When IDIOTS Get Promoted in a Co.

[Spectra18]

So wife comes home yesterday dumbfounded by the fact her manager who is dumb as rocks and has a reputation in the company for being lazy got promoted to a District Manager. I think he will self destruct, but how did the higher bosses in charge not know this and how did he get by with the interview ? Any thoughts ?

ps : many well qualified people interviewed and it’s a huge nation wide company.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Is he a black, gay and in a wheelchair?

 

[DWC]

The game has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years. It’s gone absolutely nuts in the last 18mos. The “best” person doesn’t necessarily get the nod anymore. Degrees, diversity and knowing how to play the game matters more. Not just for the person up for the job but the team they run also. It could be as simple as they had a good walk/visit vs a bad one.. You’re right though. It all evens out in the end. I’ve seen countless people get promoted too early only to be fired in 1-2 Yrs because they weren’t ready.

 

[DWC]

Is he a black, gay and in a wheelchair?

I went to lunch with an old boss who had just got promoted to SVP. We were joined by her black, female friend that was also an officer with the company. Her joke was “if i was just in a wheelchair I’d be CEO”. Funny as hell.

 

[2Driver]

The real threat to the company is the incompetent leader promoting the assclowns.

 

[Singleton]

So many factors. Some folks look like idiots, but manage up better then you expect. In my current role, I see it a ton. More about how many folks know your name vs the skill set. Idiots also do as they are told, and a ton of folks don’t want those that say ‘why are we doing this’ on the team. I prefer the opposite, I prefer my managers to challenge what and how we do things, allowing the team to get consistently better, more efficient and effective.

I did a career path modification in 2014 due to minority candidates. After interviewing for Chief Audit Executive positions at 3 companies and being told more then once (your the best candidate based on resume, references and interviews. However the CFO and CEO want to hire in a diversity candidate). I knew it was time to shift career paths. 2 of those 3 companies have called since then asking if I would be interested in interviewing again for the position, all were told “thanks for calling, but I am happy where I am at currently from a career growth prospective.” As I hang up the phone, I always tell my wife; no F’ing way will I work for a company that hires based on race, culture or sex vs most skilled for the position.

 

[azsunfun]

management wants yes men or woman, if you express ideas or thoughts on improvements your not a team player, and it's noted, never had a evaluation where improvement was'nt mentioned. huh?

 

[Inland Air Balance]

Turtle on a fence post comes to mind…. Doesn’t belong there, doesn’t know how it got there, and doesn’t know how to get down.

 

[Shlbyntro]

management wants yes men or woman, if you express ideas or thoughts on improvements your not a team player, and it's noted, never had a evaluation where improvement was'nt mentioned. huh?

Don't I know it

 

[Spectra18]

Is he a black, gay and in a wheelchair?

nope. Just a guy that’s slipped by. Wife had to help him lookup a simple menu for a restaurant after his interview, that’s how incompetent he is. He wanted to buy the bosses lunch.

 

[RodnJen]

It's hard to say. I worked for a guy that liked to hire people that needed his input. Competency of his management team wasn't as important as his need for staff to come to him for help, and the answers according to him.

 

[Mandelon]

Bosses like a free lunch. Maybe that's the answer. He is better at ass kissing and getting along with people.

 

[Wedgy]

So wife comes home yesterday dumbfounded by the fact her manager who is dumb as rocks and has a reputation in the company for being lazy got promoted to a District Manager. I think he will self destruct, but how did the higher bosses in charge not know this and how did he get by with the interview ? Any thoughts ?

ps : many well qualified people interviewed and it’s a huge nation wide company.

Knee Pads. Ask Kamala

 

[Christopher Lucero]

risk on. getting ready to pull something off...need a fall guy.

 

[gqchris]

Bosses like a free lunch. Maybe that's the answer. He is better at ass kissing and getting along with people.

This is the answer right here.

 

[JDKRXW]

risk on. getting ready to pull something off...need a fall guy.

This is when you pull someone from the union into management.

 

[CLdrinker]

Why is it every time I hear that a boss is dumb or incompetent it always comes from people in lower positions not higher?
Think about that.
Employees in lower positions are more worried about bitching and complaining than doing something that gets them the opportunity.

The people above don’t waste time complaining they are to busy looking ahead.

