Would you go to HR about this? I’m unsure.

[GraceLinks]

i just want to pre face this by saying I really enjoy my job. Great work life balance, WFH four days a week, lovely colleagues and I’ve been there just over 3 years.

Recently a promotional opportunity came up, it’s the first one since I’ve been in post and I really liked the sound of it. it would be a quite big pay increase and the role is exactly the same as I do now just with a couple of added responsibilities I’d previously done in other roles.

A lot of my fellow colleagues decided to not go for the post so it was just me and another colleague going for the post. I asked my manager if we could meet to discuss informally about the role and he agreed. This was a on the day quick catch up not pre planned.

However on this discussion, he started mentioning something he had found I had been doing “wrong” in my current job that he felt wouldn’t make me suitable for the promotional role. I confirmed to him that this wasn’t the case and I actually had been doing it correctly and he could check. He shrugged it off.

The thing is, my manager and I have met several times in the past few weeks to discuss work and my workload etc in 1-2-1’s and manager has never mentioned this issue. Not even the day before this meeting in our 1-2-1 has this ever come up. Not even in my 3 years in post.

it just feels that he’s deliberately mentioned it to defer me from applying for the post. It doesn’t help that the one other person who has applied is known within the team as my managers “favourite”.

I feel like I need to leave my job now as they’ll be no promotional opportunities and my manager thinks I’m shite.

He said you were doing something wrong
you werent and you told him

im missing why you can’t apply for the role 🤷‍♀️

What would HR do about this?

He's allowed to give feedback, you are still fully entitled to apply for the job; he can't prevent you from doing so.

I don't know OP, I get that it isn't nice to have negative performance feedback but you corrected him, he didn't challenge it further and that seems to be the end of it. He set aside time to talk to you when he didn't have to so it doesn't sound as though he either thinks you're 'shite' based on one challenge of a working practice, nor does it mean he dislikes you.

It may well be the case that he believes the other candidate is stronger and there isn't a great deal HR can do about that if he is the hiring manager and has final decision on who works for him then that is his remit as long as the proper process is followed.

I certainly wouldn't leave a job I liked and had a good work balance in over that though if you're looking to progress then often job hopping is the quickest way to do so. The only legitimate reason there would be to contact HR is if there's evidence the legal hiring process isn't being followed. Whilst I'm sure they'll hear you out as they would anyone, I'd not expect any action to be taken from what you describe unless you're going to give more detail about specifically why he thinks the role is not a good fit for you, and those reasons are directly discriminatory (with tangible evidence as to why).

Difficult to know on the HR query without knowing your organisation, though I will say that in my experience cronyism is now even worse than before COVID. What is your company policy on promotion from within? If you have an HR department could they at least send you that?

In an organisation with decent assessment procedures etc your current performance shouldn't have been raised at this point, especially if it's never been raised.

Bluntly, though, with over 30 years in the workplace to draw on here and many times of encountering this behaviour, not just directly but on behalf of other colleagues, I'd probably cut my losses and start looking elsewhere, maybe in another team if you like the organisation enough.

Or alternatively stay for the WFH etc but be very realistic about my chances even if I did get to interview. At one employer I wasn't shortlisted for an internal role even though I was the only one in the entire organisation who spoke a particular language which was apparently essential on the job description.

The job was then advertised externally and the agency shortlisted me (it was anonymous) alongside the only other existing applicant, one of the golden children who had applied who didn't speak the language. I still wasn't interviewed though.

It was the catalyst for me to look for a better much more fairly paid job and it was the end of my having any actual loyalty towards any employer, as well as gaining understanding that the only person who could help me with my career development was me.

You might get HR to support you to interview if you are more qualified than the other candidate, but you'd need to be able to prove it and the fight might not be worth it. Plus even if you got the job I suspect David Brent there would make your life an utter misery and nitpick everything you do.

Sadly it sounds like he's already decided Golden Balls is going to get the promotion, whatever bleating HR might or might not do about how they'll support you. Have you documented him shrugging off the fact you pointed out you hadn't made the error he claims you did? Was it just the two of you in that conversation? Any chance the boss might leave??

I am sorry you're in this position but it is incredibly common. Find out your company promotions or interviewing policy though, assuming they have one.