Being Extremely blunt about displeassure of a certain person in a management position

Question

I work (first "sidejob", 2 years) for a company who's offering me freelance work. It's great. It pays extremely well.

There's a person in a management position who organizes our orders. Previously the communication and cooperation went smoothly, friendly and just great, with the manager and the team. It made me put in the extra effort or work when they needed, help them with questions, etc. It wasn't part of my task, but I enjoyed it and felt valued.

However the company itself has, to my idea, a high turnover rate (I suspect from underpaying their employees/lack of growth opportunities, risk averse business model, not my problem), and they had some struggle in filling the management positions.

I cooperate much worse with the new person in the management position compared to the previous 2. Previously I felt appreciated and not "used". However this new person tends to not show appreciation, make me feel used, and gives feedback that is unnecessary harsh to the degree the team turns to me for guidance more often. There is a general vibe that she feels she needs to milk every margin, at the expense of others (what I do, and the company itself is already very profitable). She got promoted from within the company and has close ties with the one who runs the company. I feel like she wants to "prove" herself, but what she does is very counterproductive.

I am not in the position to give her direct feedback, and hints given to her would been taken as a harsh personal attack.
I am playing with the idea of sending the head of the company just a message with the scope of "Hey I've worked with your company for 2 years, and with great pleasure. I felt appreciated and went along well with previous managers, however the current one is a bit of a hassle, and is therefor reducing my work pleasure. I don't know how to give her the feedback directly, just so you know, good luck with it".

I've made enough money to be able to lose the job, but it would be a pity. I don't want to ruin work relations, being well aware it's actually none of my business. I am an outsider, and it's kinda weird the way I want to inform them about the dysfunction of one of their employees. But then besides the job, it seems I've nothing to lose. How would a company react to such a message? And would there be a possible reward in being this directly as an outsider, unrelated to the manager in question?

Answer 1

This is a business relationship. Whether it is a comfortable one or not should not be the main focus. The relationship no doubt has contractual terms?

If you are not contractually obliged to deal with this individual then just stop dealing with them. Deal with someone you like better.

If you are obliged, then try to communicate as much as you can via email. That way your conversations are always on the record, and it should be clear if any one party is being unreasonable.

If you are obliged to have face to face meetings with this individual, be transparent to them when you think they are wrong. It is perfectly valid in a business relationship to have disagreements about how work gets done. You can do this without emotion, just the facts.

Definitely do not try to give them "feedback".

Ultimately how this individual behaves is not up to you, and you will have little influence over it. I guess you need to decide whether dealing with them is worth the cash you are billing them to do it.

Answer 2

I understand OP's position - sometimes it is hard to look at a situation that has gotten worse, you can see the problem and what would help (this manager becoming less abrasive & more helpful) and you want to be able to help improve the situation or pass on your solution. However as most of the other answers are pointing out, this is not something that is part of OPs duties for the company or their responsibilities so they probably cannot and should not do much.

If OP was friends with the head of the company, then it might be possible to have a quiet conversation with them (nothing in writing!) just suggesting they look at the manager's style. Alternatively if OP decides to stop working with the company altogether then as a consultant they are in a position to give "exit feedback" that an employee might not, but I still wouldn't specifically mention anything from the current manager (Manager C) For example

I greatly enjoyed working with your company under Manager A & Manager B, however I am no longer having as much fun and have decided to move on.

If the Head of Company is already concerned about Manager C that will point them in the right direction, if not anything you say is not going to matter anyway.

Outside of those possibilities though, the best option is just to deal with the awkward manager as best you can. If turnover there is so quick, they may be replaced soon anyway.

Answer 3

Bad idea.

She got promoted from within the company and has close ties with the one who runs the company.

... hints given to her would been taken as a harsh personal attack.

I am playing with the idea of sending the head of the company

What do you hope to accomplish? Going over her head would be seen much more as a personal attack than any comment you would give her face to face. If she also 'has close ties' with them, no good will come of it. The head will likely see you as a trouble-maker, tell your manager, and your manager will see you as a backstabber. If you had friendly relations with the head and the manager was just some recent hire from outside the company it wouldn't be quite so bad.

