Hu Hao talks about management and tells you why the middle-level people in the 90s cannot be promoted to the top level?

Crossing a single-plank bridge always seems to be a way of presenting a key node in life.

A friend complained that his career was over. He counted on his fingers and found that after ten years, among the 25 middle-level employees who have served for more than five years in the company, only one has become a senior executive. This one The promotion ratio is well below 10.

He is only 40 years old and has already stood at the end of his career development, but he still has to stay at this point for nearly 20 years!

Going from the middle level to the management level is indeed a one-plank bridge.

Lao Hu told the middle-level staff’s complaints to the senior management. He wanted to see what these people who have successfully crossed the professional single-plank bridge think about it?

One of the friends said something astonishing:

“We all come from the grassroots and middle levels, but we know clearly that the middle level people in the 1990s are like this. Those with relatively outstanding work qualifications, professional level, skills and experience have been promoted, but it is difficult to be promoted again. This seems to be a matter of opportunity, but in fact it is a matter of structure."

He continued:

"What is more realistic is that most of the middle-level personnel who are usually highly valued cannot be promoted. Even if the board of directors considers airborne personnel, they will not be promoted to senior management unless the company encounters It’s a huge crisis and no one is available.”

If the middle-level people heard these two paragraphs, they would be shocked. Although they complained about how crowded the ascending channel was, who wouldn’t want to go up to the next level. What about floors?

This friend who is an executive has two doctorates. He once served as the head of the global department in a Fortune 500 company. He returned to China as a national-level talent introduction and is currently the director and vice president of a giant electronics manufacturing company. .

Although his words may seem difficult to accept, when you think about it carefully, they do make sense.

We continued this topic and conducted interviews with 26 corporate executives, trying to answer these two major questions that trouble middle-level personnel:

gt; gt; gt; ? Why do companies prefer to poach people from other companies when there are job vacancies rather than promote their own middle-level employees? Even this person who was poached worked in the middle level in the past?

gt;gt;gt;? Senior management also comes from the middle level, but why in their eyes, the middle level always has deficiencies here and there? In fact, it is the middle-level people who do the actual work.

Of the 26 executives interviewed by Lao Hu, almost none has served in a mid-level position for more than ten years. The youngest is only 32 years old and the oldest is 52 years old. It can be seen that whether you can move from the middle level to the top level has nothing to do with how long you have been in the middle level, nor does it have to do with your age.

Most people have this feeling:

When you are in the middle level, you really feel that it is not that difficult to be a high-level person, but until one day, maybe because of a good opportunity, or because of Some of my characteristics were discovered by the company. When I actually took up a senior position, I looked back at myself and the current middle-level people, and I discovered the difference.

And this difference is the most unclear "pattern" and "position".

In order to try to explain the "pattern" and "position" more clearly, Lao Hu and 26 senior staff looked at the relationship between the "unpromotable" middle-level and senior-level personnel from four specific aspects. What's the difference.

If you have been at the middle level for a long time and have outstanding professional abilities, but have never had the opportunity to take a step forward, you may be able to find the answer by reflecting on these four aspects.

First

? How to treat interests?

Li Kun is the sales manager of a company. He will argue with the vice president in charge once a year, that is, to conduct When managing annual budgets.

In the salary adjustment plan, Li Kun's increase in the department's total salary package was the highest in the entire company, but it was still unsurprisingly cut off by the human resources and vice president in charge. Although it was still ahead of other departments, Li Kun Very dissatisfied, always saying: "If the money is not enough, I can't help it. It's hard to say whether the performance can be achieved."

When HR communicated with him about the employee incentive plan, he asked him if Focusing on employee motivation, his answer was: "I'm just a department manager, and I can't decide to give employees a salary increase. What can I motivate?".

Until one day, the vice president in charge was planning to immigrate due to family reasons, and the position became vacant. Everyone congratulated Li Kun in advance. After all, he had senior qualifications and was in business. He usually dared to follow Li Kun. When leading a dispute, it feels quite authoritative.

But the result was that the company poached a vice president from a competitor. Li Kun knocked on the door of the old leader with a depressed heart and poured out a lot of bitterness.

The leader in charge was leaving in a month. Looking at this unruly subordinate with outstanding performance, he pointed at the car model on the table and said with a smile: "Old Li, you are excellent. , but opportunities will not be left to you just because of hard work. Looking at this car, it is obviously a whole, but you always only see one wheel or one door, and you have never been able to take a good look at what this car looks like. .

Originally, my nominee was you, but the reason given by the board of directors made it impossible for me to refute, that is: "A business leader from the perspective of the company's system development." ”

Remember: Qualified senior management considers the system development of the entire company, while middle managers who “cannot be promoted” are always caught up in the interests of a certain team they lead; senior management considers whether the entire company’s system is Can maximize the company's profits, and the middle-level managers who are "unable to be promoted" always consider whether it is fair to their own departments.

Second:

How to solve difficulties and problems?

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In a management improvement project based on problem solving, many problems were collected at the beginning, including production, research and development, human resources, finance, procurement, sales and other modules.

When we sorted out the issues and communicated with the heads of these departments, Lao Hu asked 5 questions:

1. How long have these problems existed?

2. ?Have you always been aware of the existence of these issues?

