Thinking About Pursuing a Supervisor or Manager Position?

Let’s say you’re looking at the company human resources website and see a posting for a supervisor or manager, a position you have been considering pursuing for a while now. How exciting! A promotion! Plus, the pay is better. Besides, you’ve always felt you could do a better job than many of the so-called leaders around here. Still, you wonder whether a management career is right for you. Should you apply? Suppose you were offered the job; would you accept it? It seems like this should be an easy decision, but suddenly, you feel torn.

Examine Your Motives

First, ask yourself why you want the job. For the money? If it is just for the money, forget about it. I often joke that sometimes the pay difference between a front-line worker and a first-line supervisor is probably not enough to pay for all the aspirin you’ll need for the headaches! Plus, at some companies, front-line workers may, at times, make more money than their supervisors because of extensive overtime, on-call pay, certain union/work rules, weekend/shift differentials, or other such factors. This may be especially true if the management position is salaried rather than hourly.

Also, for years, study after study has shown that money is, at best, only a short-term motivator.  Sure, the first few pay periods will seem pretty sweet. This may sound hard to believe, but after a while, it will be no big deal. However, all the responsibilities of being in charge will still be there long after the excitement of a bigger paycheck is gone.

Better Motives

OK, so maybe it’s not strictly money that attracts you to management. Perhaps some other, better motives make management appealing as a career path.

You might think management offers a chance to make a difference in the workplace. Maybe you can make it the “better place” you always felt it could and should be. That’s great, but keep in mind that supervisors realistically often have somewhat limited control. Typically, the higher-ups make the major policy decisions and rules, and you must enforce them whether or not you agree. Still, if you can make things better for those matters over which you have some degree of control, that’s a win-win for everybody.

Also, maybe you have been at your job for quite some time now. Sure, you’re good at what you do, but perhaps a bit bored with the “same old same old” every day. You feel it’s time for a change and some new challenges. That’s fine. Perhaps you enjoy teaching or training others. As a supervisor, you’ll likely get opportunities in that area as you onboard new employees.

Looking to acquire new skills or even find a new career path? As a management professional, you must learn and use many new and different skills. These could include areas such as human resources management, financial analysis, report writing, interacting with governmental regulatory agencies, labor relations, and many others, depending upon the type of position. Who knows? You may find that exposure to one of these new areas opens the door to an entirely new career path!

Things Will Change

So far, so good, but make no mistake, things will change for you. And for some people, that’s the rub. I know several individuals who eagerly pursued supervisory positions only to realize shortly thereafter that they had made a major mistake. Maybe they didn’t expect or believe changes would occur, or perhaps they mistakenly thought they could cope with them. Fortunately, some were lucky and able to return to their former non-management positions, but that may not always be possible.

Of course, the exact nature of the changes that you will experience depends on several different factors. These include the position and its scope, the particular group of employees, the culture of your organization, and so forth. Let’s explore a few of the typical changes that may come your way.

Changes in Your Responsibilities

• As a worker, you were pretty much responsible for just yourself and doing your work properly. In your new role, you will be responsible for not only for the work you do but the work of everyone you supervise as well. If they do well, you’re just doing your job; if they mess up, you get the blame.
• As a supervisor, your employees’ problems are now your problems. So, when someone comes to you with an issue you have to deal with it, regardless of what else you may have going on at the time.
• Supervisors and managers are sandwiched between front-line workers and higher-up executives. You will be pressured from both the bottom and the top of the organization with entirely different expectations. Often, these two ends will be in direct conflict. Yet, your job is to keep everybody happy.

Personal Changes

• As a worker, you may have enjoyed personal satisfaction at the end of the day from a job well done or after completing a short-term project. As a manager, the time between these chances to feel good about task completion will likely expand, sometimes by months or even years. That feeling of personal satisfaction may now come at less frequent intervals as you oversee projects spanning periods of greater length.
• As a worker, you may have been able to “leave work at work” at the end of the day. As a manager, this is often much more difficult, especially when faced with upcoming deadlines, difficult decisions, or undesirable tasks (e.g., disciplining or firing someone). True, it is important to keep a reasonable balance between work and personal life, although that may prove harder than you think. Plus, you may find yourself doing work-related tasks at home because you prefer to make some progress on them rather than just sitting around and worrying.

Relationship Changes at Work

Sometimes, in the new position, you will supervise an entirely new and different group of employees, people with whom you have had no prior experience. That situation can be beneficial, as it allows you to begin with a clean slate and carry no baggage into the relationship. However, promotions to supervisory positions often involve managing former coworkers. While knowing their skills and personalities can be a plus, significant relationship changes may also occur.

• Some former coworkers will see and treat you differently. Of course, the extent to which this will happen depends on the personality of the individuals involved and the existing labor-management relationship/culture at your workplace. Some may expect favors or preferential treatment because you are “friends,” even though a real friend would never put you in such a position. You will be reminded how you sometimes bent the rules when you were a worker, so why are you now a “hypocrite” and suddenly all about following the rules?
• Certain former coworkers may even “test” you by intentionally breaking the rules just to see what you will do. Could you write up or discipline your old friends?
• You may find yourself unfriended on social media, deliberately left out of the loop, or no longer welcome at certain informal group activities. People may hush up when they see you approaching. If you are a socially-oriented person, can you adjust to this drastic change?
• Realistically, there are some people who, for whatever reason, have never liked or respected any authority or management figures. Now you’re one of those figures. So, whether you deserve it or not, they’ll automatically label you as someone to be despised or challenged at every turn. Yes, it’s their hang-up, but it makes your job harder.

Is There an Upside?

If you’re still reading, maybe I haven’t scared you away yet. That’s good for a couple of reasons. First, not every new management person experiences every negative change described above. Also, there can be some upsides to management.  To what extent each of these positive factors potentially applies to you will depend on the nature of your supervisory job and how things are run at your company.

Here are a few positive aspects of management:

• You may be a little more “in the know” than the average employee about what is happening now and in the future. Still, upper management may keep some major strategic changes confidential, even from its supervisory team.
• A real plus is that you will likely learn a lot about the many diverse areas of the company as you work with other departments on projects or serve on various committees. The “big picture” of the organization’s operation becomes clearer, and in the process, you develop a great network of resource contacts and colleagues.
• Supervisors are usually involved in the interviewing and hiring process for new employees. This allows you to help select and build a great work team. Seeing the joy on the face of someone who has just learned they have been hired is something that never gets old.
• To some extent, you may be able to “set the tone” regarding the atmosphere in your work area. Maybe you are more of a “people person” than the previous supervisor.
• You may be able to at least change a few things you have long felt need changing. Some of those good ideas you have thought about for years may now finally be able to be implemented.
• Your involvement in developing and monitoring budgets for staff, equipment, software, and other resources might range from minimal to complete responsibility. Usually, you will likely have at least some degree of input.
  
• A first-line supervisory position will help you decide whether a management career is right for you. This first step could potentially launch your entire career path into a whole new, upward direction.

Now What?

That’s up to you. As with any significant life or career decision, there are pros and cons, and every choice has consequences. I hope this article has, at a minimum, given you some food for thought and insight into what a management career could bring, both the good and not-so-good aspects. It’s an important decision. Good luck in making the right choice!

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experience or thoughts!

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