Being Sidelined by your boss

Partnerconcernsme

My partner has just been told that she now has to report to the person she originally recruited and until recently line managed.
Background as follows:


My partner works in Health and Safety and has done for many years. She is highly qualified in her chosen field and well respected by her peers. When she started at her current employers she was taken on as the Manager of Health Safety and Wellbeing. She has some experience and qualifications in the area of wellbeing but her major interest lies in Health & Safety. She accepted the position and set about recruiting a Wellbeing manager to undertake the day to day duties of that position so that she could concentrate on the strategy elements.


However, shortly after taking the position, the HR manager left and a new HR manager decided that she did not like the idea of Wellbeing and Health & Safety being under the same umbrella so she separated the two departments.


This was fine by my partner although she still ended up having to line manage the Wellbeing Manager albeit at arms length.
Now another HR Manager has come along and has decided to once again merge the two departments (quite frustrating in itself as my partner had just finished all the changes to intranet sites and structures etc. that were needed when they separated not to mention all the work she had to put into justifying the change to a sceptical workforce).


The worst part is that now the HR manager has decided to put the Wellbeing Manager in overall control of the merged department and has made my partner report to the person who used to report to her.


This has had to effect of undermining my partners authority and made it virtually impossible for her to gain the respect of the department heads. As a Health and Safety advisor it is vital that she is able to liaise directly with department heads on a level playing field as she needs to have the authority to ensure they comply with their legal obligations. However, now she has effectively been demoted and will have to rely on this Wellbeing manager to convey her wishes to them The Wellbeing Manager has absolutely no Health & Safety background but will be expected to attend board meetings and field questions on the subject and make on the spot decisions and provide advice. To make matters even worse she has proven to have a total lack of strategic ability and had to be more or less spoon fed when it came to making robust business cases for her ideas.


The reason the Wellbeing Manager has been given the senior post is simply because she has a good "bedside manner" and can Schmoose the managers. Whereas my partner has to deal with Health & Safety where being diplomatic and pandering to ego's is not quite so simple when legal compliance is on the line.


As I say my partner is highly qualified and it is a small field so there are few other opportunities for her to find work elsewhere that would be as highly paid. In addition we are geographically restricted by having an elderly relative nearby who needs our care.


Unfortunately, my partner is feeling very depressed at the moment and was in tears last night as she simply cannot see this new arrangement working.


I don't know what to do for the best or how I can best advise or help her in this situation so any advice would be welcomed.


Sorry to go on so long but I notice you guys are always asking for clarifications and more information so I thought I'd get it all down straight away.

Bantex_2

Has her pay been cut?

Snakey

If the other person really is incompetent and/or if the head of HR really does change that frequently, then it will only be a matter of time before it's all change again and things may look entirely different when the dust settles. So I wouldn't advise rash action.

Moving doesn't seem to be an option, changing the decision doesn't seem to be an option, so it really is a case of sitting down and riding it out, and protecting herself from being caught in the fallout of the inevitable disaster.

I'd also advise trying really hard not to blame the other person for this situation - bitterness will only reflect badly on your partner.

She should send written follow-ups confirming all advice given (especially involving analysis of the law, or required actions, or deadline dates), and also at what point the responsibility for the next steps passes to her boss. Sometimes a person about to get into trouble will instinctively point the finger at another person who is "also to blame" even if they are only 10% at fault, and mud sticks, so your partner needs to be ready in case things move in the direction of "I wasn't told about that" etc.

Partnerconcernsme

I think I know where you are going with that question but the answer is no so it makes constructive dismissal a difficult route to follow.

Partnerconcernsme

Yes I think I know what you mean. My partner has been on the other end of that sort of situation so she knows to keep notes and ensure she does her duty to the best of her ability etc. I don't think she holds any ill will towards the other party it's more a case of professional pride and her absolute certainty that this other person is going to let her do all the work and then sit back and take all the credit for her hard work.

Bantex_2

Partnerconcernsme wrote: »

Yes I think I know what you mean. My partner has been on the other end of that sort of situation so she knows to keep notes and ensure she does her duty to the best of her ability etc. I don't think she holds any ill will towards the other party it's more a case of professional pride and her absolute certainty that this other person is going to let her do all the work and then sit back and take all the credit for her hard work.

She needs to brush up on her smoozing.

FBaby

Dreadful situation, but how does the other one feels about it? They might themselves not be overly keen on the change if she has to take on more responsibilities she is not familiar with. Did she get a pay increase?

cazziebo

She has to just get on with her job.

It wasn't her decision to implement this restructure so it's not her worry if it doesn't work. She has to work within that new structure while it exists

Of course, you also have to be open to the possibility that this was the right move, and the other person has got more ability in operating at that level. Management is about interpersonal skills as much, if not more, than it is about specialist expertise.

(In my experience, HR do not design these kinds of reorganisations - the senior management do and HR merely implement them.)

TELLIT01

If the other person is incompetent your partner's competence at the interview stage could be called into question too. Stuff happens and she really only has two options (1) accept the situation (2) leave.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Why did your partner recruit an incompetent person?

Anyhow, this is a lesson in 'how to win friends and influence people'. The best thing she could do now is to say 'how wonderful that i recruited a rising star' and wish her all the best. The worst would be to cry and fall into depression about it.

In the world of work, we go up, we got down and we go sideways. If you are only willing to go up, then you are never going to be able to plot what you have to do if you ever have to go down.

She needs to brush up on her schmoozing, and perhaps see that wellbeing is actually more important than she at first thought.

itch_for_a_glitch

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

Why did your partner recruit an incompetent person?

Anyhow, this is a lesson in 'how to win friends and influence people'. The best thing she could do now is to say 'how wonderful that i recruited a rising star' and wish her all the best. The worst would be to cry and fall into depression about it.

In the world of work, we go up, we got down and we go sideways. If you are only willing to go up, then you are never going to be able to plot what you have to do if you ever have to go down.

She needs to brush up on her schmoozing, and perhaps see that wellbeing is actually more important than she at first thought.

I recruited a rising star once, two years later I was out of a job.:rotfl:
Sh*t happens.