Boss question...

[DigitalCancer]

Done. Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[Scarpozzi]

He's still the boss. Let him call the shots until he departs. Maintenance contracts are merely contracts...they expire. That sounds like an ethical conundrum if he's selling his current company services from his future employer. Let that play out the way it plays out and have no part in the decision making process.

I say that because if the contract fails your current company, you don't want to be responsible for the bad decision.

 

[Squeetard]

Total bullshit. This dude is now playing both sides. I'd rat him out.

The guy knows he is leaving and he is now using his current position to get work for his new employer. And taking work from you.

 

[DigitalCancer]

He's still the boss. Let him call the shots until he departs. Maintenance contracts are merely contracts...they expire. That sounds like an ethical conundrum if he's selling his current company services from his future employer. Let that play out the way it plays out and have no part in the decision making process.

I say that because if the contract fails your current company, you don't want to be responsible for the bad decision.

My issue with your answer...and maybe I should have been more clear in my post...

I AM TAKING OVER HIS POSITION....so my job and career is at risk from this I believe and what I don't want to happen is he presents this idea to the big boss, he's ok with it and so the contract WILL get signed before he even leaves in January. This can potentially put me at risk and my position here b/c they'll be contracting out work that I would normally do....not to mention that'll put his hands still in here for making decisions and I haven't agreed with a lot of the decisions he's made as of late (not saying he's not good at what he does, b/c he is...but his decisions in the past few months I think have been on the low-end spectrum).

So, the way that I'll be presenting this when I go to the 'big boss' next week after he announces, I'm going to place my value on the fact that I can do BOTH my job and his previous job for an increase in salary of course, and they will not have to hire a 2nd person (like they did with me) b/c we have everything so well setup right now that there's really not a need nor do we have enough issues to where we would need a dedicated maintenance contract for any reason.

This was the scenario that we had when my boss and I originally came in, they had an 'IT Manager' that could change printer cartridges and that was about it...she contracted everything else out, maintenance, server setup, etc. and both my boss and I scoffed at this, that she was so incompetent that she couldn't do anything on her own...and now...I'll be in charge and he's trying to bring in a maint. contract just like what she had...I think it would make me look bad.

Now, I haven't went to my current boss with this yet as I'm honestly just not sure how to approach is b/c I don't want to burn bridges with him just in case something goes wrong and I need him later for something. ^_^

 

[olds]

I would think your company would ask you for your opinion on farming out work. That is assuming you will he taking your boss' place. But to be honest, based on your two threads on this issue, you don't seem ready for a management position.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Sounds like a great time to take a week off

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Hey, isn't this is a repost?

 

[Scarpozzi]

I see your dilemma, but I'm going to stick with my answer. Until you obtain the position, stay out of the decision making process. Hopefully they'll wait for your supervisor to vacate the position before they sign a contract. The day he's gone, step up and suggest that you can handle the work unless asked prior to that time. Otherwise, don't take it personal if they do the contract for peace of mind. Companies waste money all the time...especially in cost centers. The contract will actually probably be less than $10-20k unless it's a total ripoff....so consider that costing less than hiring a second employee to handle the workload and start acting like a boss. (not meaning that in a derogatory way...just saying the higher you get up the food chain, the less grunt work you should do...consider the outsourcing forced delegation and live it up until the contract expires)

 

[DigitalCancer]

I would think your company would ask you for your opinion on farming out work. That is assuming you will he taking your boss' place. But to be honest, based on your two threads on this issue, you don't seem ready for a management position.

First, I'd like to say that I mean this with respect, I have been in IT for almost 10yrs now and the company I started with in 2010 ended up going under and was bought out...my boss then (same one today) made sure that I made sure that I was taken with the new company...and then again after he left...he brought me aboard again...The reason he does that? Because I make him look good, plain and simple. He works on a 'I look good so you need me' basis.
Everything that I do in my role now is pretty much management w/o the title. He went from IT Director to VP of IT within a year and my title stayed the same b/c he doesn't want me to over-shadow him.
In the background, I am the one doing everything...I handle our backups, what services we need, what hardware we need to order, helpdesk, what clients are asking for...that's ALL me. He orders stuff and has meetings with clients and explains how our products work...that's about it. He's on a project right now (because we're changing platforms) that he hasn't let me take a lot of part in simply b/c he wants to appear valuable to the company so that they'll keep him for consulting on this project once he leaves...it's been pissing me off for awhile but I can't do anything about it short of running to 'tell on him' which I don't plan to do b/c I definitely don't want to burn bridges with him.
So, in all do respect, I am ready for management b/c it's pretty much what I've been doing...'almost' every decision that comes through here is bounced off of me and most of the time, it's my opinion they're going with. It's just my boss that makes the final decision and usually looks good telling them what I told him to tell them...

