To be annoyed re change in work situation while I'm on holidays?

[user1498921160]

I am on holidays from work for a few weeks. In my absence some new work arrangements have been put in place to accommodate a particular situation. So I now have a new Manager who will be joining the company at then end of this week. The position was not advertised, no one knew anything about it, and I was not asked if I would be interested in the role despite having received extremely good performance reviews and strong hints that I would be promoted shortly.

My main problem is that I only heard of this new situation by texts from one of my staff and a lady who works in our canteen who I'm friendly with. Apparently an email went around the entire organisation advising staff of the new arrangement, but I was not informed via a phone call, a private email or any other means of communication from HR or my current Manager.

AIBU to be absolutely furious and to contact work and let them know I'm annoyed and upset about how I've been treated, not to mention humiliated?

Ok, I think I get it, you were led to believe when this role was put in place you would get it and it's been given to someone else.

I would not kick off about being unhappy, but I would request a meeting with my manager to discuss if I was considered for the role and why I was not successful.

IN addition I think I would take on board they have been recruiting externally for this, this hasn't happened since you went on holiday, so this has been the plan for awhile.

you also change your story very quickly, you go from " strong hints" to " guaranteed it" two very different things and you need to decide which it was.

Honestly I can't believe people are comparing this to the other poster whose boss was clearly being PA by texting her on the last day of her holidays just to "check" she was coming in. That was completely U.

OP, I don't think you're being U to be annoyed but I expect nothing less of employers. I've been in similar situations and find it sad that so many employers can't understand that not keeping their employees in the loop with stuff like this - just as a courtesy - buys them loyalty and not doing it breeds resentment. Getting a new manager is a big deal - possibly could even be a demotion/constructive dismissal and it would've cost them nothing to give you an individual heads up to try to smooth things over.

And to those saying she should check her email on holiday - no she shouldn't. There are countless articles about how technology has eroded work life balance so good for you OP for not giving in to it.

I'm amazed that the general thinking seems to be that people should check their work emails when on annual leave. I refuse to have emails on my phone and remove the Outlook app from my iPad when I'm on holiday. If I'm on leave, it's not my problem, I'll find out about it when I get back. I hate not being able to switch off.

Reading between the lines as a former HR worker, I'm thinking that although you are away from work it's not on holiday - it's a different kind of leave. Nor are you due back before this person is due to start the new role. You were obviously aware of the 'situation' that has caused the change before you left work but thought that you would be the ultimate beneficiary of it.

Although you say that the new person is joining the company, I'm also thinking it might be an internal move this sounds like the kind of thing that happens when they want to move a problem on somewhere else so if that is the case, there is every chance that the role may become available in a few months again!

As Bluntness suggested, I think that it would be fine to contact your appraiser to clarify if you were considered for this role and why the other candidate was successful, is it a permanent appointment or probationary (if they are coming in from outside). While it would have been nice for them to let you know they are under no obligation to do anything specific for you notice-wise, nor to advertise the post unless they have a company policy about that.

For what it's worth, I don't think that the role not going to you is connected to your leave either (again, an assumption about the time of the year from me there!).

But trust is a two-way process and it does sound as if your trust in the company has been damaged (can't say I blame you there, it could have been handled so much better!) so in the long run, you may want to consider your options.

I'm amazed that the general thinking seems to be that people should check their work emails when on annual leave.

I agree in general, however the OP is posting about not being kept in the loop about something yet says they don't check their work email (where they have acknowledged that a company wide email has been sent) so in this case I think they are being unreasonable not to check their email first. If the OP hasn't checked their email they may have been sent more information than "just" the company wide emails, there may have been more specific info that has been sent and someone planned to call a day or two before the OP is due back if they hadn't had a response before then?

