Corp Goals vs Personal Goals...and frustration

[lookintomyeyes]

I feel very conflicted lately, and am interested in any viewpoints/suggestions that would assist me in dealing with my current work situation.

I work in a specialized multi-disciplined field of engineering, where alot of the senior staff has retired or moved on. In the last 5 years, I've gone from newbie to one of the most senior people here. We've had a hiring rush, and now we have a fair amount of staff who needs to learn their job.

As a result, I've been voluntold that I now need to 'shift off as much design work as possible, and focus on checking the new engineers work'.
Previously, I was able to one-on-one mentor new employees, and I felt it was very effective - I had newbie up-to-speed in record time! But now I'm being told to let other's do the training.

Let me state that I LOVE mentoring - it's one of those activities that makes me feel useful and a contributing member of a team.
I also love design. Somedays its stressful, but overall it gives a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

In contrast, checking others' designs can be maddening. While I 100% understand it's necessity, it's frustrating to identify mistakes in coworker's work. It inevitably makes you question how well they know their stuff, and if they are the ones training the new staff, it only makes me worry that these errors will be compounded. I realize errors are human, but I also wish others' had enough knowledge to find some of my mistakes as well (as I'm sure im not perfect!) Training plans right now are also a co-decision between myself and two others, and while I'm trying to respect others' decisions, sometimes I really wish I didn't have to bite my tongue.

I'm a new supervisor (less than 1 year under my belt), and I'm also having difficulty dealing with the quiet of being in an office, 'closed off from the rest of the world'. Because I've been given a few high profile projects (on top of my 'design checking' tasks), I've been told I need to have others' book meetings with me rather than let them 'drop in'. I used to value the co-learning that occurs from 'ad hoc' meetings over cubicle walls, so this further increases my feelings of alienation. I also dont like that being a 'supervisor' means I'm not equal to my coworkers anymore, as now I do their performance evaluations, and have to be more careful about my actions, conversations, etc.

It also makes me worry for the future - our management right now is very concerned about "bringing new staff up to speed quickly, while completing all our tasts". We are in the middle of a budget freeze, so travel and finances are really restricting professional development. I've been pushing for opportunities to grow my technical knowledge, withs ome success, but I still feel concerned that in the next 5 years, everyone will be "up to my skill level", and I'll be no further ahead.

I realize there are more than a few concerns in the above, so replies may be a mix of solutions. I DO love my job, and the people in it, I'm just struggling to be happy accepting the changes the last year has brought.

 

[SteelPE]

I have never been in your situation so take this with a grain of salt.

I think you may be look at this in the wrong way. You mention the fact that in 5 years everyone will be up to your skill level and you will be no further ahead. In fact you will have 5 years of management under your belt while the others will not. You engineering skill level will probably increase slightly as well because you are managing many other engineers and you may learn a few things as well.

You also mention that reviewing others engineering calculations as maddening and you are beginning to question their knowledge. Are they new grads or are they people who have been in the business for many years? I would think the best approach would be to keep a record of mistakes made by employees so you can identify if an employee is making improvement or staying the same. I also imagine at some point in time you will be asked to evaluate the staff an make recommendations for staffing requirements (and possibly who should be laid off). Are employees coming up to speed or are they lagging behind? Which ones are the best performers? Is their lack of performance because of their mentor?

If you don't like being in the position you are currently in maybe you could ask for a demotion.

 

[lookintomyeyes]

Hi SteelPE, thanks for the comments:

1) Most of the newbies are a few years below me, so they are learning and its acceptable. A few others have more knowledge and perhaps should know better, but they seem to have taken my discussions with them with a grain of salt and better understand WHY the mistake should not reoccur. Part of the issue is a lack of standardized training and documentation, which we are working on developing.
2) I have NO desire for management. I've never been interested in it, and have always wanted to be a technical specialist. I've taken a supervision course that gave me some appreciation for being a good supervisor, but I still don't feel that it holds as much 'value' to me.