3. ?Are these issues important to the company?

4. ?Are these issues important to you?

5. Why has it not been solved?

Most of the answers are as follows:

1. These problems have existed for at least three or four years, even since the company was founded.

2. ?Know the existence of these problems

3. ?It must be very important to the company. If solved, it will definitely bring a lot of benefits, such as cost waste and the effect of the solution. It’s immediately visible.

4. To be honest, it doesn’t have much impact on myself unless the leader puts them in my performance review.

5. ? Even though they were busy and made suggestions, the leaders did not pay much attention to them.

It can be seen that the middle-level people who are "unpromotable" rarely find problems and organize them to solve them.

They tend to measure the impact of those "performance indicators" and "time", and also pay attention to whether their superiors pay attention to these issues.

Regarding the problem, the middle-level managers who "cannot be promoted" will raise it several times and then tolerate it. Just ignore the problem.

But qualified senior management will definitely solve it. Of course, the premise is to measure the input and output and avoid losing the company's interests.

Thirdly,

How to deal with layoffs?

Lao Hu once talked about a concept called "emotional intensity", which is a quality that managers should focus on cultivating. For managers who are not strong in emotional intensity, Unable to see real situations, decisions and actions are often personal rather than representative of the organization.

Layoffs are a tragic and heavy word. But we often say that managers who have never experienced layoffs are still one step away from truly "managing people."

Because it will test your "emotional strength" and your courage and ability to face problems.

When a company makes a strategic shift, it must optimize its talents, and one-third of the people in the marketing department must be laid off.

The person in charge of the department is Lin Li. The layoff list in his hand has been revised for half a month, but he still cannot make a decision, and the general manager gave him one day left.

The last list submitted made the general manager furious. He pointed at Lin Li's nose and said: "If this is the list, then you should lay off yourself. You could have let the manpower directly follow the company's wishes." Giving you a list, but asking you to draft the list is an exercise for you. Our layoffs are not because the company is not developing well, but because we need to carry out strategic transfers and provide employees with good compensation. Have you stood up? What is the position of the company to do this? Your list is full of young people. Although they have not yet produced very good performance, they can learn, guide and expand new channels. Look at what you have left. All of them are employees who have worked hard with you. They no longer have the willingness to learn and cannot live in other places. Although I understand your emotions and your care for them, our company's strategy has changed. Even I, the general manager, may They spend half of the year on business trips, do you want them to work in the headquarters office?”

Remember: middle-level managers who are “unpromotable” consider employees more “useful” to themselves. degree and mutual emotions, while qualified senior executives have strong "emotional intensity" and consider more the needs of the company's long-term development.

Fourth

?How to choose job opportunities?

Both middle-level and senior-level employees may choose new job opportunities. What is the difference in this regard?

In fact, there are far more career opportunities at the middle level than at the top. Why?

1. There is less demand for high-level positions and more for middle-level positions;

2. Careful selection of high-level positions is required, while middle-level positions are relatively loose;

3. There is no demand for high-level positions. Choosing well will have a huge impact, while the middle management will focus more on professionalism and team leadership ability, and just do a good job;

But just like this, opportunities and benefits are also contradictory and unified.

When middle-level employees choose a job, they mainly focus on two points: development space and salary.

For the middle-level people who are "unable to be promoted", changing the environment is also a way to gain greater development space. However, if the angle of response to the three issues mentioned above in this article does not change, it will still be There is a bottleneck.

When senior personnel choose a job, they will analyze more the style of the boss (or board of directors decision-makers) and the company's development prospects.

Different positions determine different views on choice.

So, when you are still complacent and think that it is easy for you to find a job, but it may be ten times harder for the boss above you to find a job as a deputy general manager, you must pour cold water on it. You must understand that this is just you. Just different levels.

Maybe you bounce around and are still at the middle level, but he is still at the top.

The four aspects of the question are actually how you think of four words: perspective, motivation, responsibility and positioning.

Some of the words in this article are quite heartbreaking, but they actually contain Lao Hu’s hope: more middle-level managers in enterprises can work from a higher perspective and no longer only see the “face” or "Line" becomes visible as "system".

Organizations should pay more attention to the cultivation of middle-level cadres, because the vast majority of middle-level cadres enter management positions from professionals. The lack of systematic management concepts and methods will cause limitations in their thinking. , thus forming a "camp separatism" in the organization.

If the organization is compared to a person, then the middle managers are the "waist". If the waist is not good, no matter how good the brain is and how strong the limbs are, they will not be able to display their abilities.

What needs to be explained is that due to different enterprise sizes, the division between high-level and middle-level in this article is actually the difference between system leaders and module leaders. In an organization, the middle level plays a key role in connecting the upper and lower levels, and more attention and training must be given to them.

Through organizational training and self-cultivation, fewer and fewer middle-level managers hope to be “unable to be promoted.”

You will not be qualified for any position just because you have already taken it. Management is one of the most complex and difficult subjects. Any professional who reaches the management level, even if he serves as a middle-level manager, or even if he serves as a senior manager for a long time in a company that lacks a nurturing environment, he is still an unqualified manager.