To think new person shouldn't be allowed in my PDR meeting?!

[YorkshireGoldFanClub]

So I've been recently (3 months ago) promoted, on the official team structure I now sit in line with position X and position Y a sthe middle manager/ supervisor tier. X manages one function of the team, I manage the admin function and Y manages external relations.

I have been invited to attend a PDR meeting by who I thought was my manager (director of the overall dept) but I overheard my manager mentioning about my meeting to position X who agreed she was available to attend. X was only recruited 2 weeks ago and by all accounts has rubbed people up the wrong way. I don't have a problem with X but when mentioning to a colleague I was met with "oh yes I heard them talking the other day, didn't you realise X was your manager?" I didn't realise at all, particularly since I signed to agree our new structure (which showed me on the same level with only the dept director above me), applied for a position where it clearly states I report to the director etc I was in no way aware I would now for some reason report to the manager of a totally different function in a relatively small team!

Am I unreasonable to say I refuse to have my PDR meeting with X in the room and ask for clarity about when it was decided the structure was changed and why no one felt it prudent to notify me??

For background, this meeting has been planned for over 2 weeks and never once has it been mentioned X would be involved at all. In my own team I have been let down relating to back filling my position for months, leading to me nearly having a nervous breakdown as we have been so overstretched and I have been trying to fill 3 people's roles (another position was made obsolete in the new structure with no plans made to cover their workload so it landed on subservient little me)

I'd approach your manager to clarify the position before refusing to attend the meeting or demanding that X is absent. If X has indeed been placed as your manager then you need to think what your options are. It seems unlikely to me that things are going to change just because you express unhappiness with this position - if your job hasn't changed, I don't think you can say this isn't the job you signed up for just because the management structure has changed. And if you do say it's not the job you signed up for - where do you go from there? Quit? TBH I think you might be stuck with the situation if you want the job. And if X is indeed going to sit above you in the hierarchy (or even if they will be alongside you) then you don't want to fall out with them.

Hmm yeah I suppose I hadn't thought of it like that, just seems v unprofessional since they haven't actually told me directly ahead of what is meant to be quite a personal one on one meeting (or at least that's what its billed as internally)

I am very close to quitting (not just down to this but the other factors) but annoyingly this place pays slightly above average and it really does hold you back when you start looking elsewhere and see you'd take a pay cut, however small.

Also, when we restructured we all had to sign to say we agreed the new structure and our revised job descriptions otherwise we'd effectively be looking at redundancy.

I signed as I agreed I'd report directly to the dept director, perhaps the redundancy option would have been good i.e. good package etc but that ship has now sailed but they haven't upheld their end.... I cant help but feel blind sided and a bit undermined. Makes me look daft to the rest of the dept who all seem to have caught wind of this apart from me so its obviously been openly discussed when im not in the office

Oh I do agree with you that they have handled it badly and you should have been kept informed. It does seem strange. I just think that in practice it's probably best to tread carefully. Even if you end up leaving you don't want to burn bridges. And if this person has been given a certain position, it's going to be hard/impossible for the company to demote him/her again, so complaining about it might not be a good use of energy. But politely asking for clarification of the position and querying your reporting line is fine. It might be crossed wires anyway.

I think there is something off here and you do need to raise it but 'refusing to have X' in your PDR is only going to make you look bad.