Employee advertising my job role.

[KMC1984]

I need some advice and would just like some opinions on a current work situation as I'm unsure what to do and feel a bit uncomfortable about it.
Trying to keep this to the point.
A colleague who is in the same job position but different area as me recently left, I put forward a suggestion of a re-structure to the way we operate meaning I would take on both roles, and would also create a promotion for myself. At first this wasn't really taken seriously and a straight replacement was advertised for however I was so confident that it would work I put together a plan demonstrating the benefits and took it to someone else - then it was taken seriously as the clear benefits were obvious. No one applied for the straight replacement role anyway. I have now been told they will go with my proposal to re-structure but this role will now be advertised both internally and externally. The problem is this new role is actually made up partially of my current role.
So I'm glad my proposal has now been recognised as the best way forward but it's a little cheeky to take my plans and now look for someone else to do it. Also where does this leave me if they decide not to give me the role after the recruitment process, I would in a sense become redundant or at the very least my role would become downgraded as someone else would be overseeing me.
Hope that all makes sense - Just want to know really if they can advertise the new role if that is made up of my current role?

[NicolaMarlowsMerlin]

Hi - you are perfectly within your rights to:

• Ask how your current role would be treated in this proposal - are they keeping it or going with the full implications
  
• Say that you really want the role and ask for advice on how to maximise your chances of getting it
  
• Ask what is their plan is should you not be successful
  

If the new role you have proposed creating is substantively different from your current one (less than 70% similarity is a good guide) then they are not obliged to offer you the new role, and if you don't get the new role, you would be redundant unless they can find you another role of similar seniority and content.

Given how hard you had to persuade them to do this, I'd really want to understand if I was you why they aren't doing a straight promotion. Ask for feedback on your current performance and suitability for the role and go for it. Incumbents are usually more likely to get the role as you are known and understand what it takes to be successful in the organisation. Remember - don't leave until you leave (copyright Sheryl Sandberg)

PS I am not a lawyer, so this is based on experience, pls take it as friendly advice and not profound gospel. Main message it don't give up and give it your best shot.

[KMC1984]

Friendly advice is very much welcome. The role hasn't yet been advertised but I've been told it is planned to go out next week. The role is basically one person taking on the role which two people use to do whilst making and managing changes to operations, processes etc which will make the role manageable for one person. We each use to have two sites to run so the new role will be managing four sites and more staff. So really the same work will be involved but on a much bigger scale. Ultimately it will also save the company a decent sum of money as they would have one less manager to pay. But if they give this new role to someone else then I don't see how my current role fits in to that. I'm happy to sit down and formally discuss the plans and if they want to call that an interview for it that's fine - I'm just feeling uncomfortable about it being advertised the way it is. Also feel quite upset if I've done the work to find the cost savings and improve efficiency then someone else gets it and I'm left with nothing.

[stayathomegardener]

I know from running a small business we legally have to advertise any jobs even if we have a particular member of staff in mind. Could this be the case?

[KMC1984]

Not sure if it is, I would rather they were honest and just said we have to go through a formal recruitment process for legal reasons - I could understand that. But also the problem is, that I don't know what happens if they do give it to someone else - I would just like to know where I stand.

My company has not always advertised roles in the past - I know this as a promotion came up a while back I would have gone for but wasn't advertised so I missed out. That's why when I saw a chance to create my own promotion I really wanted to push it through. My HR department has been known to make quite a lot of mistakes around things like recruitment, so I don't have much confidence in them

[flowery]

"I know from running a small business we legally have to advertise any jobs even if we have a particular member of staff in mind"

No you don't. There is no legal requirement to advertise.

If your current role will be affected by the restructure they should be consulting with you, particularly if it might result in your redundancy.

Have you spoken to your manager about your concerns?

[IMurderedStampyLongnose]

Hi Op, something very similar is happening to me at the moment too.In my case they have inserted a role into the structure that is one grade above mine,but never used to be there.The job description is my exact job role and the boss has admitted to others it is what I have been doing.They are also advertising externally and if I didn't get it he main aspects of my job as it stands would be taken over by someone else.I am absolutely livid about it to be honest,as my organisation would generally offer someone an acting up in cases like mine but they haven't.Sorry for the hijack I just wanted to let you know you're not alone!

