Line management issue

[aliloandabanana]

My manager is leaving soon and I've been told that during the interim period until his successor starts (expected to be at least three months) all his other direct reports will be line managed by another senior manager whilst I will report to one of them, so effectively a colleague becomes my manager.

She is a higher grade than me (I am the lowest grade out of the group) but has no knowledge or experience of my field and - she has been quite clear about this - no interest in it.

I was originally told this was for admin purposes only (annual leave approval etc) but she has asked to see my last appraisal paperwork and set up a meeting with me the day after our manager leaves. She has also told me I will have to take on some of her duties if she is standing in for the manager and suggested that we will all have to take a share of the manager's workload during the interim period, very specifically including me in this.

I'm really unhappy about this - is there anything I can do? Either I'm too low a grade to be treated the same way as the others or I'm part of their team to cover the work - they can't have it both ways, surely?

Or is it just the usual story that I just have to put up with it? My concern is that the job could be downgraded/new boss might leave me reporting to colleague.

This is in the public sector and no one will be paid any more during this time.

Thanks for any advice.

I would wait until you know what your new manager is planning to give you in addition to your current graded role content. If it goes from (for example) doing diary management, small project work, and travel arrangements to producing a management report or maintaining a tracker, then you need to see how complex it is and how much additional workload it will actually generate before deciding whether it is something to be worried about and push back on.

Know the Public Sector, it may be very difficult to get any increment during your review year, but it may give you the opportunity to apply for new higher graded roles in which the role spec includes the new skills you have acquired

I don't understand, it would be common practice to report to someone else whilst they recruit a replacement.

The colleague is a higher grade than you? So she isn't a colleague, she's a higher grade. A manager, temporary or not, does not need field specific experience or interest unless that is an occupational requirement. Many managers successfully manage staff who work on things they know little about or have little interest in. That doesn't mean they can't manage our are bad managers. To be honest I'm struggling to see what your problem is. Everyone needs to be managed, or did you think that you'd be self managing?

Thanks for the replies. No, obviously I was expecting to be managed by the other senior manager, just like all the other members of staff. This colleague may be a higher grade than me but she has never had any line management responsibilities over me or input into my work. She works in a completely different part of the service.

So, if you have a colleague who works in a different section, who is a higher grade than you, it's quite reasonable that they might suddenly become your manager, albeit temporarily? Do you not consider people colleagues if they are one or two grades above you? It's never been the case where I've worked that people are your manager in any way if they are a higher grade.

I understand how management works. I've managed teams in the past and some knowledge of the work is essential at this level.

I manage teams that are outside of my area of expertise (as well as some that I am expert in) and line manage people that were previously the same grade as me. I line manage someone who until last year was senior to me. It feels odd at first, but everyone gets used to it quickly. FWIW, I make best use of the expertise of people in the teams, especially for the ones where their knowledge is far superior to mine.

I'm public sector and the arrangement you are describing is quite common where I work. However I appreciate this may be something new to you. In my workplace the number of managers is being reduced across all areas so the remaining people are taking on areas they previously had no responsibility for. I'm a senior manager and it's happened to me.

I would expect you and others to be compensated for taking on 'higher' duties. My organisation has a specific HR policy for this because it's a way to avoid full recruitment. For example if someone went on maternity leave another employee could act up into some of the duties and be paid a % in addition to their usual salary.