I can't over-emphasize the role line managers play in decoupling the delusion expectations of leadership and the ground truth of employees' lives. I think a lot of CEOs would burst into flames if they saw an average IC's day, but those ICs can still be high performers and achieve the goals of the business. Having automonomy and flexibility is huge for ICs. The role of the line manager is to provide plausible deniability both ways by tolerating a necessary amount of deviation from the black letter "law".

A great example is my friend, who works in a non-technical office job. She has always gotten great performance reviews and gone above-and-beyond because she's very passionate about her work. She's been doing this for over 10 years. Lately she has experienced some pretty severe burnout, and her immediate manager didn't know how to handle it so they immediately punted her to HR for a disability leave.

Of course because HR is involved now there's paperwork and doctors and insurance implications. A competent manager could have navigated the situation "unofficially" and preserved a valuable employee, instead of sending them on a 6 month odyssey of navigating the healthcare system. Ultimately the business got less value out of the employee because she's stressed and has to take a bunch of time off to deal with administrative BS.

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InvOfSmallC 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I agree with her manager. She needs to preserve her health. Involving HR doesn't mean the manager is not with her.

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gdbsjjdn 3 days ago | parent [-]

It's not a case of the manager not supporting her, it's a case of the manager putting something that could have been informal - "I'm happy with your performance and if you need to take some breaks during the workday I support it" - and made it a formal thing that is risking getting her fired.

The manager in question has admitted they fucked up and didn't realize how much HR would try to force my friend out for being a problem.

	▲	secondcoming 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		I don't agree. There's nothing 'informal' about someone under you telling you they're suffering from burnout. It's not a water cooler topic of conversation. Legally, going to HR was the correct thing to do.

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bluefirebrand 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Her manager probably did her a huge favor

Yeah, navigating disability leave can be a little rough

Not as rough as being PIPed out though, which was probably the other most likely path in front of your friend

	▲	gdbsjjdn 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		Nope! Her manager had no concerns about her performance and has expressed regret about the situation because it has made everyone's life harder. The manager likes her and wants her to stay at the company, but because she's a "problem" for HR they want to fire her.