Seek your guidance for an old friend who has recently changed his company.
Within 1st week of joining, he is facing indifference from his team.
From what he gathered, his position is like succession planning for his Manager, who has been in the company for more than 10 years. There are chances of him being promoted/transferred to other group companies or leaving for a better role.
His subordinate is junior in designation but has been in the company for more than 5 years & obviously did not like the idea of getting a team member with higher designation than his' instead of his own promotion.
I have advised him to hang in for some time—say at least a year—but he is very depressed by his team's cold attitude and is thinking of changing as soon as possible.
What, according to experts here, would you suggest?
From India, Mumbai
25Within 1st week of joining, he is facing indifference from his team.
From what he gathered, his position is like succession planning for his Manager, who has been in the company for more than 10 years. There are chances of him being promoted/transferred to other group companies or leaving for a better role.
His subordinate is junior in designation but has been in the company for more than 5 years & obviously did not like the idea of getting a team member with higher designation than his' instead of his own promotion.
I have advised him to hang in for some time—say at least a year—but he is very depressed by his team's cold attitude and is thinking of changing as soon as possible.
What, according to experts here, would you suggest?
From India, Mumbai
It is a human tendency to not to accept a new comer in a company, immediately.
You can tell your friend to be patient, friendly with others, asking their suggestions/opinions with regard to his assignments; he need to ask support/guidance/help from his other peers/subordinates.
Involve his subordinate in the decision making process, by your friend.
If this is done, he can feel the change in attitude, after 10-15 days.
From India, Aizawl
You can tell your friend to be patient, friendly with others, asking their suggestions/opinions with regard to his assignments; he need to ask support/guidance/help from his other peers/subordinates.
Involve his subordinate in the decision making process, by your friend.
If this is done, he can feel the change in attitude, after 10-15 days.
From India, Aizawl
Thank you for your inputs.
He is now facing issues like digging petty faults in simple work & worst no work at all. His manager says he doesn't have that trust yet to give important work...or any work.
From India, Mumbai
He is now facing issues like digging petty faults in simple work & worst no work at all. His manager says he doesn't have that trust yet to give important work...or any work.
From India, Mumbai
Hi,
This is bit fragile situation. Obviously resistance will be there in the very beginning. While resistance from the subordinate ( who is senior in terms of service) is justified , non cooperation from the Manager side is something significant and intervention from the Location Head / CEO/ President is very much required. Email communication (or intro meeting) from Top Superior confirming the roles and responsibilities of your friend should be passed on to all the Members directing their co-operation to your friend. All the same your friend should also take efforts to build relationship with all. If feasible he can plan for a lunch outing with all or a high tea.
Rather if your friend continue to work with struggle one day he himself will be sacked by the Management for not handling things properly.
From India, Madras
This is bit fragile situation. Obviously resistance will be there in the very beginning. While resistance from the subordinate ( who is senior in terms of service) is justified , non cooperation from the Manager side is something significant and intervention from the Location Head / CEO/ President is very much required. Email communication (or intro meeting) from Top Superior confirming the roles and responsibilities of your friend should be passed on to all the Members directing their co-operation to your friend. All the same your friend should also take efforts to build relationship with all. If feasible he can plan for a lunch outing with all or a high tea.
Rather if your friend continue to work with struggle one day he himself will be sacked by the Management for not handling things properly.
From India, Madras
Dear member,
This is a classic case of mishandling of replacement planning. You have referred to the instance in your friend's company as succession planning. However, it is not a succession planning. Please check the internet to educate yourself on what is succession planning.
Before filling in your vacancy, your manager and subordinate should have been taken into confidence. While the manager should have been told clearly that he should groom his reliever and hand over the charge properly so that the work continuity is maintained, the junior should have been counselled on why a need was felt to fill in the vacancy from outside. For the effective functioning of the department, it is important to have buy-in from the superior and good support from the juniors. Unfortunately, in your friend's case, both are missing.
A learned member has commented that the resistance to change was obvious. However, leadership lies in preventing what was obvious. Reacting to the behaviour of the manager and his subordinates is an example of poor leadership.
I recommend you approach the top leadership and explain the situation. If the Manager feels that your friend is unfit to step into his shoes, then he must find out the reasons why he thinks so. Your friend should obtain feedback on his shortcomings and start taking corrective measures to overcome them. On the contrary, your friend must provide evidence to his subordinate that he is head and shoulder above him.
Your friend's company appears to be not so organised. I say so because the company appears to be person dependent. In organised companies, the work is system-dependent or process dependent. However, in not-so-organised companies, people get integrated with their department and the people working there become department and the department becomes those people. Against this backdrop, removing a person becomes a challenging task.
Dismayed due to the non-cooperation from either side, your friend is contemplating quitting the company. However, it will have its side effects too as questions will be asked about why he quit so soon. Tell your friend that his manager and subordinate both have long exposure to the work that goes on in the department. Both of them think that they are irreplaceable because of the exposure. However, human intelligence has its own merits and on the dint of intelligence, your friend should be able to tide over the challenge.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
This is a classic case of mishandling of replacement planning. You have referred to the instance in your friend's company as succession planning. However, it is not a succession planning. Please check the internet to educate yourself on what is succession planning.
Before filling in your vacancy, your manager and subordinate should have been taken into confidence. While the manager should have been told clearly that he should groom his reliever and hand over the charge properly so that the work continuity is maintained, the junior should have been counselled on why a need was felt to fill in the vacancy from outside. For the effective functioning of the department, it is important to have buy-in from the superior and good support from the juniors. Unfortunately, in your friend's case, both are missing.
A learned member has commented that the resistance to change was obvious. However, leadership lies in preventing what was obvious. Reacting to the behaviour of the manager and his subordinates is an example of poor leadership.
I recommend you approach the top leadership and explain the situation. If the Manager feels that your friend is unfit to step into his shoes, then he must find out the reasons why he thinks so. Your friend should obtain feedback on his shortcomings and start taking corrective measures to overcome them. On the contrary, your friend must provide evidence to his subordinate that he is head and shoulder above him.
Your friend's company appears to be not so organised. I say so because the company appears to be person dependent. In organised companies, the work is system-dependent or process dependent. However, in not-so-organised companies, people get integrated with their department and the people working there become department and the department becomes those people. Against this backdrop, removing a person becomes a challenging task.
Dismayed due to the non-cooperation from either side, your friend is contemplating quitting the company. However, it will have its side effects too as questions will be asked about why he quit so soon. Tell your friend that his manager and subordinate both have long exposure to the work that goes on in the department. Both of them think that they are irreplaceable because of the exposure. However, human intelligence has its own merits and on the dint of intelligence, your friend should be able to tide over the challenge.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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