Transferring departments

anonymous31

I have an issue with changing departments at work and I would greatly appreciate any advice. I got hired by my company eight months ago. After six months, I informed my supervisor that I would like to switch departments. My supervisor seemed to be fine with it (she said I should pursue my interests and that the other department would be happy to have me etc.), so she told me she would speak to the head of the other department first. In our later meeting, she told me she mentioned my desire to transfer and that now it was up to me to approach the head of the other department, which I did. However, unfortunately I found out that they do not have free positions at the moment. Both my current supervisor and the head of the other department are aware that I do not mind waiting until a place becomes available. However, my current supervisor is treating me now like I have already left her department. She informed at least half of our group and some other departments with which we are in close collaboration that I am leaving. I have been getting e-mails the past few weeks thanking me for a great job etc. I believe this is very unprofessional of her! She is also not sending me to any training courses. In addition, I have got a feeling that she thinks I should be pushing my move to the other department more strongly. I do not know what to do now, but I do not enjoy sitting at my work doing nothing and not being able to learn new things that will drive my career forward. What should I do? I do not want to irritate the head of the other department by constantly asking him about available positions, because I am pretty sure he knows about my interest already. We have had e-mail conversations and I have spoken to him about it in person outside of work. Could anyone please give me any suggestions on how to diffuse this situation?

marliepanda

Where I work each department has a budget.

If someone had basically said 'I'm leaving' it is very unlikely that any resources would be used on that person as it will not benefit that department for much longer.

But late now but I would have looked into other positions available before informing people of my desires. It may not be a budget thing but unfortunately if you are 'jumping ship' it becomes unlikely that you will be invested in further until you do. you may see it as stalling your career but to themyou are an employee. They are not obliged to allow you to use them as a 'stepping stone'

TELLIT01

Marliepanda's right. Managers will always have limited resources and will use them where they think they will see the greatest benefit. Why would a manager invest the time and money training you when they know you are leaving.
Where I do agree with you is that the manager has behaved badly in broadcasting the fact that you are looking to move department.

anonymous31

Firstly, thank you for your replies, as I´m here to get unbiased neutral view. However, I don’t agree with the fact that I had to look around first and then inform my manager. We are the same company, (perhaps I should have mentioned it before, but we are also based on the same floor of the building), which means she could have found out about it from other sources and then she wouldn’t be happy about it for sure. It´s like stubbing someone in the back! Secondly, she asked about my timeline with regards to the move. I said that obviously I would like to finish my current projects and then move over once the position is available, so my timeline is flexible, at least a couple of months or even a year if needed. Other people in my company have moved around and they also told me that it’s a relatively long process. Thus, the way I see it, I´m still a member of her department as there is no other position for me to fill in and thereby it’s wrong to discriminate against me. In any case, according to you, what would be the best way to get out of this situation now? I don’t want to create any enemies; my only aim is to move peacefully to another department.

marliepanda

anonymous31 wrote: »

Firstly, thank you for your replies, as I´m here to get unbiased neutral view. However, I don’t agree with the fact that I had to look around first and then inform my manager. We are the same company, (perhaps I should have mentioned it before, but we are also based on the same floor of the building), which means she could have found out about it from other sources and then she wouldn’t be happy about it for sure. It´s like stubbing someone in the back! Secondly, she asked about my timeline with regards to the move. I said that obviously I would like to finish my current projects and then move over once the position is available, so my timeline is flexible, at least a couple of months or even a year if needed. Other people in my company have moved around and they also told me that it’s a relatively long process. Thus, the way I see it, I´m still a member of her department as there is no other position for me to fill in and thereby it’s wrong to discriminate against me. In any case, according to you, what would be the best way to get out of this situation now? I don’t want to create any enemies; my only aim is to move peacefully to another department.

I didn't say you 'had' to, but it would have prevented some of these issues.

Discriminate is the wrong word. She's not discriminating against you. She's thinking 'why pay for Anonymous to go on this training course when she is moving departments, I can send Mr T instead'

I would get on with your work, keep your ear to the ground for other vacancies (do you get emails with internal vacancy updates). You can ask to go on training if you feel it will benefit you, but certainly don't kick up a fuss of discrimination as it's really not.

When someone left our department they were pulled off all training courses already booked and their replacement was sent instead. Now that was a 'definite' move but yours doesn't seem prospective, just delayed due to no vacancy.

anonymous31

Thank you for the quick reply. I’m actually going to have a meeting with my current manager later on today. Unfortunately, we don’t get e-mail updates with available vacancies in other departments. In addition, I´m a foreigner working in Iceland and even though I´m trying to keep my ears open, it isn’t a straightforward task.
In terms of training, I was already excluded previously from two trainings and the latest one is actually of interest to me, and I can use the knowledge gained later on. In terms of my work, I´ll be finishing my projects relatively soon and I´m not being given any extra work, so with every day I´m having more and more “free” time. Some people might be happy with that, but like I like to be involved, learn and contribute and prefer not to do any timewasting.
In the meeting with my manager, I’m planning to tell her that there aren’t any open vacancies in the other department I´m interested. She briefly mentioned previously that I could also try some of our departments abroad, so I´ll let her know that this will be my next step. I’ll also mention to her that I´m about to finish my current projects, so I don´t mind getting more assignments. Even if some other department from abroad offers me a job, the move won’t happen overnight. So in the meantime, I’ll tell her that I´d like to get at least some training that is still relevant. By this I mean training that I can still apply the next few months. Otherwise, if I don´t get this training then it limits my responsibilities at my current department even further. Do you think these points are reasonable? Should I exclude something or add? And once again, thank you so much for your help!

marliepanda

At the end of the day it's up to your manager what training you go on and what assignments she gives you. You can ask her in your meeting. Whether she thinks it's relevant is up to her. This would apply whether you had planned to leave or not.