My direct manager asks me to do reasonable things that are in conflict with the things their manager, HR and training seem to expect. Sometimes, they all seem to be in conflict with each other.
Since (in my case) these are all good people (as far as I know), I think that the massive disruption we have experienced may have left things out of sync.
Such as, how do we get [much more] work done with [much less] people?
Or, how can anyone doing twice the work be “below expectations”?
Or, your manager was let go and replaced with a “manager” that still has their old functional job, so has no time to actually manage, and might even be punished if they DO. Get a few of these unfortunate “managers” reporting to another unfortunate “manager”: goodbye management.
Some changes may have been good ideas that just don’t work, but there doesn’t seem to be good (if any) communication back up the line. And with fewer “levels” now in that line, I would have expected communication between managers to improve, not get worse.
Maybe they don’t know how to “manage”. Maybe they agree with policy, and maybe they are afraid to report such conflict back up the line. (Maybe some did, and were let go.) Or maybe it’s just chaos.
We blog a lot about our awful jobs and bad managers, but even good people with good jobs and good managers seem to be in a mess.
BNY, it’s whisper down the lane. By the time your policies are implemented, they are distorted or in direct conflict with intent.
Suggestion: you managers get together for a reality check.