 

[nowski]

I believe the less qualified are promoted over the fully qualified because who will get shit done if the fully qualified person is promoted???

Just my observation over the years...

 

[Shortdeck]

Promotions go like this:
Fuck up, suck up, move up. [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[samsah33]

Its called the "peter principle"

^^^expanding on this. It's a well-studied dynamic in corporate hierarchy that people who perform well in an organization will continue to get promoted until they suck at their current position and then they will cease to be further promoted. This means that most managers in a company have risen to their own level of incompetence.

 

[nowski]

Promotions go like this:
Fuck up, suck up, move up. [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's a lot of truth to that statement. Sometimes it's cheaper to promote a guy than it is to save his a$$ when he screws things up...

 

[CLdrinker]

Promotions go like this:
Fuck up, suck up, move up. [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If it’s were only that easy.

 

[Singleton]

Why is it every time I hear that a boss is dumb or incompetent it always comes from people in lower positions not higher?
Think about that.
Employees in lower positions are more worried about bitching and complaining than doing something that gets them the opportunity.

The people above don’t waste time complaining they are to busy looking ahead.

I always tell my team members.
Not only do you need the skills (core competencies, etc), and those skills must be consistently demonstration for a period of time, you also need an opportunity for promotion. That opportunity could be handed to you as an assignment/project, self identified or volunteered for. Usually those self identified carry more weight then those assigned to you. Once given the opportunity, you have to excel.

When I see someone get promoted that I think is an idiot, I usually have to ask myself what have I done in the last 6-18 months to get promoted. What opportunity did I take that was a risk and how did I perform. When I do that, I usually figure out why that person was promoted and why I was not.

In all my years in mgmt, I have concluded 2 idiots where promoted and those were folks that got the promotion I wanted

 

[DWC]

Employees in lower positions are more worried about bitching and complaining than doing something that gets them the opportunity

- Ton of truth here. We do reviews every 6mos. It’s amazing how many people don’t hear and/or don’t listen to feedback. It could be feedback to get better or to keep their job but some people can’t break their habits.
- Most large companies rank their employees, lists strengths/weaknesses and has regular meetings to discuss who’s up for the next promos. Good leaders will be honest on where you stand and what you need to do. As a general rule, If you’re not sure if your up for a promotion, you’re not.
- My favorite time of the year is our team holiday party. Everyone brings their spouses/significant others. It’s the one time of year i get to know exactly what everyone on the team thinks of me. Employees are good actors. Wife’s/husbands aren’t.

 

[Badchoices03]

Why is it every time I hear that a boss is dumb or incompetent it always comes from people in lower positions not higher?
Think about that.
Employees in lower positions are more worried about bitching and complaining than doing something that gets them the opportunity.

The people above don’t waste time complaining they are to busy looking ahead.

I was gonna say the same thing, in almost every company I have worked for I have heard "my boss is a fkn idiot, I don't know how he got that job, must be kissing ass".

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

You think it's bad in the private sector? If you really want to have your mind blown talk to someone that works for the government where it's damn near impossible to get fired.

 

[clarence]

Who cares?

There are Saudi princes boinking IG babes while third-worlders are sweeping his driveway with palm fronds.

Life's not fair.

 

[Your ad here]

Like said above, life's not fair. When you choose to be an employee of an employer, when it comes down to it the employer makes the final decision and its their decision to make as the owner. Some agree and some don't. Just got to move on. Seniority in the work place goes over my head. Only person that has it is the owner of the company. Employees that pull the seniority card is BS to me. I will say though that people are hired for a specific role.
Sounds like this may be a good topic of conversation at the dinner table for a couple months. Being part of a family business and working with other family businesses there is no shortage of eye opening stories.

 

[bonesfab]

Those that can do, those that can’t get promoted. The old government adage.

 

[pronstar]

Here’s the Peter principle in a pic…it ensures that an organization is full of incompetent workers:

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[lbhsbz]

The game has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years. It’s gone absolutely nuts in the last 18mos. The “best” person doesn’t necessarily get the nod anymore. Degrees, diversity and knowing how to play the game matters more. Not just for the person up for the job but the team they run also. It could be as simple as they had a good walk/visit vs a bad one.. You’re right though. It all evens out in the end. I’ve seen countless people get promoted too early only to be fired in 1-2 Yrs because they weren’t ready.

this…I’m half tempted to kill my business and start a new one in the wife’s name…although since she’s white and doesn’t have any of the buzzwords besides “woman” going for her,it might not help much.