What makes you think any comments would be taken as a harsh personal attack? Do you ever get performance reviews from either the owner or the manager? I'm guessing as a freelancer the answer is 'no'.

One option for you is to just 'tough it out'. It sounds like you are not happy with the situation though. It sounds like the money is good so you'd still like to stay if nothing changed, but you would miss the times when you were more satisfied with your work. But you are dissatisfied enough that you want to do something to try and regain your lost happiness.

You could try to talk to your manager. If you do, try to make things about you and not her. Use phrases like "I feel ..." and not "You make me feel ...". You mention they probably under-pay their employees. I think your new manager probably knows how much you make and if it's not more than they're currently making, it's probably more than she made before her promotion. This will make it seem to her like she was/is not being treated fairly and that you are getting preferential treatment. As a manager she should look at the numbers and see that you cost X, make the company Y, and Y > X so you are an asset. Those calculations don't always happen when someone feels like they are getting the short end themselves.

Another option of course is to cut down or stop doing the freelance work. Maybe you could just do this temporarily and hope the management changes: "I'm really busy in my personal life now and need to cut back on my workload for a while".

If you had been 'going the extra mile' and you just stop, this can backfire. Sure it's not all your fault because you just don't feel like doing that anymore, but the decrease in your productivity will be noticed. This will feed into your manager's feelings that you had been given preferential treatment and aren't worth the money. Yes she is setting you up to fail, knowingly or unknowingly.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, there is no way to fix this problem because the manager has higher priority than you. Unless there is a coordinated revolt, the manager will not be moved because one subordinate complained.

Your options are to put up with it or quit. My advice would be to look for a different position. When things like this happen, it is an omen that it is time for a change.

Answer 5

It is often said on this list

• "It's not high school."

1, Do the work asked, 2, Work exactly N.00.00 hours where N is the hours you are paid for, 3, go home happy.

Regarding the annoying person, every job anyone ever works at has one or more annoying people.

End of story.

I can not even remember the full name of someone we are working for presently - that's the attitude. You work to live: work is not life.

"Hey I've worked with your company for 2 years, and with great pleassure. I felt appricated and went along well with previous managers, however the current one is a bit of a hassle, and is therefor reducing my work pleassure. I don't know how to give her the feedback direct, just so you know, goodluck with it".

This would be so bizarre, the person would either just delete the email, or, email you back with a chuckle saying "Please get back to work!"

Regarding the annoying person, every job anyone ever works at has one or more annoying people. End of story.

It sounds like you have a great situation - enjoy!

Answer 6

Ask for a meeting regarding renegotiating the contracts between your business and that of this company with a manager empowered to do so.

So, you're not an employee, you're a freelancer. You have a business of your own, and this is ultimately a side gig for you, rather than your primary source of income. That gives you bargaining power that ordinary employees do not have.

As a result, you could simply ask a manager who would be empowered to renegotiate your contract for a meeting regarding doing so, since the current business arrangement between your businesses has become non-viable, and you would like to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.

During this meeting, lay out the facts: you're not an employee, you're a freelancer, and you feel no loyalty to the company. You're working with them as a side-gig, you're not reliant on their wages, and if your enjoyment of the work drops below a certain threshold, you can and will terminate your business contract with them (or, perhaps, simply decline to renew it upon its expiry). This manager's behavior is impacting your enjoyment of this work, and you would like to renegotiate your contract to report to someone else in the business structure.

It's very likely that this will harm your relationship with this person, but you don't want to work with them anyway, so this is basically irrelevant. It's also possible that the business will "call your bluff" and decide not to make any of the requested changes, at which point you can demonstrate that you aren't bluffing by terminating (or not renewing) your contract with them, and if you wish to continue working this side-gig, I would encourage you to begin the process of finding other clients.

Remember, however, don't use the words "quit" or "resign" during this conversation, because those are things employees do, and you're not an employee. You're an independent business negotiating the terms of its relationship with another business, on a business-to-business level.