New manager told role is now a job share after 10 days

[JobSharingNitemare]

I'm 10 days into a new role as a manager in a new start up.

Today the owner informed me that my role was now a job share with a person that has no management experience and very little experience in what the start up specialises in.

It caught me by surprise and I'm really disappointed.

I've been pulling 12-14 hour days for the past 10 days to get them up and running and now I'm thinking why on earth did I bother?

I don't know if I should make it work or if I should just jump ship now.

No, it's not too much for one person and I also have an assistant manager and a team supervisor I appointed.

This person was someone I was going to bring in in a general role but after the interview they went over my head to the owner and said the only way they would be on board is in a management role (with no experience!).

Good luck today OP. Find out what they mean by job share and take it from there. If their proposal doesn’t suit you, don’t walk away until have something else to go to. Don’t worry if you only stay briefly. Employers don’t care!

That's mad! Especially if making you part-time!
Definitely sounds like this person is a friend or relative of someone with their lack of experience!!

If this is a job for a friend it doesn't bode well for what will happen next, you will probably find they get paid more than you and you do all the work. Had a similar problem with a start up years ago, jobs for the family who didn't know what they were doing and me running around fire fighting everywhere. It should have been a dream job but was a slow burning disaster.

My only advice is: never work for start up or a charity. The most exploitative employers ever

Wow that sounds alfwul. Don't jump ship until the have something lined up. Don't rush to sign that contract either.

It's almost certain that, despite being a job share now, which is awful enough, that it will quickly fully tip in favour of this other person and you will lose your job altogether.

Seen this many times before!

Did they mention what was going to happen to your salary now you're part time all of a sudden?

Good luck with your chat OP.

Definitely make plans to leave, they have shown you how they will treat you. Is the other person male?

I used to work for a big charity and I loved it. It was much nicer and more rewarding than the corporate job I did next. I'm still really close to lots of people there 6yrs on whilst there are loads of people I hope to never see again from the corporate world. .

OP it does actually sound like you are doing the job of two people if you are working 12-14hr days - are you being paid for all those hours? I would probably run if I were you.

Strongly agree with this. Mine was not a startup but they had taken over another company and had strong ideas on how it should work (hence sacking everyone over 50).

I'd also clarify that you are not expected to train them as I suspect this is why they have done what they have done. They want someone senior trained up for free.

This is infuriating but as others have mentioned I would wait and see how it will work in practice before leaving and doing myself out of a wage. I would look for another job though.

I would also want a contract - have you even agreed how much you’ll be paid and when? Is it PAYE? All sounds quite dodgy,

In a job share you need clear areas of execution/responsibility. So which pieces will you be responsible for and which will they cover? Get it in writing and make sure you each have separate areas - if it’s shared responsibility for all areas it’ll be a nightmare.

You could legitimately say you’d agreed on the basis of this being full time work and income so you weren’t expecting that to change.

They will likely want you to train the new manager. Could your role be shared effectively? I wouldn’t accept part time hours. Stay and see what happens while you apply for other roles.

In my experience startups are notorious for this sort of unprofessional behaviour. Start looking for another job but remain where you are while you search if it's possible and you feel able to do that. You have a valid reason for leaving and you will probably be able to omit this role from your CV entirely. It's holiday season after all.

Is there a personal relationship between the new person and the owner?

I would stay, insist on your full salary, and start looking for jobs in the meantime. If they want you to do part time hours or train them up fine, but on your full salary. Appalling behaviour (and the new person might not last long, but it doesn’t sound like the kind of place you want to stay)

You joined a startup. And I am going to guess this is the owners first business. It's not surprising they are unprofessional and will have none of the processes or management skills you would expect from a large established company.

There seems to be a lot of uncertainty here. You need to sit down with the owner ASAP and discuss exactly what his decision means. Only then can you make a sensible decision about whether to stay or not.

Definitely get a clear separation of your duties from theirs and be clear that you are concerned about their lack of experience- having already interviewed them. Do not leave
yourself in a position where they can sabotage what you are doing. If you don’t yet have a contract and feel brave , be really clear that this is neither what you expected nor agreed to and they need to create two separate posts- not a job share.

What does your contract say? And don't job-share. You'll end up doing all the work the other person doesn't fancy.

Awful way to treat you.

How long have you been there? From what you say it doesn’t sound long enough to have many employment rights.

Would start job seeking hard, work full time while doing so but not any overtime and making much, much less effort.

I would stay and apply for everything you can find. Let your job share do their part of the job, don’t cover or help when they flounder and stick to your agreed hours to the dot, not a minute extra.
get out of there asap.

Try not to get emotional OP, get annoyed and 100% don’t do ANY training. Then get out!

Just want to say good luck for today and I hope it's not as bad as it seems... but I fear you've been had. "Harvested" is a very good term. I hope you can find something else very soon.

This. Do your hours, keep your own council and plan your exit.

@JobSharingNitemare what arseholes. I’d find another job even if it’s temp agency work and leave asap. I’d give them as much notice as they gave you about your job now being a job share. So that would be 0% right?

and trading someone to do your job - wasn’t in your job description was it so you should be compensated extra? Can’t believe they’ve let someone leap frog from a team role past a middle manager and straight to your level when they aren’t qualified in any way.

I suspect they will freeze you out of the role asap.

Good luck.