Should I be concerned that my boss has appointed a friend of theirs as their deputy?

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I work in a charity, in a team of eight, and the team leader recently recruited a deputy team leader. After the new person started a couple of months ago it quickly became clear that they already knew each other pretty well, as in they were mates who met up for drinks etc.

I think the recruitment process was fair and transparent - there was a panel interview so my boss couldn’t have just appointed his mate because he wanted to. And the new person appears qualified for the role. So that’s not my concern.

My concern is the impact this could have on fairness and dynamics within the team. For example if I ever had an issue with the new deputy team leader I wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking to the team leader about it. It also just feels a bit weird that they are friends, whereas the rest of us are just workmates, if you see what I mean.

Also, what makes it sit awkwardly with me is that we are as far away from an old boys network-type industry as possible. This is the charity sector, with its constant EDI initiatives, training on subconscious bias, etc and so this all feels really out of kilter with that ethos.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? I’m finding it hard to gauge if others in the team have similar concerns, or whether I’m worrying over nothing.

Presumably they’re both professionals and can separate work from private lives?
I think you’re worrying unnecessarily.

I can only speak from my own experience and so yours may turn out very differently. My manager hired a friend of his as his deputy (no panel interviews etc, just made a recommendation to his boss and brought her onboard) and it didn’t turn out very well, in my opinion.

He was pretty arrogant but shrank away from confrontation so it was never too much of a problem before but the new deputy was extremely aggressive and loved to get in a fight. Over time it created a terrible working environment - they would bitch and complain about other members of staff in other teams to each other and also to our team and then in meetings or emails with them she would be extremely derogatory and he would back her up (or not speak up but back her up in private). Relationships between teams quickly began to break down and the rest of us were dragged in to the mess. It ended up being very school- playground type stuff which was embarrassing to sit through. I felt like I was constantly trying to rebuild trust with people I’d enjoyed working with for years but I had multiple calls from staff telling me about the terrible things she’d said to them and also how crap she was at her job. It put me in a really uncomfortable position.

Additionally, she was a micro manager and he eventually started to give her the go ahead to implement multiple processes which made working there impossible. The more power she was given the more crazy things got.

In my case the big problem was that when she exhibited really terrible and unprofessional behaviour there was no one to go to but the whole situation was fairly unhinged as her behaviour was so shocking. I have been told that several people are collecting evidence against her to cover their backs and use when the timing is right.

Despite my experience I would say wait and see how it works out. It might be very different. If you start getting inklings that it’s not working I’d start looking for other roles.

Thanks both. I think this really sums up my concerns:
In my case the big problem was that when she exhibited really terrible and unprofessional behaviour there was no one to go

There’d be no problem when things are going well, but if they don’t go well there’s no one to turn to. I think I’ll take a wait and see approach, and also update my CV in the meantime!

Good luck OP! In my case the deputy turned out to have a terrible reputation at all of her previous companies and so she really was an extreme case.

It also highlighted to me the faults in company structure and culture that it had been designed in a way that allowed this sort of thing to happen. That realisation made me start to rethink my position there.

Hopefully your experience will be a lot more positive…but I agree, start updating your CV and LinkedIn page!

Of there is ever an issue go to line managers manager. Simple. Maybe it will all be fine.