Sandwich position

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term sandwich position is used for the role of a manager of lower to middle management in an organization who, due to their position in corporate management, has to implement instructions from higher management levels on the one hand and to direct employees under themselves on the other . A role conflict with differentiated problem areas can arise from the variety of different requirements .

term

The so-called sandwich position , i.e. the "position between the halves of the bread roll" like a sandwich , is assigned to the executives of lower and middle management . A vertical career leap has already taken place, so that the "sandwich" in the organization chart is at the middle level. The term is intended to express that the group of people concerned takes on an intermediary role between the strategically-normatively oriented top management and the operational core . Other colleagues of the same rank can be found at the same level , but there is a larger number of employees who are lower in rank and a mostly smaller number who are in higher rank. In this connecting function, special leadership or management skills are required and role conflicts almost inevitably arise between the instructions of the superiors and the leadership and motivation of one's own employees. In particular, this group of people has a special function as knowledge carrier and mediator.

Examples of people in Sandwich positions include in the health ward and nursing managers , all the team and department heads of a company, but also foreman and master . In recent years, due to globalized , internationally operating companies, the importance of this group of people has increased and they make up the majority of the company's managers. Since the chances of advancement from the sandwich position within a company due to external applicants to the top are rated as rather low, the loyalty to a certain company can be viewed as low. There is therefore more and more job changes, which in the long term means that “the flooring”, i.e. managers who hold the sandwich position, no longer sufficiently move up, so that companies are increasingly forced to think about incentive systems regarding the attractiveness of this position instead of “just” building up pressure.

Problems of the position holders

Due to their position within the management hierarchy , these people are increasingly subject to a double pressure of expectations or a network of expectations between the objectives of top management and the concerns of the employees of the lower level, as well as the concerns of colleagues of comparable rank , including the needs from the in Every company has an existing, informal group that marks a social status . This can be referred to as the "hammer-anvil situation". A 2011 study by Dr. Jürgen Meyer Stiftung was able to identify the problem areas: role, pressure to perform, qualifications, ethics and strategy. Case studies clearly show that members of the group of people concerned often describe that they feel left alone and are desperate, although complaints tend to take place in silence and advice on burnout is rarely sought.

Andreas Steinhübel mentions “five central success factors” for the adequate handling of the sandwich position . In summary, it is a matter of analyzing your own position, then positioning yourself with a certain distance to both "bread sides", perceiving your own needs and pooling resources based on this. The ability to conduct negotiations is also important, which goes hand in hand with a certain willingness to compromise , flexibility and the ability to deal with conflicts as key skills . In this regard, Steinhübel has developed a model for the “maturity development energy in middle management”, which is intended to help position holders in determining their position and exercising their role.

Further use

In addition to the described use of the term for executives in middle management, the term "sandwich position" is sometimes also used when, for example, a person has their own parent (at home) and has to be present for the family at the same time.

See also

literature

  • Joachim Wöhrle, Silke Weigang: Leadership in the sandwich position: PocketGuide . Haufe-Lexware, Freiburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-648-05702-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andreas Steinhübel : Leadership in the sandwich position: Recognizing opportunities and keeping an overview . Bibliographisches Institut , Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-411-86359-4 , p. 7 .
  2. ↑ a b Sabine Hockling: Leadership in the sandwich position. In: zeit.de. June 14, 2012, accessed May 30, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Sandwich position in focus: Conference "Between Leadership and Care" with great response. Retrieved June 29, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b Lower Management. In: Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon. Retrieved May 31, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Andreas Steinhübel: Leadership in the sandwich position: Recognizing opportunities and keeping an overview . Bibliographisches Institut, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-411-86359-4 , p. 9 .
  6. ^ A b Eva Buchhorn: Packhorse of the corporate world. In: spiegel.de. February 14, 2013, accessed May 30, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Christine Demmer: Sandwich position? No thanks! In: sueddeutsche.de. October 30, 2011, accessed May 30, 2015 .
  8. ↑ The middle management: The invisible top performers. Retrieved May 31, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Andreas Steinhübel: Leadership in the sandwich position: Recognizing opportunities and keeping an overview . Bibliographisches Institut, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-411-86359-4 , p. 121-122 .
  10. ↑ Heinz-Jürgen Herzlieb: Bosses have to accept their sandwich position. In: welt.de. October 18, 2012, accessed May 30, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Andreas Steinhübel: Leadership in the sandwich position: Recognizing opportunities and keeping an overview . Bibliographisches Institut, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-411-86359-4 , p. 100 ff .
  12. ↑ Dealing with relatives with dementia: About the influence of social differences . Springer-Verlag, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16537-0 , pp. 21 ( limited preview in Google Book search).