Managing Fires

Never have I been made more aware of what managers really do on a daily basis than I was today at work.  The next time some one asks me what I do for a living, I'm going to answer "I put out fires."  Some days I'm very overpaid to do very little and other days I'm very underpaid to be responsible for way too much.  Today, I was very underpaid.  Every week I make a production schedule of what pretzels we make on which day and how much.  Then I put people in place to bake and pack them.  Today, the item I needed wouldn't run right on the line, so we gave up and tried to move to another item.  There were several problems with this.  I only have a certain number of days this week to get everything done to ship on Friday.  My schedule is very tight.  No wiggle room or room for errors.  I can't lose the shift, so I suggested we switch something from later in the week on to today's schedule.  Then I'm told we don't have the ingredients to make that item until Friday which is when it is scheduled.  Wow we're running that close on shipments of ingredients??  Crazy!  Fine, I picked a different item that we did have ingredients for to make.  That item needed 5 hours to run it.  I only had 2 hours left on the shift. I asked some of them to stay late, and they agreed.  I have to run the rest of that item tomorrow before I change another item onto tomorrow's schedule and shorten that run.  Every day this week is changed around.  I'm making things together that are difficult to run together and running short to get exactly what I need with no extra for stock.  This is poor efficiency on the line, but when the fires crop up, I have to put them out.  I spend a lot of my time this way.
I know some of you will think that if I just plan better then this wouldn't happen.  You tell me how I can plan for an equipment breakdown or an employee call off or ingredients that ran fine yesterday that just won't do it today.  As I see it, this is the life of a manger.

Complaining Employees

I have an employee who seems to be unhappy no matter what accommodations I try to make for him.  He is on third shift most of the time.  He can't work second shift and gets first shift one week a month.  He was given his normal rotation and agreed to work under that schedule about a year ago.  Since that time, all the others who work that position on all other shifts also do a similar schedule.  They also have to switch out of their normal schedule occasionally to cover for another's vacation or a special product that we make.
He continuously complains that his is second most senior and should not be stuck on third shift but rather should get first shift.  He is also quick to ask for a raise or try to point out some way in which we are purposely trying to short change him.
I have been doing the scheduling for almost 2 years now, and none of my other guys give me even a quarter of the whining that this one does.  They don't complain about their pay either.
What do I do with this employee?  What he wants to be "happy" is not correct according to my statement of fair which is in writing.  Also, if he agreed to the terms of the job, do I have more of an obligation to try to make him happy or just hold him to his agreement?

Employee Interrelations

I have recently been faced with having to deal with a couple of employees who feel it is their responsibility to tattle on every other employee.  They seem to think that it is their job to watch over everyone and keep them in line.  They also seem to feel that they are accomplishing their jobs in a perfect fashion that is worthy of much higher status than they are receiving.  They expect that when they point out how others are not adequately accomplishing their jobs, we as managers should immediately leap on their suggestions.
I have become quite defensive of my team members.  I am the office manager.  My employees all have computers and access to the internet.  None of them take real breaks.  They tend to take their lunches at their desks while using that time to surf the web.  I have no problem with this.  I also jump on to look things up occasionally.  None of my employees abuse their access.  The complainers also have access to the internet.  They seem to have no problem spending large amounts of time checking their e-mail or facebook page, but are very quick to point out someone else doing the same thing.  Generally, I offer my office staff to help out in this other department if they need assistance.  My staff are more than happy to help out.  I really take offense to this other department complaining about my staff.  I also have a big problem with them complaining that they need extra help and can't keep up with their work, but don't want help from my staff since they aren't viewed as positive employees.
I've worked to make sure that my department is pleasant and willing to help wherever they are needed.  They have their own work to accomplish, but manage to have time to help towards the bigger picture.  It's difficult to see employees in another department being judgmental to the point of detriment to the company.

