Forums

About a year ago I was apprached by someone in another department asking about a possible move should a position on my team open up. 

One has, and I have asked the individual if he is still interested in the move. He is, so I have scheduled a meeting with his line manager to request the transfer.

My rationale for asking the direct before approaching his manager was to find out if the move was still what he wanted so as not to rock the boat if it wasn't

Should I have briefed the manager before making the follow-up enquiry? If so, I want to apologize and would appreciate some suggestions on how to frame it.

If not, but the manager thinks I have, how can I best handle the situation?

   

L2LEADERSW's picture

 If you had gone straight to the manager, the manager might have been angry that the direct didn't ask the manager's permission to seek other opportunities in the company. By going back to the direct you respected their trust inyou.

My 2 cents

krisntokyo's picture

Thanks L2LW

Unfortunately my quiet heads-up to the applicant about and hour before my meeting with his manager was overheard by a suspicious exec (line manager of the one I was going to meet) on the other side of the cube. This individual quickly passed the tid-bit along to the arriving party who instantly went apoplectic and tried first to see the CEO and, failing that, came down to my cube berating me for setting up a meeting for a decision that had already been made.

I managed to usher him into an empty conference room and explain that I was approached first and wanted to ensure interest before proceeding, and that I set up the meeting with him as soon as I had received confirmation of his direct’s intention to proceed. The manager continued to rail at me for ‘going behind his back’ and ‘disrespecting his position in the organization’ etc…

Luckily I had recently listening to the MT Apology cast, and proceeded to do so profusely for his perceived insults, then calmly as I could (dry throat and difficulty swallowing), went on to explain that I had set up the meeting to inform him of the situation and wanted to give him up to 3 months to find a replacement for his direct, with the proviso that I needed a couple of half days a week to have him spend time with my outgoing direct for basic orientation and on-boarding.

This extended time frame for a replacement seemed to settle the manager down and we ended the meeting on a slightly more cordial note than it began.

 

jhbchina's picture

At the Same Time,

Kris,

Sorry to hear your peer went "kamakazi". There was no way you could have asked the future DR and the manager at the same time. You covered first base first. If the future DR was not interested then it would have ended there.

JHB  "00"

jhbchina's picture

At the Same Time,

Kris,

Sorry to hear your peer went "kamakazi". There was no way you could have asked the future DR and the manager at the same time. You covered first base first. If the future DR was not interested then it would have ended there.

JHB  "00"

Peter.westley's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

Kris,

I think you've handled it well all things considered. The apologetic approach is often a great calming device. Apart from MT guidance on apologies, Dale Carnegie in his book "How to win friends and influence people" also had something to say on that matter: "If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically."

Being able to maintain your composure and talk through the onslaught is a great reflection on you - well done.

Perhaps the important thing here is to learn the lesson about ensuring privacy and confidentiality in an open, cubicle based work environment :-)

-- Peter

DISC: 2564
@pjwestley