Regret being sup GS-15 and just want non-sup GS-14

[Anonymous]

I am a GS-14 (0905) and was feeling like I should be a 15. Have not been applying due to having a young kid, then the pandemic and virtual schooling. But this thread makes me reconsider it all. Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Don't become a 15 supervisor just for the money. You have to want to supervise.

[Anonymous]

Some of this is learning how to manage people and learning to enjoy managing. Sit down and figure out what are the biggest stressors with managing and then figure out key steps to get over those. I’ve made my work easy to quantify. Thus when I had a poor performer, it was easy to place him on a PIP. Maybe the employees need more training. Maybe you need to delegate more. I think a lot of Fed managers make their jobs harder by not figuring out solutions to their management issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't become a 15 supervisor just for the money. You have to want to supervise.

+1

I’m in a position now that’s a GS-14 and I am not a Supervisor but I work writhing the management team. The past 4 bosses I’ve had all told me they think I should be a manager, but I just don’t think it’s what I want to do. Maybe later. For now, it doesn’t look like the place I would be happiest and I like managing stuff without being responsible for people. I have managed the work of on-site Contractor teams and that has it’s good points but they’re not really my responsibility in the same way as if they were my Staff, so I’m not sure I want to go that route.

[Anonymous]

I must be the only person in the gov who hated being non supervisory. I couldn’t get people to finish their projects, update me on status, they were making major mistakes but I wasn’t in their chain of command so I couldn’t review. When I went to their managers with issues, their managers wouldn’t do anything. I love being a supervisor, even the hard parts. I just remind myself how terrible it was to have all the responsibility and none of the power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:State Department here. I’m a non-supervisory 14 and generally like the work because I have a lot of freedom and independence without the micromanaging. That will soon change because the chief is retiring. Management has been mentioning my name and I generally seem to want the supervisory 15 gig. Seems like a lot of front line managers regret signing on for their gigs. What am I missing? What sort of daily bullshit do frontline supervisors deal with?

All sorts of things. It's like being a father/mother to 10 misbehaving kids except 1) they are not kids; 2) they don't do or listen to you; 3) you can't get rid of (or replace) them; and 4) your boss STILL expects you to get the job done (and more)... You are f-ed no matter what

I'm a supervisory 15. I have 8 employees, mainly GS-13s and 14s. Here is a sample of what I've dealt with this week.
1.) System my team manages crashes due to IT driven upgrade. This was Monday, still not functional as of COB Thursday.
2.) Employee A shows up late and missed meeting with another agency he was supposed to lead. I lead meeting with zero preparation. When asked why employee was late, response was "I couldn't find car keys and my wife needed to drive home and drop off hers" Turns out keys were just in different pocket.
3.) Employee B has not managed to work an 8 hour day all week, even with telework.
4.) Employees C and D both called in sick.
5.) Drama with a detailee (technically who is employee number 9) and my boss has made it clear he's not a fan.

Even with this BS, I still think my job is easy. I'm not stressed in any way by it. I actually enjoy being a supervisory 15.

I'm a GS15 at State. The above is about right. I'm also surprised sometimes by who ends up being my poor performer of the month. That being said, there are also lots of opportunities to mentor and provide leadership to those who really need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha, I was the original poster - all I can say is that I did take a non-sup 14 position last summer, and it was the right decision for me, even though it's been really hard with COVID. I grew to hate being a supervisor, and I had mostly good staff.

Hey OP. I’m so happy to hear that the switch worked out for you!