Employees and employers interpret their actions differently.  As a manager, I hire employees to accomplish certain jobs.  If they serve their purpose and are no longer necessary in the position they hold, then they can be let go at that point.  From the employees viewpoint, they are being used and then tossed aside.  My argument as a manager is that the employee was hired for a purpose and paid to do the job.  I don't feel that there is anything wrong with this circumstance.  As an employee, if this happened to me, then I move on to a new job.  I probably  would not view this job or employer in a positive light, but why is that?  I was paid to do the job that I was asked to do.  I don't view this as using an employee since they received payment for this.  Also, suppose that the employee was given a specific lay off date 2 months from now.  Is that inappropriate or a nice gesture to give them plenty of notice and time to possibly line up another job?  I understand that in this economy, no one wants to find out that their job is being eliminated, but I don't really understand why that employee might feel used or treated unfairly.
Along that same line of thinking, should a more senior employee have the right to bump another employee out of their job?  I will visit this more in the future as I put some more thought into it.

Glass Ceiling Abstract

The glass ceiling has been a subject of concern for women in the workforce.  Questions arise as to how to overcome or break through the glass ceiling in order to achieve the higher positions in management that women have not attained.  Over the last sixty years, there has been much attention given to different forms of discrimination including gender discrimination.  Because of this attention, corporations have worked to regulate some of the discrimination out of their businesses.  

There are aspects of discrimination that cannot be regulated away.  Instead of playing the victim, women need to approach their careers from a positive standpoint and make the changes they can make to further their careers.  Women need to see that some of the problems holding them back from achieving the higher level management positions are the decisions they make for themselves.  Women have traditionally held the care giver roll in their personal lives.  This care giver roll has affected how women make decisions about their work lives and how management view women in the workplace.  This is one of many aspects that women are in control of when thinking about their careers.  This paper attempts to show how many factors and decisions that women make on their own actually hold them back from achieving the highest management positions.  Women should no longer place the blame on others but should look to their own life decisions to affect their future.

Greatness of a small company

Working for a small company can be the best job you'll ever have!  I've worked for huge companies like Hershey and now I work for a small family owned company.  I loved both jobs for different reasons.  For now, I'll share why I love working for a small company.  I was hired as the office manager.  There were 2 other girls that worked for me in the office.  We accomplished all office tasks necessary for our company, hr, ar/ap, accounting functions, payroll, and customer service.  I was hired over the other top choice for my position because I had interest in getting out of the office and helping elsewhere in the plant.  I have learned how to run our store from cashier to shipping.  I have learned how to run the packing room (at least the basics of how we pack and how to manage the personnel that we have on any shift).  I have been given the basics of how to bake (could fill in for a few hours, but nothing like what the real bakers can do).  Most recently, I've really been working on my warehouse skills.  I've been picking orders for several months now, but officially on Friday drove a forklift onto a truck (a little scary to drop onto the back of a trailer).  Each day brings new challenges and new excitement.  I know personally each employee that works for our company.  I can stop and chat about their family or what happened over the weekend with any one of our people.  This is a huge advantage over a large corporation.  We all have to work together to get the job done.  In the end our team effort is to get the best pretzels out to our customers. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with working for a big company, but if you ever have the opportunity to work in a small company, take it and treat it like it's your own company.  You might really like it!

