From the Ask Tom Mailbag:
Question:
When you talk about the role of the Manager Once Removed in the hiring process, you are right, it sounds like a lot of work. I am afraid I will get push-back from my management team, when I try to tell them they will have to be more involved in the hiring process.
Response:
I am not afraid you will get push-back. I know you will get push-back.
Most MORs tell me they are too busy to work with their Hiring Managers on mundane things like role descriptions, that is beneath them to do first pass on resumes. They tell me they are too busy with management issues and motivation issues.
My response is, “What more important thing do you have than to build the infrastructure of your team?”
The reason most MORs are so busy with their management issues is that they did a poor job of this in the first place, or rather, they allowed a poor hiring decision to be made by the Hiring Manager. MORs who do a good job of this will have wonderful lives as managers. MORs who do a poor job of this will be miserable for a very long time.
What can a hiring manager do to get the manager once removed more involved in the hiring process? It seems like a tough sell to get the MoR engaged, particularly from below. I imagine the hiring manager getting a response like “I trust you to handle it.”
Travis, One of the most powerful things you can do is to organize the hiring elements, to create a managerial conversation. Then schedule the conversation with your manager. Create an agenda for the conversation including what specific feedback you need from your manager. You would be surprised at the response. -TF