Should I be looking for other jobs?

[Lushmetender]

I moved internally from one job to another as we lost a major contract. I wasn’t ‘blamed’ for it (I was the PM) and I moved internally to another role which is more my type of expertise but were v clear I wouldn’t get a pay rise, job title change or have a team for a while. Then there were some v senior resignations where it meant I had to lead a team (about 18) and take on difficult clients - one in particular who are always complaining and asking for team members to be removed.

Short story is I’m keen to be promoted back to the level I was before I joined this company. My boss however is saying this difficult client still sees me as on probation and that this is not helping my case for any consideration of promotion and she wants to put someone else in the oversight role that she recently hired. This new colleague knows the clients personally and plays golf with them so I feel it’s a bit of an unfair comparison. A point to note is this difficult client hasn’t asked for me to be taken off the project. It’s a rumour that another team member in another dept said they want me off!

WWYD? My husband said I shouldn’t roll over but this client is a pain in the butt! Do you think I should be looking for other jobs because my history in this company not being successful to date and the way it is panning out with this difficult client?

So there is a promotion opportunity available working with a difficult client, but your boss is planning on appointing a colleague who has a personal relationship with the client to this role rather than you?

Honestly if they are an important client and are difficult, appointing someone who already has a good relationship with them to this role seems pretty sensible.

Whether you should be looking for other jobs - well it's up to you. Might there be any other promotion opportunities coming up? There's never any harm in looking to see what's out there.

I'm interested in what your husband means by saying you shouldn't roll over? What is he suggesting you do? You can't force your employer to give you a promotion they've decided to give to someone else!

My boss however is saying this difficult client still sees me as on probation and that this is not helping my case for any consideration of promotion

Sounds like a nice bit of obfuscation from your boss, top marks there. A client shouldn't get to determine or adversely influence your employment conditions - your boss would need to be specific about aspects for improvement, and what they could do to support you for their comments to hold water and show a balanced approach to evaluating you.

On what basis does the client know you're on probation anyway (unless it's their assumption) - sounds weirdly like your boss has broken trust and discussed your employment status and circumstances with that external client. If so, it shows they have a lack of faith in you to bring this matter up, unless to undermine your confidence. It would be difficult to come back from that kind of approach.

1. I’m not on probation. A PM for the project said to my boss’s boss at a face to face they won’t sign off on CV and that they still see me on probation with them.
2. I’ve been told my previous role will not directly influence my chances for promotion but because in our exec suite it does not seem like I’ve won over this client I’m being told it’s not helping any justification for promo.
3. When this project was handed over to me they had oversight which was based in the same country and had a higher title status so they’ve been kicking off from day 1.
4. However I’ve seen internal documents which went to the exec which said the new person will provide oversight for this difficult client, they are based in the same country and have the higher title and know them personally (i feel it’s an unfair comparison and the not rolling over is to show I can do the job as the client as far as I know have not said they want me off).

My question really is will the company I work for ever allow me to get promo because of all of this that is going on. What I’m worried about is the longer I’m at the same level in this company the harder it’ll be to go back to my old title in another company. I want to stay but I’m not convinced I’ll progress given current state of affairs,

So as well as the client not being entirely happy with you, you're not even in the same country as them? And there is a colleague available who is in the same country as them who has a good relationship with them?

I'm sorry but it really seems a very sensible business decision to promote them instead of you to this role. From the client's point of view they'd probably consider it a bit bonkers to have an oversight in another country who they don't have confidence in (by the sounds of things) if there is someone they have a good relationship with based in their own country who can do it.

Life isn't fair, and sometimes other candidates have attributes or circumstances which might make promotion or recruitment decisions seem like an 'unfair comparison' - but if you think of it from the client's point of view, and from your bosses' point of view, it is an obvious decision, especially when dealing with a difficult client, to have someone local who gets on with that client being the one dealing with them.

Yes ideally clients shouldn't have a say in internal personnel decisions, but back in the real world, some pragmatism is needed to maintain good relationships with clients, assuming said clients are valuable to the business, which I assume this one is.

I still don't get the 'not rolling over' bit. If you don't get an internal promotion and it goes to someone else instead, it's not a case of 'rolling over' or not - you have to just accept it, as your employer is allowed to make that decision.

Your only options are to either accept it and continue to do your job as well as possible, or you look for another job elsewhere. I don't think either of those is 'rolling over'.

Whether your company will ever award you a promotion, who knows. If another opportunity comes up and in the meantime you've done all you can to prove yourself, either with this client or others, then they might, but no one here can speculate as to whether any opportunities will come available, how influential this particular client is, whether the hypothetical promotion will involve dealing with that client, or any of the other factors involved.

It sounds like there is a bit of a communication problem with your boss, if you're finding out things by 'seeing internal documents' so I suggest you have an open conversation with your boss, ask for clarification on the process for the upcoming promotion opportunity, and take it from there.

As flowery says, there is such complexity in your circumstances that it would be impossible for us to predict the future.

What I do know is that when there is this amount of complexity, plus it doesn't sound like your boss is convinced about you, (so isn't on your side) its best to bail out and find something else.

What I’m worried about is the longer I’m at the same level in this company the harder it’ll be to go back to my old title in another company. I want to stay but I’m not convinced I’ll progress given current state of affairs

Start a new career in a different company, even if you don't start on the same level - believe me nobody's career is a straight line going upwards, there are plateaux and even times when you go down in the short term to go up in the long term.