I'm struggling with which should change - my viewpoint, or parts of my career. I'm very happy with my life, my technical work, my work ethic, who I am as a person, and my goals for the future. So I don't really want to change them - but I'm questioning if I should, somehow, try to?

 

[SteelPE]

Unfortunately management may be your only direction for growth at your current employer.

It seems like you are in a bind. You like your employer and are recognizing they need your help with your department. You are helping them for now but want to go back to an engineering roll at some point. Maybe you discuss this with your boss and see what they say.

Good luck.

Again, I have never been in your position so take what I say very lightly.

 

[truckandbus]

My current employer has two career paths for engineers - management or technical leadership. Both paths have simlilar compensation as you progress. It is up to the employee to adivse which path they want to be on. There is nothing worse than a reluctant supervisor.

 

[lookintomyeyes]

@truckandbus:

My employer has these two streams as well, at least in theory.
In reality, we are in a looming-deadline-work-crunch, and they don't need technical experts at this stage, they just need reasonably-competant people to get the work done. I tried speaking to my old boss, who counselled me that the only way to progress in the technical stream was still to take on some supervision duties, and that any technical progression will have to be self-driven for the next while (with likely no funding, and little if any time approved to spend on it.) So I've feel like I've been reduced to a basic grunt, at least for the next 5 years til our major projects are completed, and other staff are up to speed.

And btw, I became a supervisor as a result of a discussion that went as follows:
Boss: So what would you think of having an office?
Me: "I don't think i'd enjoy it, but I'd try not to whine about it?"
Boss: OK, you're getting an office. (Note: its more like a windowless closet )
(the following month)
Boss: "So what do you think about becoming a supervisor?"
Me: I'm hesitant because I've always wanted to be a technical expert, and I'm not really interested in progressing into a management role. However, I realize I've been the one initiating process improvements in the last while, and mentoring newer staff, as I like both of these tasks and the benefit they have on our group. But I really don't like basic HR duties.
Boss: Congrats, you're going to be a supervisor!
(next month...boss leave and new boss comes in )

 

[KENAT]

Is your new manager aware of your reticence over your supervision role?

Are you unhappy enough to consider greener grass elsewhere?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[TheTick]

Lots of senior staff moved on? Perhaps there is one lesson left to learn from them...

 

[lookintomyeyes]

@Kenat - I'm not sure. Its been a whirlwind few months since he started, and I honestly can't recall in what detail we've discussed the issue.
I want to sit down and talk to him about it, but I want to firm things up in my own mind, and come up with solutions, so that I'm not "just a whiner", but someone with a firm belief, and an action plan for moving forwards.


@Thetick - 1 boss got assigned to a special project in a different area, another left because 'a happy wife brings a happy life', and the 3rd for a combination of job stress & health issues. So not quite for the same reasons.

 

[SteelPE]

Are you 100% sure about their excuses. I blame my wife for everything. I wonder if others might do the same. He may have not told the truth because he doesn't want to burn bridges.

 

[lookintomyeyes]

The wife one is definitely true - we'd discussed it at length at one point (we were on good terms, I liked him) and he'd been away from home too much, they were looking to start a family. He still speaks fondly about our company and encourages me to stay here.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Don't ask permission for this:
Get yourself a second desk, out in the 'bullpen' area, and commit yourself to be easily available while you are working there.
At the same time, let it be known that you are not available when you are in your closet with the door closed.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[truckandbus]

Again, there is nothing worse than a reluctant supervisor. Providing mentoring and technical guidance are the actions of a technical leader, not a manager. It sounds like you have enough value to the company that you won't get canned if you step away from the role you have been forced into.

 

[lacajun]

My sister managed a production line, high profile product, for 3 years and didn't like it. She never aspired to management either but was put in that position. She left it and went to software engineering. She loved it and never looked back. She was never to be considered again for management but that wasn't her desire to begin with.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC