Demote a senior level manager?

RachelCA

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-12-06 AT 09:36PM (CST)[/font][br][br]The manager has been with the company for 25 years. He started as an outstanding technician and was promoted to the management level, i.e. a level of incompetence, about 10 years ago (yes, a huge mistake that was way overdue). He had very little impact on the company, neither positively nor negatively, and is obviously lack of the ability to bring the company to the next level. Now, the new Operations Director wants to find a replacement and possibly transfer him back to the hourly. He would be losing his lucrative management bonus, his exempt pension eligibility, along with his pride. He is about 10 - 15 years away from retirement. How could it be handled in a way that it does not look like an age discrimination case?

Paul in Cannon Beach

Offer early retirement. Pension intact. Fair severance.

Whether he got you to the next level or not, he gave 25 years of his life. Your company took 10 years to correct a "mistake".

Get out the checkbook.

My opinion.

WT

It is generally not smart to give a big demotion like this. Remember that the identity of many people is all tied up in their title and what they do and also most people believe they are doing an excellent job even when their performance is very poor. Speaking of perfomance, are there any reviews and if so, are the reviews accurate in rating the performance of this employee. That would at least give some grounds for what you wish to do. However, it might be kinder in the long run to cut the employee lose. Loss of title and perks might be far worse than becoming a victem of downsizing.

E Wart

I agree with WT. Has anyone even sat down and told him he isn't "succeeding"?
You don't want to "set him up to fail", but sounds as if someone needs to have a talk with him, document it, and try to work with him to see if he can do it. Provide training, one on one time, etc. whatever it takes. Try to help him succeed. If he can't/doesn't you have the documentation.
On the other hand, if there is a new Director, now could be a good time to say that you are "restructing" the area and his skills/talents no longer fit the job. However, you should have in hand what you are going to offer him. (ie. demotion at what salary, what benefits, etc. give him x no. of days to consider it. If not taken, what will he be given... severance, pension frozen, group insurance, etc.) I would run this by an attorney because you don't want an age discrimination suit (depending upon who replaces him) and you don't want to set up precident. Also, you had better make sure that the job is/has changed and he can't do it. This isn't a fun time for anyone. (However, you may be surprised to learn that he is very unhappy and frustrated with the job. Stranger things have happened.)
E Wart

stilldazed

I agree with other posters and would not recommend a demotion or be prepared to pay much more than an alternative recommendation might cost. If there absolutely has to be a change, orchestrate some sort of reorganization. Make it meaningful to this worker and to the organization. He experience/exposure should make him a good candidate to be an asset to the organization without introducing the liability of legal action.

Basically, I see the bottom line as this. He had value to the point of being worthy of promotion 10 years ago. The company's responsibility to manage him effectively in the organization didn't change, and it's taken 10 years to figure that out from an organization stand point. A jury will never buy that. Explain to your CEO in every manner you can think of that the liability of his idea by far exceeds the risks of thinking outside the box. Demotion is the easy solution. A better solution may be harder to find but more beneficial to everyone in the game.

Rockie

Some questions an attorney will ask you.

(1) What made him good enough to promote 10 years ago?

(2) Why, if his performance was substandard, did it take the company 10 years to do something about it?

(3) Who was he replaced with? What is the sex of this person and what is the age of this person?

I can tell you, if he is like most seasoned individuals who have given a lot of his life to a company, he will not take lightly to being "demoted" for whatever reason. He will not see his performance as deficient...only that he gave many years to a company who is now kicking him in the teeth.

You can choose to try to work with him and get him up to par or you can offer him early retirement with a generous severance package.

Definitely run all this by your attorney before you proceed.

dchr9203

Another question might be "why if his performance was/is substandard are his performance evaluations consistently rating him above average or exceptional?" Don't know if that's the case here, but in my experience, it's usually the case.

HRCalico

Hello, Rachel, and welcome to the forum! I am probably famous (infamous?) for telling stories that may or may not be able to help you, so here is yours.

We have an employee who was promoted to supervisor of a department when we were very small. At that point, it was mostly scheduling the work, and he was actually doing plenty of the labor himself. It ended up that he created a VERY negative environment (almost to the point of "brainwashing" the employees that he was the only one in the whole company that cared about them and went to bat for them). He hated doing performance evaluations and didn't really like the supervisory part of his job (especially as his department grew). He has been with us nearly 25 years also.

Last year, our strategic planning team finally decided that we couldn't go to the next level with him in place. And we were headed to the next level - we have since increased our quality standards and attained two big certifications. We moved him into another position - not exactly a demotion, because we kept his pay at the same level and left him exempt. Several employees thought poorly of the decision, I'm sure, but I can tell you the employee is 100% happier, his former department is running far better, and he is really helping us out where he is.

Of course, this has had a big impact on our bottom line - we can't seem to stop adding "indirect" employees, or ones who support our manufacturing process but aren't actually making parts that earn us money. However, I think it was one of the best decisions we have ever made for all involved.

Do you have any flexibility to utilize your employee anywhere else? Obviously he knows quite a bit about the company, and he has to have some redeeming qualities to have kept him 25 years. Good luck, and please let us know what you decide and how it works out.