The company can't win - if they stick to using official lines of communication then the OP is not going to get the messages as she doesn't check them, but if they call/message outside of the official lines then she could have been annoyed that they had interrupted her holiday, especially if there is very little she could do until she is back and still has a fair amount of holiday time left (in the OP it says a "few weeks" so for all we know OP is off for 4 weeks, this happened in week one, so they didn't want her stressing/being disrupted for the next 3 weeks of her holiday)

Then factor in the fact that the OP also says that there are issues in that she was verbally promised a promotion which is effectively cancelled out by this appointment, the company may be wanting to keep everything "official" until she is back in the office so that they have a paper trail.

Cotswolds post is interesting, I reread and you state you're away for a few weeks, so think she has a good point. Is this not just typical holiday? Is there something else going on which made you need to take a break, and why you're out for an extended period, and why you wouldn't know they were looking?

In my previous workplace, the NHS, we weren't able to access our email accounts from outside work.

I think you are correct to be aggrieved, OP. If you are absent for a few weeks, for example recovering from an operation, it's quite normal to be kept in the loop with an odd email from your manager telling you about major matters. I would email now and ask for clarification of the situation and express your concern that you were seemingly not considered ( although as someone said above me it may be temporary or something different entirely if you heard this through a canteen worker). No harm asking.

No I am genuinely on annual leave.

I actually checked my work phone when I first heard about this as I assumed that they had been trying to contact me, and used my work number instead of private number. However, there were no emails or missed calls from them. Just the general email that had gone out to the entire office from HR announcing this guy's arrival.

Even if I was in work I would have been taken aback to just be informed of this in a general email to the entire building. I would expect to have been called in to my Manager's office and told the set up before people in other Depts totally unrelated to mine, who would be totally unaffected by this change, were all informed. (I will be the only staff member working to or closely with this person).

There were 3 scenarios available here:

Contact me and explain the situation.

Not contact me and let me find out on the grapevine.

Not contact me and have me walk back in from my leave and just be met by this person I was unaware was now my immediate Manager and close co-worker and that my promotion was now in question.

None of them ideal, obviously, but I would have thought the first option was the most sensitive and fair one. It's what I would have chosen if a member of my staff was on leave and some very pertinent change was being made that I felt they should be aware of before it became general knowledge.

I do realise it's difficult for people to understand the situation when I can't really communicate the entire issue, the prelude to it, the personalities involved etc.

Can I just say, though, that I am known in my organisation for being very calm, non confrontational and co-operative, and this has been remarked on in appraisals at times. So I suppose I'm upset to find myself being in a situation where I feel so annoyed.

Wow I am

Sorry, pressed send too soon.

Wanted to say that wow I am really shocked by some of the replies on here. I am a Manager of many years and cannot believe some of your responses e.g. that the OP is just an 'underling' and has no right to expect the courtesy of a phone call or email to outline key changes in her position, prior to the entire organisation being informed by email. What a horrible view. Likewise the post stating that the OP must think she's the be all and end all of the organisation for expecting such a courtesy.
I sincerely hope neither of those posters manage staff, with that nasty attitude.

OP, YANBU and I totally understand your annoyance.

As a Manager I would see it as my responsibility to make every effort to ensure a member of my staff in your position was contacted to be informed personally of a key change. I certainly wouldn't shrug my shoulders and say 'well, she can just check into her work emails every day while on her holidays and she can pick up any information that way by reading general emails that I'm sending around.'

Neither am I naive enough to think that not contacting that person would be leaving her alone to enjoy her leave. Of course somebody is going to text her/phone her/bump into her in the park or supermarket and give her a third hand account of what's happened with much lost in translation. That is far more upsetting than being informed by your Manager, receiving accurate information, and being able to ask salient questions and hopefully be reassured.

I think you should send a polite but firm email to your Manager outlining your concerns and the way the issue was communicated to you, request a meeting on your return, and then do your best to push it to one side and enjoy the rest of your leave.

Also, please don't judge yourself by some of the posts on here. You are not an unimportant 'underling' who thinks you're the 'be all and end all' simply because you expect the courtesy of some minimal communication regarding an important change in your work situation.