Demotion Dilemma

So here is my current dilemma, since I know you all want to hear about my every problem every week.  I work with a supervisor (let's call him Ed) who was an equal to me when I was hired.  About 2 years ago, he was demoted.  1/2 of his job was given to me and the other half was given to another supervisor who is also an equal with me.  This has gone on this way for about 2 years now.  Ed was very gracious and took his time to teach me how to do the part of his job that came to me.
Within the past 4 months, I have noticed that the problems Ed was having with his job (and why he was demoted) are happening to me as well.  As for the other supervisor who is doing the other half of Ed's job, same issues there.
Here's the dilemma.  How do I deal with the fact that Ed was demoted based on continued errors in his job, yet both the other supervisor and I have the same problems Ed had?  At this point, I only have myself to worry about in this situation; however, I know that the general manager will be on me soon about the other supervisor not doing his part of the job adequately.  In another year, this all becomes my problem.  I have no idea how to fix it.  This is my first problem.
The second part of the problem is dealing with the other employees who know and love Ed.  They (including me) saw his demotion process happen.  They know pieces of what really went on behind the scenes.  They know a little from Ed's point of view (although, Ed is a stellar employee and took the demotion as any of us would, yet really did no harm to the company through it all).  Now, I am being questioned by the other employees as to why Ed got demoted for these problems and nothing is happening to me or the other supervisor.
From an employee morale point of view, and a management point of view, do you all have any suggestions of how to deal with this appropriately?

Not My Department!

"Not my department" has become my new favorite phrase.  I don't like to be an employee who isn't willing to step up wherever I am needed so this is a bit frustrating for me.  I've always tried to be the person that anyone could come to with a problem or suggestion and I would do my best to relay it to the right person or take care of it myself if I could.  In recent months, my job has become complicated.  I have been going out of my way to make sure that I'm not stepping on anyone's toes.  I'm trying very hard to keep anyone informed when something happens in their department or if there is a problem the supervisor needs to be aware of.
In the last week, I have been talked to twice from the general manager that I'm overstepping my bounds.  I am trying to do things that are her responsibility.  When I asked her for specifics (since I'm trying so hard to do the opposite) she could not come up with anything.  Today, she came up with something that once confronted, I explained clearly how she had misunderstood.  I did nothing of what she thought.  I tried to take the criticism well, but I didn't do what she was acusing me of.  She did agree that she misunderstood what was said previously, but she's really pushing me to hide from her and slack off from my normal push to get the job done.

Paper Topic From My Perspective

You know that I can’t write a paper for class on a topic like Glass Ceiling without approaching it from a unique angle.  (Maybe you don’t know that because you don’t know me very well, but my friends and family would not be surprised at all by this declaration.)  I don’t buy into the pathetic viewpoint that women are oppressed and held back by men who won’t let them advance in jobs.  If I believed that then, I am not in control of my own future.  I believe that anyone can advance as far as they choose or are willing to strive for.  (Maybe this is a naïve thought, but I’m sticking with it.)  I am a cynic and do not like to live in a position of inferiority or needing someone else to cut me a break.  When I picked the topic of Glass Ceiling, I actually thought it might be too much of an obvious topic for a female to write on.  I definitely didn’t want it to be just another whiney paper about how women are treated unfairly or unequally.  I have been doing research now and have found a different way of approaching the topic that fits much more into my personality.  I’m going to write on the decisions that women make and actions women take that prevent them from reaching the higher executive positions.  This views the glass ceiling from a power perspective instead of a helpless perspective.  I am pleased to be able to take this approach.  It fits my personality.

Timing is Everything

My current dilemma is setting aside time to accomplish all the required tasks for my job and class.  I have had this problem since I started back in grad school.  Each semester I have to set aside time after my daughter goes to bed to work on homework for class.  The big issue that I have is that under normal circumstances, I used this very same time to work on work for my job.  I have an employer who has been great about letting me do work from home.  When I had my daughter 3 years ago, the company set up access for me to log into all my work stuff from home.  This allowed me to keep up with the basics of my job while I was out on maternity leave.  Since then, this feature has allowed me to work only 4 days a week in the office and do whatever work I can from home to be with my daughter 1 day a week (besides the weekends).  I make up the work by working after she goes to bed at night and during napntimes when she is home with me.  This is a huge benefit that my company has given to me.  It will unfortunately be coming to an end within a year, but I have been able to enjoy my baby girl very much with the time I have been given.
The reason that I go into all this is that I now have the difficulty of deciding whether to spend the precious time after Sami goes to bed doing school or work.  My theory is currently and has always been that since work pays my paycheck then that is priority.  Also, I'm voluntarily taking classes.  Work is not requiring or even requesting me to take classes.  With this thought in mind, I am having great difficulty accomplishing the work load that is required for some of the classes I've had to take.
I have a full time job and a family besides taking classes.  I wonder if anyone else has the same conflict internally whether to do your job well and miss out on homework opportunity or is something else lacking in order to accomplish both well?  Also, I'm wondering why it seems that some professors understand that their class is not the only task we have to deal with in our lives and others seem to think that their information is so important that even if a relative dies, we would have to skip the funeral to take care of class or homework.

The need for boundaries - RL Wolfe Case Study

I have been working diligently this Sunday afternoon on the RL Wolfe case study that is due this Wednesday.  In my first run through of reading it, I did not really see any major problems.  The plant is outperforming other similar plants.  They have lower call off rates and lower turn over rates than the other plants.  They are still remaining non-union as well, which is a good thing in my opinion.  All of these things seem to be working well, yet the managers are not satisfied.  I agree that once we reach a point of satisfaction then we start to decline, but how can I solve a problem if I don't really perceive a problem?
All of this aside, I only agree with self-directed teams to a point.  I believe that you should hire good employees that you can trust to do their jobs right and do them well.  Once you hire these employees you train them how to do their jobs and let them go.  Where I don't see self-directed teams working is in setting some policies or changing the policies in place.  I am all for my employees making suggestions how to fix or improve problems that exist.  I encourage that kind of thinking.  What I don't want is rule by the masses.  I am a capitalist not a communist.  I do not agree that there should be no higherarchy in management structure.  I do not think we are all equal or should all be treated as equals in every sense.  I think without guidelines and goals some people will excell and set their own guidelines and goals and be very successful.  I also think that some people will wander aimlessly through life.  We all have different personalities and different motivators.  Without boundaries, decisions are very difficutl to make.

Glass Ceiling Opinion

I am working on the research for my paper on the topic of the glass ceiling.  I did find the reading for class this week very interesting since it was on this subject.  My initial feelings on the subject are that I feel this issue is not a major issue any more.  Now, I speak from my own limited experience.  I've had 4 "big girl" jobs as I like to call them.  The first job I was a secretary for a department whose department head was a woman.  My second job was as a buyer with a female VP of the company.  My third job was almost totally male, but there was a female manager in our agency.  My current job has a female GM.  The smaller companies that I've worked for have been much more female friendly.  I didn't really get to see much out of my department in the larger companies that I worked for based on the job I held at the time.  I also feel that as a mom and wife, I am not looking to move into too much more stress in my jobs.  Maybe I will be looking for that in the future after my daughter is grown, but not for now.  I have all the stress I can handle.  I think perhaps the smaller companies are more willing to take on females in higher positions than larger companies.  All the normal reasons are used in my logic on that particular point.  I'm more looking at the issue of whether women are holding themselves back.  I have no problem admitting that I would rather not give up any more time with my family.  I don't feel that it makes me less of a woman or less of a leader to say that.  I feel it makes me a better manager since I need to get the tasks done and get home.  No dragging things out forever to make a decision.  Another issue that I have no problem with is riding the coattails of someone else to get the position that I want.  For instance one of my "kid jobs" was for a huge corporation.  I started at the very very bottom.  After 6 years I'd moved up in the part time positions to where I'd go full time to keep working there.  They were not female friendly, however, if I had a male friend in management that was on the rise and liked me, he would have pushed to take me with him.  I'd always have to stay behind him on the corporate ladder, but I'm ok with that.  I know others will disagree with me on this, but I think it opens up an interesting debate.

Balance of family, work and school

The thoughts on my mind tonight are revolving around finding a nice balance between family, work and school.  I'm always amazed at the amount of time that can be taken up by any one thing that leaves no time for anything else.  My job seems to be in crisis mode about half of the time.  We manufacturer so there are always issues with breakdowns or call offs or ingredients that have to be dealt with before I can go home for the day.  If there is an overwhelming amount of problems, then the stress of work comes home with me for sure.  Mentally I bring it home and sometimes I bring actual work home that needs to be finished.  I very much enjoy my job and my husband works a job with long hours too.
Once I get home, there's all the normal stuff like making dinner and cleaning up from dinner.  Then I get to play with my daughter for a little while before she goes to bed.  I enjoy this time and struggle with it as well.  With stress from work hanging in my mind, I have found that my patience with my 3 year old is very limited.  I don't enjoy playing the same thing over and over again, but I know this is what she enjoys and needs for her development right now.
Add to all this, school work.  If it was just going to class, that would not be too bad.  One night a week out at class while my daughter and husband get to bond is not a bad thing.  The tough decisions come into play when my daughter goes to bed at night.  This is the brief amount of time that I have to accomplish whatever I need to get done.  This is sometimes work, sometimes school work and sometimes taking care of my home.
How does all this stay in balance?  My husband is very understanding and knows that this stress is temporary.  It lasts for a semester then there is relief for a few weeks before it begins again.  Do I spend my small amount of time on things for work or school?  Do either of these items cut into my time with my daughter?  I pretty much hold that time for her since I work all day, but how do I make this time relaxing and not stressful?  Many questions to answer as a working mother and wife.

Job Transition

Is it better to have time to transition from one job to another or be thrown into a new position to figure it out for yourself in the sink or swim fashion?  When I started my job the office manager was already gone from the company.  The girl who was filling in that position was also gone already.  They had even hired a new manager who had stayed for 1 month and then quit.  The tasks of the position were very chaotic and very behind schedule by this time.  I was hired and handed the piles of work that needed to be accomplished.  Everyone that worked with me was very helpful to answer questions, but I was sort of on my own to read through things and dig for answers.  The learning curve is tough in this job scenario.
On the other hand, I'm aware that I will receive a promotion in June next year.  My supervisor is retiring and is aware of my promotion.  In fact, she and I get along very well and she has know that I would take over for her since I was hired.  She's been planning towards this end for about 5 years now.  Now that the time is actually approaching her retirement, I'm trying to just continue doing my work as normal and observe as much as I can of her job.  I feel like I'm expected to be able to step in at any given time to make the appropriate decisions as if I am already in that position.  Then there are times when I volunteer to do things that seem simple and within the bounds of my current job as office manager, and my supervisor tells me that she's not gone yet, and doesn't want to feel useless.
What a predicament to be in.  I find myself saying "not my department" quite a bit now.  It's tough.  I'm not sure which way is better to take on a job.  Any suggestions or opinions?

Micromanaging

I'd like to know the very specific definition of micromanaging.  The reason I want to know is because it is very difficult to work for a manager who is a micro manager.  What do you do then when you are instructed to follow in these same ways?  Here's the scenario.  Let's say you are a hard worker who has been in management for many years.  You are hired into a management position and given a lot of room to do your job.  As time goes on, you continue to acquire more and more responsibility.  Along with this responsibility comes inside knowledge of how things really work behind the scenes.  You begin to see all the managers for who they really are and not who they appear to be in front of everyone else.  Now you are really noticing that the complaints you have been hearing over the years about being micromanaged are actually noticeable.  So, going forward, you decide this is definitely not for you.  You have no intentions of ever managing like this.  You've always been really good about hiring good people that you can trust to do their jobs well so you don't have to micromanage them.  You've always been taught that if you give your employees their instructions and trust them to do their jobs, they will follow through.  If you treat your people well, they will work well for you.  You have now spent many years working for a manager who is a micro manager.  You are also well aware that his manager is a micro manager as well and pushes for things to be done that way.  You are going to be promoted within a year and your boss is retiring.  You are beginning to find yourself falling into the trap of micromanaging as well.  How does this come about?  How do you fix it before it is too late?  How do you not alienate your employees during this transition period?

