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Ask HN: As a manager, how to deal with a protegé?

by electroagenda on 10/10/24, 7:19 AM with 6 comments

I work as CTO in a small company. The vicepresident of the company signed a friend of him as a senior SW engineer.

The reality is that he is a nice guy, but technically obsolete, and quite out of context due to his previous experience. Up to the point that I trust way more in other younger engineers.

Honestly, I should report the situation and don't give him senior tasks. But the vicepresident is convinced that this guy is the best SW engineer in the world.

What would you do?

  • by ggeorgovassilis on 10/10/24, 8:24 AM

    1. Your VP sees something in the guy that you don't and vice versa. I think it'd help if you both agreed on a shared understanding of the requirements for the role and then each explained your views how the new hire fits that role. Then you can agree on a way forward. If it turns out that you have greatly differing understanding of the role, then you might have a larger problem because...

    2. ... the VP hired someone into your sub-organisation without discussing it with you - that looks like a gap in the process which should also be addressed.

    3. I had a case like that in a previous job where the department director placed a buddy of his as a developer into my team. The guy was unmanageable, circumvented all processes and basically had free reign and there was nothing I could do about it. While that by itself didn't create too much of a problem, as he was assigned on a fixed, long-running project, it made the rest of the team uneasy because double standards.

  • by gtvwill on 10/10/24, 7:41 AM

    Send the protégé on some training courses and skills development workshops. Bring them up to speed with current trends and requirements of the business. If they kick up a stink or if questions are asked just make it out like it's the new norm. Then it's up to them to sink or swim. If they falter, point it out to the big boss. Mitigate failures by having paired programming where you have your top tier junior shadow the protégé. They can learn from each other, you can reduce potential damage that can occur from putting all your eggs in one basket.

    Humans much like systems need redundancy too, never rely on one alone. What happens if your lead gets ill? Has a injury? Protégé or not you need redundancy.

    Also talk to your boss. Communication is king.

  • by KuriousCat on 10/10/24, 12:54 PM

    Is that a VP of Engineering? If that’s the case shouldn’t it be the VP’s responsibility to get the things done? How did that appointment happen without CTO’s approval give that it is a small company?

  • by beardyw on 10/10/24, 8:51 AM

    > Honestly, I should report the situation and don't give him senior tasks

    Presumably then the only real problem is his status and salary. If you can overlook that it sounds as if you have it in control.

    Somewhere I worked a similar person got into a position of authority. Then it was disastrous. If that became likely you might need to stick your neck out.