[FusionChefGeoff]

You need to get, in writing, a clear explanation of what will happen to your role in this new structure.

It sounds to me that it effectively makes your role redundant and therefore you should be entering into a formal consultation period. Does your company have a redundancy policy? The process is designed to safeguard your rights so I would suggest to HR that they need to treat this as a possible redundancy from the outset.

I also think that this then gives you an official head-start on any other candidates due to the legal responsibility of the company to make every effort to find you a suitable alternative role.

This is just based on my own very similar experiences - 1 where I got the promotion as hoped and 1 where it was given to someone else whilst I was on Mat leave but I took it to ACAS and won on appeal.

[KMC1984]

Hi, thanks everyone for your helpful responses, it's good to know I'm not the only one who things somthings wrong here. At the moment notthing more has been said about this. The advert for the straight replacement role closed yesterday and usually job job adverts go out on Tuesday in my company - so I guess they are waiting until the open one closed before doing anything else. I'll wait to see what happens on Tuesday, and then take it from there. If there is no advert I'll phone my boss and ask what is going on. If there is an advert I'll tell him I don't understand how I fit in to this. Hopfully I'll have a positive update at by the end of next week.

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

I think there's too many variables here to say if it's the right thing or not. These would include:

What would happen to your role if you didn't get it? If you would carry on as before but with a new layer of management in theory that would be fine. You wouldn't be demoted because you say the new role would be a promotion.

Although you think you can do both roles is this realistic? If there was enough work to have two people before it seems unlikely that one person could do all this work unless the previous roles were less than 1FTE or there is s substantial change to operations.

Some firms have a policy to advertise all internal jobs to avoid discrimination claims. This is quite sensible and would make no difference to you if you were the best candidate.

If you applied and were not the best candidate then arguably the job should not go to you.

Is there the potential for a redundancy situation or a substantial change to your job role? If not, still fine to advertise. If there is then your employer should start a consultation process and possibly put you at risk of redundancy.

Regardless of all of this it is just common courtesy to keep you informed when it was your idea and your job may be impacted. I'd ask what is happening on Monday.

[KMC1984]

My role wouldn't exist if they go to the new structure - that's the whole point. The restructure involves one person doing what previously two people did, with as you mention a change to some operations which would make it managble for 1 person. Possibly with the recruitment of a new assistant role to help. This was the whole point of the proposal I put forward to show it would be achieveable for one person.
If they gave the new role to me I would be promoted in the sense I would have a bigger area and more staff to be responsibe for. If they gave the role to somone else the only way I could stay in my role would be as the assitant role meaning I would then be assiting manager not manager and have a manager to report to whereas at the moment I report directly to the top, this would mean I wouldn't have as much control or say in what goes on and would me a demotion for me.
If the role is advertised the only person who would be discrimated against is me as it would be me who would be effected. They have already advertised a straight replacement interally which would have been a promotion for most in the company but no one (as far as I'm aware) has taken there chance to apply.
It's all a bit complicated and I think I'll just have to see what happens next week and ask some more questions. In my opinion I am the only person who could do the role as I already do half of it - it would be too much for somone else to take on in one go I think.

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

I understood that, but with respect you are not the decision maker in this scenario so you may not be privy to all the discussions. They have already changed their minds once and may well do so again. I think until you have had a proper conversation with your boss it's really hard to know what is or will be happening.

Don't wait and see though. Do take your concerns to your manager. At best you might be worrying about nothing and they're advertising as a formality to avoid discrimination claims (and I mean discrimination in the legal sense of the term which from what you have said would not be applicable to you here). At worst they could have made a mistake that might be hard to resolve later.

I understand it's horrible and unsettling but at the moment you are only seeing things from your perspective (totally understandable) and not accounting for things that you don't know and also couldn't be expected to know.

[museumum]

IT sounds like you've argued very hard to make your current role redundant.
You need to clarify that.

[HermioneWeasley]

flowery is right. They are proposing a restructure which results in your current role being redundant, so they need to consult with you about that. They absolutely can place you in the more senior role without advertising, particularly if nobody else who might be suitable for that role is also at risk of redundancy. You need to speak to your boss about what process they think they're following and what they expect the outcome to be.