I've messed up at work - meeting tomorrow

[Drassage]

I manage a team of 10 staff, with one other person directly below me who manages them day to day but I have overall responsibility.

One of them is called 'Kate' (not her real name). Kate came to us around 18 months ago. I don't have much to do with her day to day but I had heard very good reports about her work. She was 'one to watch' according to her direct manager.

I will admit I have let staff development/talent spotting slip this last year, partly due to Covid but also due to my own circumstances. Around a month ago another department contacted me to ask if they could borrow Kate for help with a project. I didn't think much of it and said if she was happy to help she could collaborate with them.

Last week I had a letter to tell me she is handing her notice in. I haven't had time to speak with her about it yet.

I've had a message from my boss today to tell me that Kate is moving to the other department. She's been offered a development role there and my equivalent is extremely impressed with her and her work. My boss now wants to know how we have managed to let her slip out of our department and why 'we' (she means I) have not spotted and developed her ourselves.

I don't really have an answer for her. I've looked back over my emails with the other department and on the surface it does look like I've just gone 'yeah whatever have her'.

I'm going to just have to hold my hands up and cop to missing this one aren't I?

Good for Kate, It's horrible to be in a job where your capabilities are not acknowledged.

At least it's flagged it up for you and you won't let it happen again.

I don't know anything about this corporate world, but it occurs to me that you should ask yourself if there could be anything else. Track back in your mind and think we're there any events or rumblings of unhappiness. You're assuming your boss is going to say: " Why didn't we spot and develop her talent?", but just be sure that there isn't something more specific, such as ' she was stuck on a dead-end project and her suggestions as to how to rescue it were repeatedly ignored.'

I wonder if, before the meeting, you can have a chat with the manager under you, and get a bit more detail - meat on the bone - about what was good about Kate, etc. and how Late was expressing her ambitions. It sounds to me that saying 'She's really good' is a bit perfunctory, and the sort of thing your Number 2 will remind you of afterwards to cover herself. She didn't push the point.
I'm not trying to stir things, but maybe there's been some chatting behind the scenes between personnel - telling Kate she'd prefer the other department - and maybe the borrowing was a ploy to poach her. Obviously, your Number 2 didn't say to you, " Look - I think we'll lose her if she goes there" , so she wasn't alert to the problem either. She didn't explicitly recommend Kate for the development programme, either. She should have done, shouldn't she?
Communication between yourself and your Number 2 will need to be, in future, more detailed , so you know exactly what people's strengths are. You could talk, tomorrow, about putting in place systems to cover this.

If eighteen months, during a unique pandemic, really a very long time to have left a junior without a promotion or fast-track? She's only new. It's not three years.

@Jackie2022

Just going to be blunt - you fucked up, you can’t really talk yourself out of this one so just own up. Explain to your manager how you thought staff development wasn’t a priority after the pandemic - presumably your reasoning is sound.

It will look better if you stress that staff will be a priority going forward and you endeavour to learn from this. I’m sure you weren’t a manager straight from the womb (if you were, it explains how inept you are!), so think back to when you were an employee with an unsupportive manager and try to be better.

Realistically if you don’t change, you will be managed out of your role and your team’s line manager will replace you.

This. Not sure why so many people on here are saying you havent done anything wrong. Your op states you knew she was one to watch, one to progress, and because of personal issues you have not been doing your work role properly. You held her back.

Own it and have a plan.

Why didn’t you find time to talk to her when she resigned?

Why did she resign if it’s an internal transfer?

Is there a process to Keep In Touch during secondments? If not, can you suggest this as a policy for the company in a ‘what I’ve learned’ way? If there is a KIT process, did you adhere to it?

I hope it goes well for you, but do go in solutions-focussed.

I manage a team of 10 staff, with one other person directly below me who manages them day to day but I have overall responsibility.

What is the role of the person directly below you? Shouldn't they have spotted Kate?

I don't understand the "resign" thing either for an internal move but people moving on/finding something they enjoy or are better at is a good thing for the organisation as a whole, surely?

I think we need to assume OP is right when she says this will be regarded as a fuck up in her organisation.

It would be in mine, to an extent. I work somewhere in which individual areas of the business are held to certain levels of contribution so you don't want someone good going somewhere else.

