conversations with managers are about as useful as conversations with pathological liars. There have been very infrequent surprises, but generally they will say anything to get a subordinate to do what improves their (manager's) life, career trajectory, and/or financial situation.

Backsies tend to result in being stagnated & lack of consideration for future performance pay incentives no matter how successful your performance is.

And that's a shame. I feel a kinship with many here who welcome being responsible for doing good work but prefer not to "manage" others. Businesses rely on these types but often don't value them.

The Peter Principle is a very real thing in too many large organizations. 

In reply to calteg :

This is so accurate but I'm in this picture and I don't like it. Lower level staff doesn't have to worry because they know you'll take care of it and you're ultimately responsible. Upper level staff doesn't have to worry about it because they know you'll take care of it and you're ultimately responsible. 

This seems somewhat relevant to the OP's question. 
 

Canoe