Apologies if this gets long, I don't want to give away too many identifiables but need to give some context.
I am a department head leading a team. When I took over there was no real career structure for new starters / 'juniors' within the team. I've spent a bit of time on this recently and have devised three clear career paths based on three specific business disciplines, with each having staged training that leads to recognised industry qualifications, plus workplace-based milestones and objectives.
One member of the team - let's call them A - joined me from another department in the company. They declined training in career path 1 altogether, have been non-commital/lukewarm about 2 to date and have voluntarily completed the very first stage of 3. Not unreasonably, this has led me to think that career path 3 is their preferred future direction. Unfortunately this is the path that is least likely to provide promotion opportunities within the immediate team as the people currently performing the role are quite settled and it is a bit of a "dead mens' shoes" situation. This was made clear (not quite in those words!) when I disseminated the information about the newly available training to the team originally but it is still worth offering the opportunity to gain these skills as they would be highly desirable / transferable in other areas of the business and beyond.
A vacancy at the next stage along this career path (so what would be a promotion for most of my team members) has arisen in A's old department. A has specific knowledge of the systems and processes used because of their previous time there. So far as I know, they didn't leave because they hated the job or the team but because they were attracted by the work in my department. The training they have completed would be an advantage for anyone applying for the vacancy.
On Friday I had a private informal chat with A, drawing their attention to the vacancy and essentially asking if they had thought about applying. I pitched it (so I thought) in a 'I don't want to lose you from the team but I can't ignore this would be a great opportunity for you so I'd support any application you made' sort of way. A said they weren't interested, had no intention of applying and that in fact career path 3 wasn't their long-term aim. Fair enough, if a little surprising.
With only a couple of exceptions I try to keep colleagues off my Facebook page and I'm not 'friends' with my team members. However, a mutual friend of A and I - someone who used to work here and who we both keep in touch with via FB - has tonight commented on a status A posted on Friday so it has popped up on my feed. A's post was "Think the boss is trying to get rid of me. Nice to know where you're not wanted".
I am a bit :( about this and disappointed in A. I honestly said, twice, in our conversation that I didn't want to lose them but that I would be remiss as a manager if I didn't consider their development. Am now wondering if I should have said nothing and left it up to A to make themselves aware of the vacancy (we have a jobs page on our corporate website but people don't always think to check it if they're not actively looking) - but am worried that if I hadn't mentioned it, and it turns out they would have been interested but missed the closing date, then that would somehow have ended up being my fault too?
WIBU to raise it? Is A BU to have taken it in the way that they have, or is that a reasonable misunderstanding?