OP I also think it's weak to say you weren't focused on staff dev, and don't talk about covid. Staff dev is key at this time as people learn to cope with new ways of working and also new business opportunities open up that organisations need to be ready for.

Also, no offence but 10 people is not a big team. In my last role I had 13 reports plus c. 10 regularly used contractors and I knew them all and talked to them regularly. It's part of the job.

I would get clear in your mind what Kate moving means to your team and the company (is your area losing money, less productive as a result, but the company will get increased benefit?). Then be able to articulate that clearly to your boss and also discuss what talent retention measures you can implement.

Don't say you will put staff dev front and centre if you won't/ can't - it sounds like saying what you think they want to hear and they won't buy it - but do be clear where it now sits in your priority list and what concrete stuff you'll be doing around it.

@Itsamess8456

Yes, you were aware how good she was and was planning on developing her and instigating new opportunities, including giving her the opportunity to collobarate with another department.

You are very gutted that she has decided to hand in her notice so quickly.

Done.

Yes, you could try this!

Good for Kate.

You live and learn.

Thing is op, we've all had a boss like you. She wanted to develop, saw a chance, took it, and made a move. Good for her.

Odd. She isn't a possession to be kept. If the opportunity arrives, people can move where and when they like. Don't see how you've messed up.

Was HR/Manager/Boss aware of your personal circumstances that impacted on your work? Would it have been more appropriate to take leave (annual/sick/unpaid)?

I find it odd that other departments are allowed to poach staff without speaking to the person’s line manager first: wouldn’t be allowed in our place!

Also, all leadership/management guides will say it’s almost impossible to effectively line manage more than 8 people (despite what others may think). So you have a tough gig with 10. Unless it’s a team working on a factory floor or something (ie if you have to be responsible for development discussions, reviewing work etc etc then more than 8 is very hard to do well).

So clearly it will be seen as you messing up from what you have said, but I think it’s a bit harsh given the two points above. Hope tomorrow goes on OP.

It is a tough time at the moment and hopefully your boss will acknowledge this . However I think if she handed her notice in and you've not found time to talk to her about this that is pretty poor and as the employee i would feel sure i had made the right decision. Also as your boss I would wonder why you'd not had a discussion and clarified the reasons. At the end of the day people make their own decisions about what is right for them though. Where I work if people go on secondment elsewhere the expectation would be that they won't come back and it is seen as being supported to progress and develop within the organisation and if the organisation is being run as a whole isn't that a good thing ? I think best plan is to acknowledge what you could do differently next time but stress the benefits for the organisation as a whole??

Has anyone asked Kate why she moved? Sorry you’re worried. But couldn’t your allowing her to work with the other team be seen as giving her an opportunity?

The discussion will not be about why Kate was seconded out and has since transferred but will be about why you didn't recognise her potential and offer her development in your own team. Don't think of excuses to cover her move but do come up with a fault-admitting statement and an action plan to ensure it doesn't happen again. Apologise but don't grovel - nobody died! I was in a similar job to you with a team of 17 and 2 'under managers' who covered everyday stuff. I met every team member once a month for an hour's 121 which was documented and signed and once a year for their PAR which brought all the threads together. I had a spreadsheet with all the meetings pencilled in (along with sickness and disciplinary reviews) so nobody slipped through the net. Please don't be a hands-off manager - if you are under pressure then talk to HR. Good luck with the meeting.

The idea that a talented colleague should only be promoted in their own department would be condemned as a "siloed' approach where I work. If she was leaving the organisation altogether due to lack of opportunities this would rightly warrant investigation but if she is staying with your business and moving upwards in another dept, there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm going to just have to hold my hands up and cop to missing this one aren't I?

Yes, afraid so. If you have in the past developed staff, just mark this down to your focus being on dealing with the Coronavirus and you missed this opportunity. You also might want to catch up with each staff member and find out if their career ambitions are being fulfilled. At least that way you can show you've put a plan in place so it doesn't happen again.

I think if you can show that you've developed other staff that will help. Who have you put forward from your dept for the development track and why?

If you've filled your spots then you could argue that Kate was next on the list

If not then you probably to have to admit this is an error. But go into the meeting prepared with a strategy to prevent this from happening again. How will you evaluate potential and ensure talent isn't overlooked in future?

How did it go @Drassage? Hope it wasn’t too bad