Hey, isn't this is a repost?

Not really, but it pertains to the same situation...my first post was concerning IF I should let ppl know that he's leaving (which I didn't intend to do but I wanted opinions still). This post is a little different b/c it's more about worrying if this will potentially mess up my track with this company b/c I know how they work and they have farmed out the help before so I wouldn't put it past them. My issue is that I know that I can handle both, at least for awhile, and would like to be the one that makes that decision. My boss plans to throw this out there BEFORE I'm in charge and he doesn't leave until 1/2...so there's still time for him to get them to sign a contract for this and I just need a way of telling the big boss to NOT work out a contract when my boss goes to him about it....just not sure how to do that.

I see your dilemma, but I'm going to stick with my answer. Until you obtain the position, stay out of the decision making process. Hopefully they'll wait for your supervisor to vacate the position before they sign a contract. The day he's gone, step up and suggest that you can handle the work unless asked prior to that time. Otherwise, don't take it personal if they do the contract for peace of mind. Companies waste money all the time...especially in cost centers. The contract will actually probably be less than $10-20k unless it's a total ripoff....so consider that costing less than hiring a second employee to handle the workload and start acting like a boss. (not meaning that in a derogatory way...just saying the higher you get up the food chain, the less grunt work you should do...consider the outsourcing forced delegation and live it up until the contract expires)

The contract will be useless but I know how this company works as they did farm their work out prior to me. They had an 'IT Manager' that could change printer cartridges....she farmed EVERYTHING else out; server setup, desktop work, etc. My boss and I both laughed at it and about how much money they were spending and now, it just feels like he's trying to sabotage me by putting ME int he role of 'useless IT Manager'....I don't like it and I don't want it as this is my chance to out-shine my boss and really show my skill. At the same time, I have to tread lightly as I don't want to burn bridges with my current boss b/c although I've helped him, he has also helped me in some ways by dragging me around.

 

[nickbits]

3 figures? Per hour?

 

[DigitalCancer]

3 figures? Per hour?

Salary...over $120k/yr for him.

 

[Tweak155]

Dang that sounds like a low salary for a director... must be pretty small companies.

At the end of the day, it doesn't sound like you need this guy, he needs you. Grow some balls and go after these positions yourself.

 

[KB]

I would play ignorant. If you spill the beans about your current boss leaving you will burn bridges with him for sure. He may even try to railroad you and not recommend you for the new boss.

If your current boss gets them to sign a contract its fine. When they find out that he is leaving to go to that company and thus had a conflict of interest, they will be mad at him. If they know you knew about it, then they might be mad at you. Work within the contract and then let it expire without renewal when you become manager.

 

[DigitalCancer]

I would play ignorant. If you spill the beans about your current boss leaving you will burn bridges with him for sure. He may even try to railroad you and not recommend you for the new boss.

If your current boss gets them to sign a contract its fine. When they find out that he is leaving to go to that company and thus had a conflict of interest, they will be mad at him. If they know you knew about it, then they might be mad at you. Work within the contract and then let it expire without renewal when you become manager.

He's telling them about it the same day that he announces his departure so...its going to come up the same time he's giving notice.

That's why my boss wanta ME to make out a percentage explanation of my job, so that he can present that to the big boss to try and justify drumming up business with his new company...

 

[kranky]

Interesting situation.

1. You say nothing, he manages to get the maintenance contract signed, then you take over. When you're in charge, you can show that it is not needed and it's costing money. Then it can be cancelled. Would that hurt your relationship with your soon to be ex-boss? It shouldn't because you're doing your job.

2. You say nothing, and the decision to get the contract signed isn't made until you take over. No problem, you just tell them not to pursue it at this time, but if things change you will re-evaluate.

3. You provide the breakdown of time such that it does not support the need to have a maintenance contract. Big boss doesn't approve the contract.

Just want to say that when you take over, focus your time on adding value the best way you can. That might not be doing break/fix stuff even though you can do it and you like it. So be sure you evaluate the need for a maintenance contract impartially.

 

[olds]

Maybe the boss told the new company he can get them some business and is depending on you to help him get that business from our company? If that falls through, it may end the relationship you have with the present boss.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Maybe the boss told the new company he can get them some business and is depending on you to help him get that business from our company? If that falls through, it may end the relationship you have with the present boss.

My boss already asked me which role I wanted to pursue...management track here or network engineer over at his place.

His exact words were, "if you decide to stay here, then you're my 'in' for business so you can continue purchasing through us". Now, he's trying to sell me on a hardware contract and now this IT services contract....he's just trying to make himself look good over there which...I get, but at the same time this is stuff that he NEVER did while he was here and he's been here for 3 years now. As I said before, we even laughed at prior IT for even having managed IT services when he and I arrived here! Also, I don't agree with it and I don't think we need it. Once I get my foot in the door my first big purchase will be brand new machines company wide (hopefully late 2015), and the machines we have now were purchased almost 5yrs ago by previous IT - HP, Pentium DualCore - 3GB DDr2...VERY mediocre crap machines and I hate even having to deal with them. All of the warranties are expired now and it's not worth the money to pay for a maintenance contract on them and he knows that already because I've told him over and over how crappy they are.

