Lack of promotion advice :-(

[kme]

About 2 years ago I was promoted to an Interim Director position while my boss was an Interim Executive. The plan was that my boss was going to become permanent and then I would follow in permanency.

Fast forward 1.5 years where both of us were still Interim. During this time our company merged and the vision for my bosses roll was changed and they hired an outside candidate. This lead to my boss going back to her prior position, and subsequently me to my prior position except, I kept 50% of my responsibilities as a Director but I lost the pay and title. The new exec started about 5 months ago. Since her on-boarding she has been clear that she would restructure and I would be permanently promoted. The progress of the promotion was discussed about once a month with me.

And then this Monday happened where I was informed the “vision of the position is changing” and I would not longer qualify as I do not have a PhD (which is totally uncommon and unnecessary in my industry). She has thoughts on external candidates she wants. I am completely devastated. I’ve lead the service line through significant changes, made drastic improvements to patient care, received nation wide awards and saved the company nearly $2M in 18 months. I’ve received internal support for the promotion by the organization President, COO, and Director colleagues.

I don’t know how to proceed. The challenge is, I’ve been performing duties because the carrot of a promotion was dangled in front of me. These duties are in no way relative to my current job description but are a needed function. But I don’t want to do them anymore if I won’t be recognized for them. I’ve worked there for almost 10 years. I enjoy working there except but new Exec is oppressive. We’re a tight leadership team so we manage.

I feel like I need a Hail Mary approach. My self driven options:
1) Sit down with the new Exec and lay out everything I’ve done. Tell here what my future plans are and how I want this Director job that she says I’m
not qualified for. I’m doing everything she wants I just don’t have a PHD.
2) draft a new job description built upon my current duties (including those Director ones I’ve kept). This would be FTE neutral as I’m doing it now. I would want a promotionally title and small raise (I am currently the most productive and lowest paid)
3) essentially tell them, once the new director starts, I won’t be performing those kept Director duties
4) speak with the COO to tell him how crazy the Exec is (which she is, including other situations) and how a PHD is not a standard in the industry (lol)

What else can you all think of?

[sarahsays]

I would do #2 and also look for a new job.

[k3am]

I’d go with option 2. And look for a new job. Fake it with a grain of salt - I may be jaded after spending multiple years being told that promotions/salary adjustments would happen and not having them happen.

Beat case scenario, you stay with a known quantity and get some improvement. Worst case, you get something new lined up.

[simpsongal]

Sept 18, 2019 18:51:32 GMT -5 kme said:

I feel like I need a Hail Mary approach. My self driven options:
1) Sit down with the new Exec and lay out everything I’ve done. Tell here what my future plans are and how I want this Director job that she says I’m
not qualified for. I’m doing everything she wants I just don’t have a PHD.
2) draft a new job description built upon my current duties (including those Director ones I’ve kept). This would be FTE neutral as I’m doing it now. I would want a promotionally title and small raise (I am currently the most productive and lowest paid)
3) essentially tell them, once the new director starts, I won’t be performing those kept Director duties
4) speak with the COO to tell him how crazy the Exec is (which she is, including other situations) and how a PHD is not a standard in the industry (lol)

What else can you all think of?

#1 - do you intend to get a PhD?  I might ask if that will be a permanent barrier to your promotion. w/the suggestion that you'll need to move on to another job.

#2 - would it be presumptuous of you to draft a new job description?  I might have a list of the new responsibilities you've taken on w/o a pay raise or title change and use those in a conversation about a pay raise.  But this is a new management, so be prepared for them to say no.

#3 - I don't see how this conversation would go - unless they're giving you too much to do and the conversation is "I cannot continue to handle the work of my previous job and 50% of another position, I'm concerned for the mission of the organization that these tasks are not receiving adequate personnel support...."  It's a tough conversation b/c it's basically admitting that you can't handle everything, and it seems you'd rather just handle it but for more $$ (see option 2 for that conversation)

#4 - I would be VERY careful about this.  Level jumping and speaking poorly of a management official should be undertaken w/extreme care, if at all.  If you flag concern that the position shouldn't require a PhD, you should probably take that to your immediate manager first and implore them to send it up the chain.

I'm so sorry, that situation it just lousy.  You absolutely need to start looking for another job.  Nothing will get their attention like the threat of you leaving.

[covergirl82]

Sept 19, 2019 8:23:14 GMT -5 Cappy said:

I'm not in your industry (I'm in university administration) but from what I can tell of this story they already know who this person is they want to bring in and s/he has a PhD. They are adding this credential so they can hand-select without HR repercussion, knowing you can't just go out and get a PhD. Since you are qualified and have been doing the job duties this is their best way to block you. They used a carrot of a promotion to patch the gap between when the new exec came in and the PhD person was ready to move over. I would not be surprised if the new person comes from the last employer the new Exec worked for. I am so sorry.

Now is when you take all of those badass things in paragraph 3, add them to a resume, and look elsewhere. The great news is that you now have Director experience you did not have before and you can leverage that for a better role elsewhere. I know this sucks. I wouldn't even bother with #2 unless you are okay staying (ex. the status quo is okay long term). If you truly desire more career wise you will have to get it elsewhere.

All of this.  But I do work in HR for a healthcare system, and I've seen a few (new or existing) leaders change qualifications so that a buddy can qualify, but an internal person would not qualify.

[noodleoo]

Honestly, I'd just start looking for a new job. I think it is pretty clear that they are not going to promote you. You could try #2, but be prepared for it to be taken poorly. If anything, I'd mostly go in advocating for a raise if you are the least paid in your position and you perform above average. But really, the writing is on the wall that the new exec doesn't value you and wants to bring in her own people and I'd take your experience elsewhere.

[Deleted]

On #3, isn't that what's going to happen when the new director starts (or did I miss something here)?

[oswin]

Look for a new job if at all possible. I know it's hard to fight 10 years of inertia, you form a real attachment to the company and people, but it sounds like it's just time to move on. Take your Director expertise somewhere else and get a nice pay raise.

[kme]

Sept 19, 2019 12:37:57 GMT -5 @heyitsme said:

On #3, isn't that what's going to happen when the new director starts (or did I miss something here)?

Excellent question. There was no discussion of changing those responsibilities (I was pretty shocked during the convo and didn’t ask) . The plan is the new director would actually be focusing on current and new responsibilities. Being in that role, I don’t think the new Director will have the bandwidth to take on the current director role, plus new responsibilities, plus mine.

The good news is that prior to this conversation, I applied and have an interview for an even higher level position but it’s at a very small company. It’s still within healthcare, but outside the Acute hospital setting which moving outside of a hospital could be career suicide and I would never be able to go back. I wasn’t planning on leaving my current job when I applied but wanted to use it as interview experience for what I thought was an upcoming Director role at my current site....but that has now changed.

In my industry there are 2 common doctorate degrees- PhD and DNP. PhDs usually work in research centers or academia. DNPs work in healthcare settings and translate research into applicability. Because of what my anticipated director responsibilities would have been, my plan was to start my MBA this Jan followed by my DNP in addition to finishing a certificate in business from Harvard at the end of this month (I did the certificate to gauge if I wanted my MBA).

I am very familiar with how structuring new positions can occur and believe she needed to exclude me from the candidate pool. I was told exactly whom she wants for the position.....

Thank you all for your responses!

[dr.girlfriend]

Sounds like other people have it covered with their answers but I just wanted to say I’m so sorry this happened to you. I hope you find a place in an organization that values you.