 

[Looking Glass]

The game has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years. It’s gone absolutely nuts in the last 18mos. The “best” person doesn’t necessarily get the nod anymore. Degrees, diversity and knowing how to play the game matters more. Not just for the person up for the job but the team they run also. It could be as simple as they had a good walk/visit vs a bad one.. You’re right though. It all evens out in the end. I’ve seen countless people get promoted too early only to be fired in 1-2 Yrs because they weren’t ready.

What is the Saying? It Ain't What You know, BUT!! Who.

 

[port austin pirate]

It always amazed me that I have had people that were very intelligent that would just ignore facts ,output ,meeting schedules, quality all right there in black and white and favor people that stroked their egos, case in point i had two supervisors that reported to me both nice guys, but one always behind schedule quality problems, the other always meant schedules great quality the plant mgr who I reported to very smart very successfull just loved the first one and rode the other all the time, I lost a lot of points cause i always stood up for the second guy, maybe I was the unusual boss cause I was the dont care if your an asshole to me if your doing your job well guy, never needed to hear all the flattery bullshit we were there to do the job

 

[was thatguy]

In the oilfield people get promoted into jobs where they can cause less trouble...

 

[nordictom]

Here’s the Peter principle in a pic…it ensures that an organization is full of incompetent workers:

View attachment 1021193


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You got to send that to me via email. Need to hang it up in our office..................

 

[petie6464]

Been this was forever: " Not what you know, its who ya know."

I've seen my share of brain- deads get some pretty cush big salary jobs and not have a brain in their skull.

Look at our President!

 

[$hot]

The real threat to the company is the incompetent leader promoting the assclowns.

 

[The Prisoner]

An extinct word…merit.

 

[Looking Glass]

An extinct word…merit.

I most EVERY case Merit is all good on Paper, but in Reality and Life Pesonalities and What/Who you are and Who is going to be working with you on a daily basisLeaps ahead of all the Paperwork.

 

[530RL]

- Ton of truth here. We do reviews every 6mos. It’s amazing how many people don’t hear and/or don’t listen to feedback. It could be feedback to get better or to keep their job but some people can’t break their habits.
- Most large companies rank their employees, lists strengths/weaknesses and has regular meetings to discuss who’s up for the next promos. Good leaders will be honest on where you stand and what you need to do. As a general rule, If you’re not sure if your up for a promotion, you’re not.
- My favorite time of the year is our team holiday party. Everyone brings their spouses/significant others. It’s the one time of year i get to know exactly what everyone on the team thinks of me. Employees are good actors. Wife’s/husbands aren’t.

All good points. Some other observations from my time as a corporate droid climbing the ladder:


Annually terminate the bottom 10% of reviewed employees. Rarely do they need to be replaced to maintain current work levels so you have either cut costs making your group more profitable or you have freed up resources to grow the results. You also weed out those promoted beyond their ability to deliver results.

Management's goals and objectives are not always the same as the employees goals and objectives. If you didn't get promoted this is something to analyze and consider.

Promoting "inbox emptiers" into management is the most common path to the implementing the peter principle. Don't just be an inbox emptier.

 

[rmarion]

The person doing the hiring will hire someone which they do not feel threatened from.
More concerned about losing their job to the new hire... down the road.. LOL

Ask me how I know 3x over..... LOL

After a few truth serum cold ones.... I had one confess a year later that I wanted his job.... LOL

Stupid F..... so much incompetence out there its unreal....

 

[2Driver]

Yep,

Donald Rumsfield once said, A's hire A's and B's hire C's

 

[WhatExit?]

The issue as I've seen it for years is companies' core competency is NOT finding good candidates, NOT interviewing them well, NOT being able to identify which candidate(s) is the best, NOT hiring the candidate quickly enough, NOT having an onboarding process that treats the new hire like a professional.

These days companies are fortunate if they're any good at what they're supposed to be best at. Incompetent leadership is everywhere so it's not all that common for companies to run their business well.