My point is...he's just trying to get us to spend money so that he looks good....it's almost about him in one way or the other. He has to shine.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

He is still the boss. I think you're once again butting into an area that doesn't concern you. The guy is going to try to sell the Big Boss his new company's services whether you provide him the info or not. How about letting the Big Boss earn his money and make the decision himself?

 

[DigitalCancer]

He is still the boss. I think you're once again butting into an area that doesn't concern you. The guy is going to try to sell the Big Boss his new company's services whether you provide him the info or not. How about letting the Big Boss earn his money and make the decision himself?

Not to be pompus..but this DOES concern me as it's my career that's being affected by this decision, I mean, my job duties as of right now would essentially start being outsourced. You'd have to know the 'big boss', but this is a small company and he looks at the money side of things and that is it...nothing more. I know it sounds ridiculous but trust me, you'd have to be here and experience to really understand why I'm concerned I guess.

Anyway, if he sells him on it, it totally affects me b/c it could affect the amount of money that I plan on asking him for b/c I'll no longer be doing 'both' jobs, not to mention...I don't want to outsource our IT and if I get locked into a 1-2yr contract on that, that ties my hands and it's a total waste of money. We don't have enough going on to warrant that, I honestly probably spend about 30% of my time on trouble tickets for general maintenance while the rest is issues within our platform, creating reports, checking our servers to make sure they're running optimally, checking the backups, etc.

I'm worried b/c of it affecting my future here as the 'big boss' has already farmed out once...not like he wouldn't do it again if he thought it was going to net him some money value and my boss CAN convince him of that. As I said though, it really won't b/c there's not enough to warrant it. My boss even said to 'fluff' my numbers to make it look like I'm doing more which tells me right there he's just looking to sell him on the plan.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Take the promotion, outsource your old job. What's the problem? You're not going to be doing your old job and new job. If your boss leaves, you get promoted, you'll be hiring some to replace you at your old job.

You were going to rat out your boss who has brought you to this current job over pay out vacation? Wow.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Take the promotion, outsource your old job. What's the problem? You're not going to be doing your old job and new job. If your boss leaves, you get promoted, you'll be hiring some to replace you at your old job.

That's where you're wrong...that's my selling point to get a little extra cash...I won't be making what my boss makes when he leaves so my 'card' is...I'll be doing his job + my job so you won't have to hire another helpdesk person (b/c really one person can handle it, at least right now b/c I've set everything up pretty nicely if I do say so).

And for your second question...no, I wasn't going to rat him out...I just don't think that it's right to leave the day after your vacation hits so that you can cash out...he'll be netting almost $10k from them, but...whatever, that's on them if they give it to him.

 

[Anubis]

Salary...over $120k/yr for him.

that's 6 figures

3 figures is under 1000

 

[DigitalCancer]

that's 6 figures

3 figures is under 1000

lol...guess you got me there...wow, it's been a long day already and I'm apparently not thinking completely straight...my bad.

 

[Capt Caveman]

That's where you're wrong...that's my selling point to get a little extra cash...I won't be making what my boss makes when he leaves so my 'card' is...I'll be doing his job + my job so you won't have to hire another helpdesk person (b/c really one person can handle it, at least right now b/c I've set everything up pretty nicely if I do say so).

And for your second question...no, I wasn't going to rat him out...I just don't think that it's right to leave the day after your vacation hits so that you can cash out...he'll be netting almost $10k from them, but...whatever, that's on them if they give it to him.

You really need to look at the big picture. And the second point, is pretty sad on your part. If he leaves after the date, he earned it.

 

[DigitalCancer]

You really need to look at the big picture. And the second point, is pretty sad on your part. If he leaves after the date, he earned it.

Well he's ONLY staying for the big pay-out...so our vaca rolls over on 1/1...he will leave on 1/2, of course, he is announcing on Monday that he is leaving and thus, they have the option of allowing him that I assume since he's giving them a 6-wk notice. As I said though, he's only staying for the cash and he's already checked out as it is so I don't see him adding any value...just staying for the cash payout is all. Not saying it's easy to turn down money like that but, come on...gotta have some morals, this company has treated him pretty well, allowing him to work from home most days and giving him a nice salary, paying most of his medical insurance, etc.

Anyway, I happen to like the company that I work for so, how's that sad on my part? They're not big but not small so they can easily take a $10k hit with no problems I just don't personally think it's right.