Glass Ceiling

I'm thinking about writing my research paper on the glass ceiling.  I have hesitations about this, and I'll tell you why.  I want to approach it from a viewpoint that in the last 10 years the glass ceiling has been challenged and shattered in some cases.  I want to believe that it is becoming more and more obsolete.  My concern on this topic is will I be able to find the research in periodicals and journals with it being a relatively recent time frame or will I only be able to reference websites?  I tried to log into EBSCO host through the library website but alas, in this tech age, I have to physically walk into the student union building to some office I've never heard of to fill out a paper form and show photo id to get a card that has a number on it that I can use to log into the online library. So much for the modern age.  I'm digressing.  Back to my topic.  I am hesitant to choose the glass ceiling topic for this big reason.  I am female. I do not like to use any excuse for not succeeding.  I want to believe that I hold my own destiny in my hands not that someone else my feel that I should be successful just because I'm female and they need to fill a quota.  I'm insulted at that line of thinking.  I am perfectly capable of working and earning my way to any position that I desire to achieve.  If I do not achieve a goal, I have no one to blame but myself.  That being said, I've never really worked at a place that I felt viewed females as lesser employees than males.  I am pleased that I can say that.  Also, I am pleased that where I work now, the general manager is female and very good at her job.  I am the office (usually female) and production (usually male) manager.  I hold a hybrid position and have had no difficulties doing both jobs because of being female.  We have several male managers as well.  In fact I feel we have a good mix.  We all seem to work well together and I think the dynamic of personalities work well together too.

Time for Blogging

I have had some fun with some of my friends since I started this class.  On the first night of class we starting talking about blogs and wikis and Twitter.  Right away, I had to start talking about it to my friends and make them feel old because they had no idea what I was talking about.  I work in a great job with great people who for the most part are on the motor head side instead of the techy side of life.  They look at me like I'm nuts saying words like blog and wiki.  It's entertaining for me to razz them.  That being said, I don't generally participate in blogs and things like that because I find that I get lost in them and want to edit, comment and play with backgrounds.  All of a sudden I find that time has almost disappeared.  I work about 43-45 hours a week at work.  I have a husband, daughter and dog to take care of in the evening.  Once Sami (my daughter) goes to bed at 7:30, I get my work back out and put in another 1 1/2 hours at home most nights and at least one weekend day most weeks.  This semester class gets added in one night a week and somewhere in there, I have to find time for homework.  I hold every moment precious at this point and worry that blogging will quickly eat more moments than I want.  So far, I've been able to keep it under control, but I am trying to be vigilant with focusing on class work only.

Background

My name is Becky.  I work at Tom Sturgis Pretzels in Shillington.  I have worked there for 6 years now.  I absolutely love where I work.  I am a manager and have had the privilege of hiring my own employees to work with me.  Of course, having said this, I love who I work with in the office.  About 1 1/2 years ago my job duties expanded to include production.  I work full time plus in the office as the office manager, and I am the on call manager for 24 hour production as the production supervisor.

As for my home life, I have been married for 10 years and have an adorable 3 year old daughter.  She loves coloring and playing with play dough.  She is the best and most trying thing in my life.  If you don't have kids you can't judge me on that statement.

I am just over half way done getting my MBA.  I started about 4 years ago.  I put off going back to school trying to decide whether I wanted to get my MBA or get my RN.  After thinking about it for about 3 years, I finally decided to go with the MBA program.  Of coure, I promptly got pregnant.  I took 3 classes while I was pregnant then took about a year off after having my daughter.  Now, I'm trying to balance a 3 year old, a husband, a job and school.  Some semesters are easier than others.  Fall is our busy season at work, so this semester looks to be super stressful.