Am I being demoted?

[vitahelp]

I’ve been with the company almost 3 years and came in as a Sales Manager for a specific business area. After a year I was given a promotion + pay rise to do a similar role but in a more tricky business area. It didn’t pan out great as the industry took a dive around that time and there wasn’t a lot of work (for anyone really) so I found a lot of other things to do around the business and kept busy. A few redundancies were made, I was reassured I’m safe. Feedback was always very good/given highest possible bonuses etc.

Fast-forward to now - I have a new director level boss who was brought in recently so I no longer report to MD. Industry is showing signs of recovery and I’m still keeping busy, although admittedly what I’m doing isn’t directly matching my job description. New boss decides to restructure and writes me a new job description, it is based around my skills and similar to what I have been busying myself with for the past year. I’m pleased with it to be honest - but the title is Sales Coordinator. This was my title 16 years ago at entry level when I got paid less than half of what I earn now. I’ve researched ‘coordinator’ roles and they appear to be entry level jobs. I’ve expressed my concern about the title but he seems resistant to compromise?!

Am I being petty to continue to resist and put forward alternative titles? Half of it is concern for the present and what co-workers/suppliers/customers will think and if I’ll be treated differently. The other half is fear for my future job prospects, with AI controlling a lot of recruitment these days will my CV even make it through any filters for management level positions?! I feel sick about this and am paranoid there is more to it than I realise and they are subtly demoting me and may eventually take pay away as well..

Make a case for an appropriate alternative job title instead?

@NigelHarmansNewWife this is what I tried to do today but I was met with resistance and told I was being a bit vain about it and that it is irrelevant and just a title? I’ve lost perspective on whether I’m being unreasonable if I continue to push this.

Nothing to lose by pushing it however if your previous job title said sales manager, if they want to change it, that would be a contract variation so they would need to go through a process for that.

you could also find a manager level job description and match it to your current description and say ‘look, x% of my job description matches the role of a manager’.

If it's irrelevant and just a title then why are they determined to change it? That would be my question.

Exactly

It's always men who say a title doesn't matter. It's very easy to push it off as vanity or pettiness but it absolutely does matter, after 16 years in relevant roles and consistent good performance I would push more strongly as to the justification for change in title. Unfortunately, I would consider coordinator to be a lower position than manager and so would any future employers/ LinkedIn contacts etc I expect.

Show them the sales coordinator job roles and compare it with sales manager job roles. Clearly the job descriptions will be different. I’d be worried they’re looking to bring in a sales manager over you.

Yes I thought the same, if the title doesn’t matter then why can’t it be something different that I am more comfortable with.

I suppose I’m worried that there is something more at play here? And that by pushing it I might be pushing my luck..

He did say if I’m happy with the new job description it would be formalised via contract changes. So he is wanting to do it the official way. I just feel so gutted by it all, I don’t understand why they would want to pay me the same manager level wage, and keep me in a responsible role but give it a title like that? Then act like I’m being a bit silly for caring about the title.

There may be a genuinely good reason for it, there are some Job titles that are standardised across an industry, they may not sound "impressive" but they are known, recognisable titles and duties across a whole sector.

What it can't be is both a necessary and an inconsequential change at the same time, so he needs to be able to explain the decision.

@FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain Yes that’s a good point, yet I’ve been in the industry for 16 years and only ever seen that title used for entry level positions. But there may be change afoot in our particular company and perhaps other people at my level may be given this as a title..
But you’re right, there is a contradiction there in what he has said and it needs to be explained as it is making me paranoid.

You're not being petty. If the role is still clearly a manager role then there's no justification to demote your title to coordinator. That affects your current standing with all your contacts, impairs your reputation and diminishes your future prospects.

Dismissing you with manipulative responses isn't good enough. It may not be something nefarious at foot, could just be an inexperienced director who hasn't fully considered its implications and is used to getting his way by undermining people's concerns and throwing his weight around.

Don't sign the new contract without resolving this. Advocating for yourself about this point is a completely reasonable and proportionate action.

https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/employer-responsibilities/if-employment-contract-changes-cannot-be-agreed

Making the point that it will affect your standing with clients is a good one. Yes, you have to defend your position, but anything to make and add to the business case will be really helpful - show them how it will benefit them to keep the title. Is your autonomy to make decisions quickly affected by the new role/changes?

Could it be that the new director wants to control things more closely themselves, or is looking to bring in a more general manager across yours and another department?

@freezefade I suppose it depends on the definition of Manager, as I won’t be managing any people but I’m managing a business area on my own essentially. And my experience/salary/the responsibility involved in the job match with a manager level. It is just the title that doesn’t add up.

I wish I could understand the reasons behind it, it’s driving me mad as there are a lot of possible reasons ranging from innocent to quite sinister.

@Jimjamjaroo Yes that’s a good point that I need to present sound reasoning as to why I do not agree with the title, rather than just ‘it sounds like a demotion’. Actually the new role has a requirement for needing to push people from various departments who will often be at director level into giving me their time and thoughts. It will require assertiveness and in my opinion, some clout. I do worry how the title will affect this and if anyone will take me seriously.

I suppose it is possible they may intend to bring in another manager who will be above me. The thing is I could almost get over losing the manager title if I was given something reasonable in its place. But I just feel coordinator has connotations of ‘assistant’ and entry level, most notably in our industry where I had that very title for my first 7 years.

Well, you have got sound reasoning. Everything you’ve said here seems valid. Have you put all the same reasons to him?

I’d set all your concerns out in an email, as you have here. Keep calm and professional.

I would also say that you find it unprofessional and demeaning to be called ‘vain’ in response to raising valid business concerns and he shouldn’t be resorting to personal insults to resolve the matter.

And by the way, I bet he would never call another man vain!

I'd be concerned about working with this director. Most companies want their employees to feel good about their job titles - sure there is vanity involved but that's part of the human condition and to not acknowledge its importance shows a lack of emotional intelligence on your director's part. Do you feel you are being pushed out?

@Fulshaw yes I explained all the reasons to him. The vain and ego related comments were made in a way that they didn’t feel personally insulting, yet still it belittled my concerns and made me feel stupid. I’ll lay everything out into an email. I got a feel that I wasn’t going to be able to change this but at least I’ll have tried. I just don’t want to be labelled as a difficult person in the process.

@ungarden it’s really hard to tell if I’m being pushed out. It does feel a bit that way but due to the nature of our working environment during an economic downturn, paranoia has set in and I find it hard to differentiate between things which are a legitimate concern and things I’m overthinking.

The worst part is I’m already questioning my worth and wondering if perhaps I never should have made it to manager level and was always made to be an assistant/admin/coordinator. Doesn’t help that it’s a male dominated industry - another reason titles matter to me.

"Co-ordinator" is a funny one. In some industries I've experienced, I've seen a quite senior management post described as this, as their role threaded various departments together. So it might be worth looking at lots of different JDs for comparison. Pay attention to the wording in the detail of yours - it's the degree of day to day responsibility and decision making I would think the most important thing over all, that and the pay level! As long as you have areas of responsibility that you feel comfortable you still have autonomy over, and the pay to reflect that, then it's worth bearing all of that in mind too as to how far you push things. Tbh future employers will be interested in your actual skills and role that you do and it might be that these stand out as managerial level regardless.