Spotting Issues During the Interview

During a phone screen the other day I asked the candidate (we'll call him Andy) why he was interested in leaving his current employer.  Andy told me it was because Senior Managers were stealing his thunder.  He labored as a Jr. Project Manager in the engineering arena, worked hard to keep his clients happy, was a responsive communicator, and had developed solid relationships.  After consistent hard work and efforts bore the fruit of new contracts worth millions of dollars of additional work, his supervisor would come along, pat him on the back and basically say: stand aside son, we'll take it from here.

I think we could all agree the professional may have felt crushed, angry, frustrated, irritated, or patronized.  I would.  And, I might even be looking for another job.  He was.  But, being over shadowed by a more senior manager or boss isn't an uncommon problem.  I think we can all agree this has happened to lots of us, on one occassion or more. 
So the bigger question is what's really going on here.

• The professional may think his thunder is being stolen, that others are taking credit for his work, that he's stuck beneath a glass ceiling and he's unable to progress. 
• The manager may think the professional isn't ready to handle things at the next level, and that its his own responsibility to handle higher level operations and processes.

 So what isn't happening here?

• The professional and manager are not talking about the issue. 
• The professional is avoiding confrontation.
• The manager may be oblivous to the employees frustration or is also avoiding confrontation.

Since neither party knows what's going on in the mind of the other person, its hard for either to have a perspective outside of their own.  Obviously someone needs to step up and get the conversation rolling.  And I think everyone would agree that the ball is in Andy's court to address his manager and discuss his issue.  His manager isn't a mind reader, and likely may have no idea of Andy's issue.

So what do we take away from this as a company thinking of hiring Andy?

• First, if he didn't talk to his managers at his former company, how do we ensure he's talking to us?
• What management techniques do we use to enhance communication channels?
• And, how do we continue to understand, set, and manage expectations?

Knowledge of how to answer these questions belongs to a person who understands what it means to be a good people manager.