Work Politics. Advice?

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So I’ve got some weird politics at work, and I’d like to keep it pretty vague, for obvious reasons, as well as to keep my thoughts as objective as possible.

The people involved:

Me: Middle Management.

Employee 1

Employee 2

Store Manager

So my manager is a bit… old school if you will. Very “Alpha” and generally prickly. Which is fine by me, I dont really take much offense and I have a very good report with him. Hes taken very good care of me.

The two employees in question are good kids, but just that, they’re kids. They work well enough, we have a pretty high stress job, and it expects a lot out of you. However (and I’m not here to toot my own horn) I’ve had a bit more experience and opportunities at my age than a lot of others, so he expects them all to maintain my standard. So instead of seeing when they do well, he only notices when they slack off. Which, with the high pace of the job, sometimes you just have to in order to maintain some sanity. I dont think it’s fair, and I try to coerce some positive vibes when I can, but I think it’s coming to a head.

I should also mention, while I like my boss, I very much so disagree with his management style. Which for lack of a better term, is just bad. He likes to have underlings reprimand other underlings, gets mad when something isnt handled, blows up occasionally, and can be pretty shit talky.

I know that’s all some… objectively bad workplace toxicity, but he isnt all bad.

Basically, how would you handle something like this in house? I could bring in the district manager, but I would rather handle it inside and him never know about it, as opposed to bringing him in and showing incompetence within the branch and myself.

My thoughts are to talk to the employees one on one, convince them to talk to the store manager one on one (so he doesnt feel attacked) and try to reason with him. In a perfect world, I feel like if this played out well, the entire situation should resolve itself.

But I’m worried it wont play out well at all, or the employees will be too nervous/too pissed to even bother.

My alternative is talking to them one on one, then speaking to my manager and trying to reason with him. In this case I worry about him feeling like people are conspiring against him.

My final thought is to just ignore this shit, keep my head down, and do my job, since the job does take care of ME. This just doesnt sit right with me though, when I know the employees arent totally at fault, and could have a good career lined up if given the chance.

I would just like some insight. Thanks!

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I would like to add, the final point is kind of null and void. I am in management and I cant just ignore the murmurings of my employees. Even if it is against my direct manager. I’m definitely speaking with them next week while my boss is away, I guess I’m just trying to find insight on how to handle it when this happens. As peacefully as possible, hopefully.

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You’re job is to manage the employees below you. Your bosses job is to manage you. Talk to your team, tell them to knock that shit off the big boss is noticing. Then go to big boss and tell him what you did, and explain why you think he should try and ease off.

Do it now before it blows up. A good boss is proactive not reactive. Be a good boss.

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Tell your manager that you need to have full accountability for your subordinates. If he has problems with their performance that he needs to go through you otherwise it makes it impossible to get the most out of them.

You will then probably have to take a few whacks for them but shit happens.

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I completely agree with you guys. I just wish the work dynamic was a bit different. I’ve been in management most of my short adult life, and I feel like ive handled it well, and always kept the peace, as well as had loyal employees. But I just do things differently than my boss would, so if I treat them the way I would like to, my boss is still likely to get involved. Hes a very… nihilistic individual. Which, i can vibe with fine, but the young ones cant. I’m the strong employee that doesnt take anything personal, (my boss is a casual lifter so he respects it) and the employees are just different. They dont feel appreciated, and it’s making them act out.

But you guys are right. I’m going to try and keep things easy until next week and pull them both aside individually and get all my ducks in a row. I know my boss won’t take it personally coming from me, I just hope he doesnt view it as the employees as… well… weak? For talking to me about it.

Yeesh. It would just be easier if he left it up to me.

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Just being a nit-picky pedantic asshole here: it’s rapport, not report.

Other than that the advice I would’ve given has been given already

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