Quote:
Originally Posted by navane
A few missteps have happened with the project due to the other two co-workers inexperience or lack of knowledge on the topic. I feel bad because I want to stay humble; but, I feel frustrated. After all, my supervisor outright indicated that she felt I was very qualified, yet she chose someone else because she apparently doesn't want me to have too much power (knowledge=power). I get the concept of "spreading the knowledge in order to protect the office"; yet, logically, wouldn't an employer *want* to pick the most qualified person for a job?  I could have been the lead and would have gladly trained the others to make things more equal; but I guess that wasn't an option either.
Why do managers do this?
.....Kelly
PS - Thanks for letting me vent. |
First: It seems like you are making this personal and most decisions that bosses make are not personal.
Second: I think you are misperceiving the bosses fear that you will have too much power. It really is a problem when there is someone in the office who is the only one who really knows a certain process/task/job. Should you decide to change jobs, go on a medical leave or "get hit by a bus" (the example we use at my job all the time), they would flounder.
Third: You could train them, but the reality is, if you're the one with all the real hands on experience, they won't learn it well. Most people learn by making mistakes and actual hands on. You've become the expert because you've been doing it for so long. They need that same kind of experience. You would always do more of it, if not all of it, if you were the lead because you know how and you can. They can't learn it as well as you know it unless they have to do it as often as you were doing it.
My department is growing and my division is growing so I've been training someone. I showed my co-worker new things over and over and then had her do it while I looked on. Not until we have turned over some duties to her exclusively has she ended up having to problem solve it on her own. She still comes to me with questions and now, instead of answering her question, I ask her questions back, showing her how I would problem solve it and teaching her to think it through. You are not really an expert at something until you can do all of that, and then no longer need to ask questions. That can require total immersion into it and I think that's what your boss is doing.
What you might want to do at this point is go to your boss and ask what else in the office you can now learn. It's time for you to become at an expert at something else too so that you grow your skill area. This will help you in the long run and show a team spirit. In leaving some things to my co-worker, I now have time to learn some of the things that only my boss knew before. This is broadening my experience and making me much more marketable should I decide to leave.
I know it stings right now, but it's up to you to make it an opportunity that will work in your favor.
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