Columns

Ah, the joys of being in the middle

We passed the pitcher of beer around the table, chuckling and snickering. We were toasting a study that said the two worst jobs in a newsroom are copy editor and middle manager. Yes, we were middle managers in charge of copy editors. And yes, we kept the bartender busy that night.

By Scott Long, Times Staff Writer
Published August 19, 2007

We passed the pitcher of beer around the table, chuckling and snickering. We were toasting a study that said the two worst jobs in a newsroom are copy editor and middle manager. Yes, we were middle managers in charge of copy editors. And yes, we kept the bartender busy that night.

That was years and one employer ago, but the taste of hops and barley came back as I read a survey by management consulting firm Accenture that shows just four in 10 managers are "extremely" or "very satisfied" working for their employers. One in three are frustrated with their work-life balance.

Not surprisingly, it appears fewer workers want to be middle managers, USA Today reports, saying companies are fearful of a "brain drain" in the next few years as baby boomers retire and so few experienced replacements want to take their place.

Middle management is never a party. You get squeezed by those you work for. You get squeezed by those who work for you. It's the slab of bologna in the middle of a workplace sandwich.

Nor has it ever been a destination. It's often a steppingstone to that corner office. The key to the executive washroom. The dues you pay for an insanely long title to impress your classmates with at the reunion.

So what is a company to do?

The Accenture survey didn't ask specifically what middle managers want from their bosses, though it did report that 44 percent are unhappy with their compensation. No doubt, many companies will trot out the usual carrots - a little more money, a little more time off, a goodie here, a goodie there - to help us forget about the stick.

But if all of us middle managers would promise to be honest - and I mean really, really honest - I wonder how high this answer would rate on our wish list: "Help me do good work."

Doesn't sound very sexy, but I think you'd be surprised how important it is in times of economic uncertainty.

At night, how many of you judge how much you care about your job by how well you were able to do it that day? On those days - the days I'm able to really accomplish something - it's easier to forget about what that pay stub will show on Friday, or what number the hand on the clock was on when I left the office.

Middle managers will tell you those days are hard to come by these days.

Companies, help yours come by a few more. It just might work.

[Last modified August 17, 2007, 19:52:17]