Some suggestions for fixing companies:
* Anyone who doesn't treat the company like it's theirs should be terminated
* Anyone who doesn't hire the best candidate should be terminated
* Anyone looking over their shoulder at subordinates who are "gaining on them" should be terminated
* Whomever promotes someone to their level of incompetence should be terminated along with the incompetent employee

 

[pronstar]

The person doing the hiring will hire someone which they do not feel threatened from.
More concerned about losing their job to the new hire... down the road.. LOL

Ask me how I know 3x over..... LOL

After a few truth serum cold ones.... I had one confess a year later that I wanted his job.... LOL

Stupid F..... so much incompetence out there its unreal....

Someone once posted this, and it’s absolutely true:
If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.


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[Uncle Dave]

I did a career path modification in 2014 due to minority candidates. After interviewing for Chief Audit Executive positions at 3 companies and being told more then once (your the best candidate based on resume, references and interviews. However the CFO and CEO want to hire in a diversity candidate). I knew it was time to shift career paths. 2 of those 3 companies have called since then asking if I would be interested in interviewing again for the position, all were told “thanks for calling, but I am happy where I am at currently from a career growth prospective.” As I hang up the phone, I always tell my wife; no F’ing way will I work for a company that hires based on race, culture or sex vs most skilled for the position.

It's only gotten worse.

This is the state of public companies today especially in California. In Cali women board members are required quota hire.
Optics are as, if not more important than results.
One reason why I prefer to work for private companies or myself.

 

[Your ad here]

The issue as I've seen it for years is companies' core competency is NOT finding good candidates, NOT interviewing them well, NOT being able to identify which candidate(s) is the best, NOT hiring the candidate quickly enough, NOT having an onboarding process that treats the new hire like a professional.

These days companies are fortunate if they're any good at what they're supposed to be best at. Incompetent leadership is everywhere so it's not all that common for companies to run their business well.

Some suggestions for fixing companies:
* Anyone who doesn't treat the company like it's theirs should be terminated
* Anyone who doesn't hire the best candidate should be terminated
* Anyone looking over their shoulder at subordinates who are "gaining on them" should be terminated
* Whomever promotes someone to their level of incompetence should be terminated along with the incompetent employee

Awhile back I applied at a company that does excavation and utility installations. Applied twice and got an interview the second time but the guy interviewing me fast tracked the interview and glanced at my resume. Never heard back and the guy that interviewed after me was wearing pajamas and had his cholo buddy with him.
Almost a year later I'm working across the street from the owner of that company. He comes over and ask what's going on and in short tries to recruit me. Told him no thanks as I already applied twice and they never got back. His face went to pissed off, not at me, and ask who interviewed me. Gave him the description of the guy and he said he fired him awhile ago because that guy was incompetent in hiring the correct help.

 

[Bobby V]

this…I’m half tempted to kill my business and start a new one in the wife’s name…although since she’s white and doesn’t have any of the buzzwords besides “woman” going for her,it might not help much.

If your saying you want to be a Women Business Owner be ready for a ton of paper work, fees, meetings….My wife did it for her machine shop and got nothing out of it. Except for a women owned convention in Vegas.

There are some business that it helps. Like in construction. But not every business.

 

[Riverbound]

Another thing to look at is the fact that if you can’t be replaced you’re less likely to be promoted. I’m always working on training my replacement. Many people are deathly afraid of someone taking their job so they don’t train someone and therefore they can’t be promoted

 

[lbhsbz]

Another thing to look at is the fact that if you can’t be replaced you’re less likely to be promoted. I’m always working on training my replacement. Many people are deathly afraid of someone taking their job so they don’t train someone and therefore they can’t be promoted

One big problem is that you can’t train savvy.
One either has it or they don’t. People who have arrived at their position due to education tend not to understand this.

 

[SnoC653]

Its funny that nobody has mentioned one of the key points anyone looks at when promoting someone. It's not about what they can do. It's about what they can get done. In other words, the OP posted that the guy couldn't even negotiate the menu to order the bosses dinner, yet he got the job done. That is a successful manager. And he knew who to go to in order to get the job done right and quickly. Sounds like he has more potential than some give him credit for. Yes, there are a lot of factors being considered that don't seem fair, but the person truly meant to be at the top will find a way to get there.