'We're just following his procedure, right?': New manager does away with his team's system, employees maliciously comply knowing productivity will decline

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 9, 2023 8:00 AM EST

The first big no-no of managing an already well-run team is to ignore the voices of your employees. Sadly, people swoop in out of nowhere all the time and claim that their goal is to make things easier for everyone to do their work effectively and productively. However, all of that is easier said than done, and more often than not, new managers already have their own ways of doing things regardless of whether or not that works for the team they are managing. Now, you would think if the manager were intelligent, they would want to gain the loyalty and support of their new employees by listening intently to their ideas, problems, and potential solutions. But we've been on FAIL Blog long enough to know that managers rarely have the best interests of their employees in mind.

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  • 01
    HEAD ELDERY "Productivity plummets"
    via LYCS Architecture

  • This thread was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by u/Hobbit_Hardcase, who found himself working for a new manager at a tech service provider after his old manager left because of office politics. What he and his teammates did after their voices were completely ignored serves as the perfect example of showing (rather than telling) why their manager's terrible idea does not work. Keep scrolling below for the full story from OP's perspective and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more stories like this, check out this list of juicy company secrets.

  • 02
    Take my time over breakfast? OK. LOC Many years ago, I used to work for a SMB Managed Service Provider as a repair technician in London. I was repairing desktops, laptops and printers. It's pointless trying to drive in Central London, so the company would reimburse us for our monthly public transport ticket. As a result of this, we couldn't really carry spare parts with us like the guys with company cars elsewhere in the country, so they would get delivered to site.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 03
    The usual routine was; go to the office in the morning and collect the parts for the first call. Then ask the stores clerk to arrange delivery of the rest of my days' calls to site, in a set order. This would be the order that I had already planned to attend to travel for the day, so the parts would get there before me and I could crack on with the first one whilst they were being delivered. I'd usually be onsite for the first one by 0930 and would frequently manage 6/7 repairs per day.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 04
    Obviously this would depend on how much travel was involved, but all the techs would divvy up the calls first thing in the morning so that none of us were running around the city too much and we were mostly based around one area for the day. We each had "regular" clients where we'd often go two or three times per week and knew the IT teams involved.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 05
    Anyway, the MSP gets bought by a bigger MSP. We're told not to worry (I know, right?) and that nothing would be changing, as we were one of the most productive regions in the business. And or a bit, it was everything as normal. Then the Manager announces that he's leaving. (I bumped into him about a year later, at random, and he said that this was due to politics.) A new Golden Boy manager is parachuted in from Oop Nurth to "transform" us. Apparently, we might be the most productive team, but we
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 06
    He devises several methods to decrease costs and raise profitability. First off is the closure of the office and relocation of the stores to somewhere "central". This is basically the other end of the country, so shipping has to be done the night before. Us techs are none too happy about this. Second, he wants us all to use cars (our own cars). He can't force this, as the travel ticket is written into our contracts, and he can only change the contract with our agreement. To a man, we say "no".
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 07
    What he can do is change the shipping routine. The new process is that parts will be delivered to a commercial locker at locations in the City and we have to go and pick the parts up before heading to our first call. Cue MC.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 08
    We are well aware of the performance of the new owner's chosen shipping company and usually reserve them the nickname "UK Fail", as they never seem to hit Service Level Agreement. Further, the lockers are located in various strange locations; on the street, petrol stations, random courier offices. Kind of like how Amazon Lockers are now, but without the nice paint jobs or electronic entry. They have no way to keep tabs on who is where, or collecting what, aside from calling us.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 09
    Anyway, there's a quick get together and we agree that, as the GB hasn't deigned to help us and isn't hiring replacements for those who left, we aren't obligated to help him. The plan is; no one is to attend a locker until 1030, which is the SLA for parts delivery. No one is to carry more than one bag of parts. If you have to do multiple trips to a locker, so be it. No one is to pick up any slack for anyone else
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 10
    (answer calls for help if someone is in trouble though). Do what you have been assigned, if possible, and never call in to say that you have finished all your calls for the day. Anything that gets left over, gets left. If you get assigned an Emergency Call (some clients had SLAS that required a tech onsite in a given time, usually 4 hours), go there and wait for parts as usual. Communicate this to any new hires during their training days.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 11
    Productivity plummets. GB calls meetings and generally loses it, but hey, we're just following his procedure, right? Within 12 months GB is gone and the new guy has the sense to ask us what would be a better way to run things.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 12
    Accomplished_ Emu_658- 9 hr. ago See that's malicious compliance there. They always hire a new manager when the system works and they try to change everything usually for the worse.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 13
    New service manager starts at my one job. He needs to bring up profits. Raises prices to customers cuts technician pay out. Then complains its not getting sold much less. You raised costs to customers severely so you have less people buying. You cut pay to technicians so they are not selling it at all, but yes when it does sell you are more profitable. Do this across board and wonder why you are out on your
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 14
    imarc 9 hr. ago SLA? Vote Reply Share Hobbit_Hardcase OP. 9 hr. ago Service Level Agreement. Basically, how much has to be done, and how quickly. For a courier, this might be Next Day, Before 1030 or Before 0900. For a MSP, it will usually be Attend within X hours and/or Fix within X hours, with a price commensurate.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 15
    Rshann_4214 hr. ago My first rule as a road tech (now as a manager of road techs): If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 16
    Hobbit_Hardcase OP 3 hr. ago From their point of view, it was broken. We didn't make as much money as other, cheaper, parts of the country. Strange how having dozens of clients really close together makes for great closure rates, but having to use couriers all the time cuts into those profit margins. They were just greedy and wanted more £ per call. We literally went from 7 or 8 calls each per day to 4 due to having to collect parts on foot.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase
  • 17
    StoicJim 5 hr. ago Corporate Darwinism: the corporation either learns from its mistakes or goes out of business.
    via u/Hobbit_Hardcase

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