A time existed when a manager held responsibility for dozens or more workers. The entire warehouse or building reported to a single person. Today, you walk into an office where everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has a management title. The receptionist became the Front Desk Manager. The hostess became the Guest Experience Leader. The barber is now the Grooming Manager. George Carlin would have had a field day!

Welcome To Management!

Sure, the thesaurus helped dilute some of the names like administrator, controller, supervisor, lead, head, director, and others. But what drove businesses to waste an estimated $3 trillion per year in productivity to make 30% or more of their workforce managers? Harvard Law explains it all (Link).

We know it’s not necessary. In a 2016 Harvard Business Review article (Link), case studies showed a GE plant with 300 technicians reporting to a single supervisor and a Swedish bank with 12,000 workers had only three levels of hierarchy. The average ratio of employees to managers in the US is 4.7 to 1!

Of course, Harvard is focused on productivity and they believe half of these managers should be reclassified to work on actual productive pursuits. Unfortunately, most private and publicly traded companies don’t really need all those people. Public sector positions, which are funded by tax payers, could also use a solid cleaning. Enter the Department of Government Efficiency.

Management of Your Taxes!

Now, I’m not getting into the politics, but if the department does what its name implies, I would expect higher productivity with less people in government positions. Listen carefully because what I’m about to say might shock you. Public sector (Government Jobs) pays MUCH less than private sector (Corporate Jobs). I know, right? But why?

Back to funding. Governments don’t mind asking for over $100 Million in taxpayer funds for an F-35 fighter jet, but you expect a cybersecurity expert to work for the government at half price? The hope here is by removing unnecessary or redundant people, those remaining can be given comparable pay to the private sector, thereby eliciting better talent. That will mean no more “hiding” in a job for 20 years then collecting a pension.

Corporate Management

Back to the private sector. Why all the managers? You would expect the title to require more responsibility, better pay, and serve as a promotion for hard work and dedication. Then you realize all they did was change the title from Receptionist to Front Desk Manager. But they also made the job a salary position, which is EXEMPT from overtime! This LinkedIn articles explains (Link).

According to the Department of Labor, wage theft is second only to safety violations for corporate offenders. Unfortunately, the Federal Labor Standards Act allows this to happen! Remember when they raised the Federal Minimum Wage to $7.25 in 2009? They slipped in the ability to arbitrarily reclassify workers to “managers” (Link).

Don’t grab your pitchforks and head to the streets just yet. Several states have filed lawsuits to reverse this. Many State and Local public sector jobs are now correcting this, 15 years later. But if your job is suddenly reclassified, you understand how and why.

Why The Desire?

I have worked since I was 14. I fully believe that all sectors, public, private, and publicly traded, should function solely on merit. Granted, there are some industries and job titles that must be more lax simply due to the lack of skilled or unskilled workers. But, if you have a position, you only receive raises and promotions because they are earned or because of a cost of living increase.

I blame colleges (Link). Colleges incorrectly tell every person that passes through their halls they are brilliant and will all be CEOs some day. Not physically possible. Some college graduates have zero life, personal, and problem solving skills. They are not management material!

I also blame the military. OK, mostly military video games. In the Army, you start at the bottom as an enlisted soldier. If you work hard, keep your nose clean, go to college, and are accepted for Officer training, you literally can work your way through the 20+ ranks to become a five-star General over the whole Army. I don’t believe it’s ever been done, but it’s possible.

Yes, I know. In our grandparents’ days, you were the expert at your job and worked that job for 50 years. No one wanted to be the manager. They simply wanted to do their jobs. I guess today, we are so easily bored with our jobs, we constantly want to know what’s next.

Management Managed

Trust me when I say more managers only complicates matters. In fact many “managers” aren’t qualified to do the work their title indicates, especially in Information Technology (IT). A non-technical manager in IT is wasted money that could be spent on technology, mostly cybersecurity. How many managers need to be on a troubleshooting call to ensure an engineer can work together with a technician to resolve a problem? If your engineer and technician are remotely competent, the answer is NONE!

I’ve spent HOURS on calls with a dozen “managers” troubleshooting an issue. Each always has their own idea of the problem, whether from previous experience or wild ideas. But when the root cause is determined the hen house all squawks out.

• “That doesn’t seem right.”
• “Are you sure?”
• “That doesn’t make sense.”
• And my personal favorite, “this issue has dragged on long enough.”

Truth is, a “Manager” should have all the knowledge of the people reporting to them in order to call nonsense when one of their own employees fails to do their job. A manager should be able to step in and perform the duties of those beneath them, marginally. Today’s organization chart is a hundred layers of people who can’t even manage what they do because their managers have no idea. How can they manage those below them? Is it an org chart or a family tree?

Many companies have created complex webs of policy and people in response to legal or compliance requirements. Others hire people in anticipation of growth. Then there are those who post jobs for positions they are in the middle of laying off. You know who are, Ernst and Young.

Too Big to Manage?

Other companies are in constant acquisition mode. Take CapitalOne, for instance, who just completed the “merger” with Discover. Yes, it’s time to get rid of that card, too. Every single acquisition by a company creates redundant positions. If most companies are already running with 30% managers, where do the new ones go?

If you’ve never been involved in a merger or acquisition, the legality is questionable at best. The smaller or acquired company typically slims down before the official close date. Many will be laid off or let go and hiring will stop. This is meant to create more profit for investors and executives of the purchased company.

Once the deal is done, the remaining employees on both sides will see more layoffs and office closings. Who needs to pay for two Manhattan high-rise buildings? Those that remain are pitted against one another in a Squid Game-style battle. Everyone from middle management down must reapply and interview for their own jobs. How is this legal?

Divided

Some say the wealthy businesses should shoulder the cost of extra workers to keep unemployment down. Investors believe companies should run clean and efficient, not wasting money unnecessarily. But what would happen if the whole world suddenly ran efficiently?

If every company in the world suddenly combed through their departments and ran lean, the US would see a jump of over 20 million unemployed. Where would they go? What would they do? It’s not an easy problem to fix, but here’s a parting thought.

Corporations, especially publicly-traded Fortune 500 companies, appear to be swimming in capital. I know, that’s not always true. Why can’t they find bright young people in high school and fund their college? The potential employee would come to the company with the correct education and training on Day 1. Why hire ten people to do parts of a job if you can mold the right person? I already know the answer. Companies believe Human Resources are expendable (Link).