Why is my manager wanting a an hourly employee to run the show over me the coordinator?

Question

I am currently a coordinator at a major company where my manager has a an hourly employee making decisions in my area of supervision. The hourly employee is in that area too. He has had relief coordinator duties in the past but not statused like me. I talked to my manager and he said the employee needs to feel wanted and since the employee was a colonel in the army he can not change his mode of being in charge of a group. My manager told me to let the employee do his thing and stay back and watch, since he has two workers who follow him like a cult. I have employees who back me too, but I feel its showing that the hourly employee is getting the credit while i sit back and watch when I'm suppose to be running it. Its a break in the chain of command since the employee skips me and he is reporting directly to the manager, I feel left out and told my manager I don't need the hourly employee to make decisions for me. I respect the employee if he gives me advice, but not my decisions.

Answer 1

There are a couple of possible scenarios:

1. Your Manager may be looking for a way to "ease you out"

2. The hourly employee may be better at this task than you are

3. Your Manager may not like you

Let's face it - there are an infinite number of things that could be going on here. The bottom line for you needs to be if you are willing to live with it the way it is.

According to what you have published, your Manager is not willing to back you up as the Supervisor, at least in this case. You need to decide how likely this is to continue, and if you can deal with it without stressing yourself out.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Your manager is not being a manager. He is afraid to stand up to this colonel or just doesn't want to have to deal with it. If you are this colonel's supervisor in some capacity, reset the chain of command yourself. If your employees are not correctly following the chain of command, let them know what about their actions they need to change.

Answer 3

Someone has got to take care of the job right? You were obvously not at that level otherwise your Boss would have never ever let an hourly employee do that. He apparently delivers when you just...well, don't.

Answer 4

You are ina difficult situation. It is obvious that the manager respects and maybe fears this other employee. Since you have brought these concerns to your manager, I would go over his head. But, this could ruin the job situation for you. I would look for other work, too.