Ask your boss: the reasons behind hiring, promotion, pay, micromanaging
Through the ages, bosses have tended to get a bad rap.
Think of the man who refused to promote Dolly Parton in her 1980 song “9 To 5” or micromanaging Bill Lumbergh in 1999 cult classic “Office Space.”
These caricatures belie a bigger, problematic truth about our work culture: a supreme lack of understanding among rank-and-file workers about what the person in charge actually does.
That divide came into sharp relief when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked readers for questions they would like to ask their bosses.
One reader’s question summed up the gap: “What exactly is your job?”
CEOs “are not going to be perceived as relevant if folks don’t see them, hear them and see them as connected to their day-to-day concerns,” said Audrey Smith, a senior vice president for Development Dimensions International, a Bridgeville-based human resources and leadership development consulting firm.
Ms. Smith said she tells bosses to make communication genuine, transparent and a routine rather than an event.
Pittsburgh-area CEOs interviewed for this story said they draw from their experiences as a subordinate to maintain an open-door policy — to share information while also taking criticism to heart.
When he wasn’t the guy in charge, “I was often asking about the strategic direction of the company,” said Gary Waters, CEO of 4moms, the baby-focused tech company based Downtown.
He said he draws on his organizational behavior class from business school every day.
That class “was all about
personalities and leadership styles and group dynamics. And at the time, when you’re young, it’s easy to dismiss that stuff as not being the real meat of the work.
“But the most important factor to getting the job done is having the right people. It sounds trite, but it’s true.”
Steven Massaro, CEO of Massaro Corp., began working for his father, Joseph A. Massaro Jr., in 1988 — a period when the O’Hara construction company faced difficult times. After several hard years, the family drew up a strategy that kept the company afloat.
It became clear that they had to personally take responsibility for recruiting and retaining people, Mr. Massaro said.
He still remembers seeing an employee lay down a letter of resignation to go to a competitor. Mr. Massaro’s father said, “That’s not your fault. I failed you.”
Ultimately, it’s the ability to have an honest conversation about job performance that will create a healthy workplace. Because — really — the boss is really no different than you.
“At the end of the day, everyone wants feedback,” said Lisa Scales, CEO of Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “It sounds so simple, but they really want to know, ‘How am I doing? Am I doing a good job?’”