I Don't Want To Be A Manager

What would you do if one of your subordinates, a manager of a team of about ten people, said to you one day, "I don't want to be a people manager"? He or she wants to stay as a manager, but doesn't like the people-related part of the job, doesn't like doing annual reviews, etc.

It seems like you have several options. Cast your vote in our poll and then continue reading to see how to handle this situation well.

Pros and Cons Of Each Choice

There are pros and cons to each of the approaches below. Let's look at each of them.

Hire A Replacement
Pros: You solve the problem. You hire someone who wants to be a manager and they take on that role for you.

Cons: You lose the expertise, and perhaps the corporate history, of the current manager. In addition, they may sabotage the new manager or they may quit and take their experience with them.

Hire An Assistant Manager
Pros: You take the pressure off the employee. Assuming he/she has been a good employee, and you want to keep them, this is a way to preserve their experience within the organization.

Cons: You are adding an additional salary cost. Granted, an assistant manager may not cost as much as a manager, but now you have two salaries (manager and assistant manager) to pay instead of one (manager).

Offer Training
Pros: You are dealing with the underlying cause of the problem, not the symptoms. Managing people is part, a big part, of any manager's job. If an individual in a managerial position does not want to manage people, they need to be given the necessary tools to do that part of the job.

Cons: There is a cost to any training, but it doesn't compare to the cost of finding and hiring a new manager or an assistant manager.

Ask Your Boss
Pros: There are none.

Cons: You were hired to handle these situations. If you have to go to your boss for help on this, you obviously can't handle your job. Your boss will need to look at retraining you or replacing you with someone who can do your job properly.

Bottom Line

Get the employee the training they need to do their job properly. Acknowledge that managing people is difficult, but make sure they understand how critical it is to the management role they are in. Normally, with additional training, and some coaching from you, they will be able to handle the job. However, if they still can't do all the required functions of the job after you have trained them, you need to act in the best interest of the group and replace them with someone who can do the job.