New company with old colleagues?

StevenB12

Hey everyone. 

So, I've been offered  management role with a large, well established company, it would be a decent step up in wages, company vehicle and I would have about 20 employees under near me in my section... 

A good 9 or 10 of these would be former colleagues. I left a former company about 6 years ago, not under great circumstances but not entirely bad. I got on with a few of these colleagues, where as others were not missed, all of whom I haven't had any contact with since leaving. 

I suspect that if I were to take the job that some of the old colleagues would offer a lot of resentment, as they haven't moved on job wise (advancement wise) and I have moved up several levels since. 

Would it be worth taking or would I be better off looking elsewhere? 

Thanks all

lincroft1710

One of the tasks of being a manager is dealing with resentment from subordinates

Brie

Well you could manage them out....or you could try to win them over.  I think it will depend on what else the role involves and who else is going to be helping with managing.  Very few people actually have to manage 20 people without some support.

TELLIT01

I would hope that after 6 years any feelings of animosity, in both directions, would be long gone.  As has been said in previous responses, dealing with subordinates is part of the job.  Even if you took on a job where you didn't know any of the existing staff there would probably be somebody there who felt the job should have been theirs.  You'd have the same issue.

Marcon

StevenB12 said:

Hey everyone. 

So, I've been offered  management role with a large, well established company, it would be a decent step up in wages, company vehicle and I would have about 20 employees under near me in my section... 

A good 9 or 10 of these would be former colleagues. I left a former company about 6 years ago, not under great circumstances but not entirely bad. I got on with a few of these colleagues, where as others were not missed, all of whom I haven't had any contact with since leaving. 

I suspect that if I were to take the job that some of the old colleagues would offer a lot of resentment, as they haven't moved on job wise (advancement wise) and I have moved up several levels since. 

Would it be worth taking or would I be better off looking elsewhere? 

Thanks all

The fact you're hoping that a couple of lines on a public forum will help you to decide on your own future, when nobody here knows anything about you and your management abilities, speaks volumes. People can have long memories, especially if they are given what they might see as a chance to settle old scores.

You clearly have grave doubts and probably you should be listening to yourself...

DullGreyGuy

What size is your industry and number of employers in your area? 

Certainly if you work in insurance, for example, you simply are going to be bumping into people time and again because it's a relatively small industry and the same people rotate through companies. There are people I've worked with 3-4 times in different companies - would be more if you count near misses where they moved on just before I joined. 

If you know them or not some people will resent you for having the job... they may have applied for it and been turned down, they may think you are too young or inexperienced compared to them, they may not like your race, gender, sexuality etc. Being a good manager isnt generally about being the best at doing the job you are managing (though unfortunately too often that's the criteria used) but actually being good at leading people, creating a team etc.

You'll never be liked by everyone, there will always be those that try to undermine you, it's up to you on how you choose to face that (and when). Plus there is always more than one possible solution... an FD joined the subsidiary I was working for because he hated the CFO in the other division and for him it was a mainly sideways step. Unfortunately 6 months after he joined it was announced the CFO was also moving across (feels like it was a downwards step for her). He moved on again after a year and 6 years on she is still CFO there.