I have a new job

Gilly

Gilly

Gilly

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Joined
17 Oct 2002
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I'm back baby!
So I'm leaving my current employer on the 5th August. This is the first time in nearly 18 years that I will have had a new employer. I've moved around within the company and changed roles many times but never to a new employer.

I've been a technical operations manager, and am currently a service architect. I'm going back into technical people management.

I've been given the message that I'll be free to manage my own way in many things. For disciplinaries and grievances and so on, there are clear business processes but for performance management and pay awards and so on I'll be doing my own thing. These are the new elements for me.

My ethos as a technical manager has always been that I work for my teams, even if hierarchically they work for me. My job is to allow them to do their job to the best of their ability whilst keeping an eye on the strategy of the business and aligning our workflows with that.

Any tips?
 
Firstly good news and good luck :)

Gilly said:
My ethos as a technical manager has always been that I work for my teams, even if hierarchically they work for me. My job is to allow them to do their job to the best of their ability whilst keeping an eye on the strategy of the business and aligning our workflows with that.
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In my very limited experience (~3 years) as a "Manager", it has been my approach and seems to work well. I don't consider myself to be "above" the 2 staff who report to me, and would never ask them to do anything that I wouldn't do (or haven't already done) myself.
 
Armageus said:
Firstly good news and good luck :)



In my very limited experience (~3 years) as a "Manager", it has been my approach and seems to work well. I don't consider myself to be "above" the 2 staff who report to me, and would never ask them to do anything that I wouldn't do (or haven't already done) myself.
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I think the issue with a lot of people is that they think they are there to manage people, not lead them.

I've always aimed to be a leader over a manager.
 
That is great news. Wishing you good luck and a successful future! :)

Any time off or is it straight into the new job?
 
Gilly said:
My ethos as a technical manager has always been that I work for my teams, even if hierarchically they work for me. My job is to allow them to do their job to the best of their ability whilst keeping an eye on the strategy of the business and aligning our workflows with that.
Click to expand...

As long as you stick to this should be fine ;) Nothing worse than a manager who doesn't have his teams interests at heart.

Have their back and look out for them so they can get on with their job :)

Am also curious as to who you've moved over to if another services type co ;)
 
Gilly said:
for performance management and pay awards and so on I'll be doing my own thing. These are the new elements for me.
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I'd be surprised if there isn't at least some sort of framework/guidelines to adhere to for performance management and boundaries on pay reviews, unless it is a very small company. To be honest I'd be a bit concerned if a line manager had total autonomy on that side of things and it could lead to me being treated 'unfairly' compared to the rest of company. On the flipside it would at least take away the 'my hands are tied' excuses when pay rises are not large enough (a previous employer had a 5% cap on annual pay reviews for people staying in the same job, excluding counter-offers).
 
Thanks for all the good luck wishes folks :) I don't have any time in between, I finish a week today and start a week on Monday :)

Ev0 said:
As long as you stick to this should be fine ;) Nothing worse than a manager who doesn't have his teams interests at heart.

Have their back and look out for them so they can get on with their job :)

Am also curious as to who you've moved over to if another services type co ;)
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Um. Not sure if I should name them right now, but yes it's a competitor of current employer :)

HangTime said:
I'd be surprised if there isn't at least some sort of framework/guidelines to adhere to for performance management and boundaries on pay reviews, unless it is a very small company. To be honest I'd be a bit concerned if a line manager had total autonomy on that side of things and it could lead to me being treated 'unfairly' compared to the rest of company. On the flipside it would at least take away the 'my hands are tied' excuses when pay rises are not large enough (a previous employer had a 5% cap on annual pay reviews for people staying in the same job, excluding counter-offers).
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There are frameworks but it's not as prescriptive as the last place :)
 
Congrats and good luck, Gilly.

Obviously you aren't every subordinates' mate-mate and the work will always demand a degree of detached objectivity, but never lose sight of the human factor in tech, it'll always set you apart and lead to a much happier team.

Indeed, even in the industry which might make the more humanist approach seem like a non-sequitur, those who feel like machinemen under a clockwork manager, end up breaking down like one too; it's hard to put right afterwards and productivity suffers (especially if you're in anything remotely creative).

Caged said:
All those Visio skills for nothing :(
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He'll have a tea boy intern do that for him from now on.
 
Tips?

Represent your team. Be the go-between so that your guys don't have to deal with the crap. Stand up for your team members, even if it is negative (where sensible).

If you know your stuff your team will respect you, and you will have a better team.

Good luck :)
 
Congrats Gilly

Did you move because of all the extra travel and hours you were being asked to do? Did you try to negotiate or just go straight in with resignation letter?
 
Cheers :) I did my level best to move internally but there was no appetite to change it.
 
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