I think boss rescinded offer

[lenoora]

I have just come back from a self funded study leave where I got a qualification. It a hard programme to get into and I did very well. I've come back with industry contacts and we've set up a project with an important company in the feild.

Over the past few weeks ive been finalising the deal directly with the company Chairman. He suggested I should now be working out of his strategy and innovation unit- u used to be on the technical side. I told him I was happy where I was (having been stung many times by this org) but he insisted I should think of where I can be impactful.

Project planning is running full steam and contracts are nearly ready to be signed. My Chairman is on unstable grounds as he's most likely a place holder till they find someone they like more. If he proves himself he might stay. If I tell him I need help from department X, hell tell me to go to them. By the time I leave his office and walk down the corridor he's called them and told them to do what I need.

Last week after an update meeting I mentioned moving to the innovation unit. He said why are you asking me, ask Linda. Linda is also a placeholder and does not experienced for the role- shes been in the position for 8 months. She used to be the administration manager for the unit.

I was taken aback as he'd presented it like a done deal. I asked for a meeting with her which went horrendously. She made me leave her office when she got a call or remembered she had a meeting etc and would then summon me again. She did this four times that one day.

She firmly declined my request to join the team and told me they didn't need me. But I could 'help with my ideas' if I wanted to. I assume she'd shared this with the Chairman. This was 4 days ago.

DH says the Chairman never wanted to make it happen and that he just wants the win of the project. If he did, he would have picked up the phone and requested it as he did with facilitating the project needs.

What do I do? Do I go back and clearly ask for the position from the Chairman? (I've written up a job description). Do I let it go, stay in my department and do the project quietly then leave? Do I suggest that I can take my project with me to our mother company who would be happy to take it on ownership. We have a hate-hate relationship with them and they are the ones 'cleaning house'.

I think you are completely working in the wrong place . You think you have skills they either don’t want or don’t agree .

I would be looking elsewhere rather than an organisation that have burnt you numerous times

The qualification is something they need and want, that is what is confusing. They want me to work for them but not take the credit?

I was wondering if I was taking things personally and being emotional. Should I ask to clarify things one more time? Would you leave now with the project or wait it out and finish it up in a year so I dont burn bridges?

It depends how niche your skills How transferable .

I would be definitely looking at what else is available .

As you self funded you have no ties to them . Do what’s best for you ? It’s business to them, needs to be to you aswell

If Chairman and Linda are placeholders, they are not going to stick their necks out for you.

Is the mother company the one that decides their fate? How close are you to the mother company?

It feels like a high risk strategy to go to the mother company unless you know them well. You might burn your bridges with Chairman and Linda if you do that.

At the same time, you cannot force Chairman and Linda to support you to get the new role. Might be worth sounding the Chairman out one more time and if it goes no where, then I think the 'offer' is gone. If Linda runs the unit, he is not likely to force her to accept you if she is against it. She sounds insecure.

A lower risk strategy is to keep your head down until these placeholders are replaced and then to make another play for the innovation role later.

And definitely talk to recruiters in the meantime.

I can’t see the chairman forcing you on Linda. That doesn’t sound like the start of a good working relationship.

They are supporting you up to the point of bringing themselves to the attention of someone they want to avoid.

Either talk to someone who has proper influence or just brush up your cv and get on the market.

From your own words...He suggested I should now be working out of his strategy and innovation unit- u used to be on the technical side. I told him I was happy where I was (having been stung many times by this org) but he insisted I should think of where I can be impactful.
That doesn't mean it's a done deal; that means maybe this would be nice. Sorry, I suspect it was a bit of flattery to keep you on the project and help him. Just because you brought the project in doesn't mean they see it as your project, especially if it becomes a success. So if the qualification and the contacts are important, and they can get you doing the work as extra without moving you to another team (and presumably backfilling you), then that's a great situation for them.
I'd take a step back - what do you want in the longer term? A job in this company but in strategy, a job with the mother company or a different company altogether. Don't think of the next move, think about what you want 1-2 years or more out. Then work out what course of action gets you there.

Ideally I would be working in strategy in this organisations or the mother company. I'm wondering if there is a way for it to happen where I am.
If they say no- do I approach to the mother company now- or finish this up and take any future work to them.

A lot of colleagues my age feel this same. People are currently management waited around for 10-15 years until they were given a step up. They probably feel my cohort is entitled to even ask. The smarted people in my org leave- after 10 years of being played. I'm a perfect fit for this role- I have the technical background and the management qualification now. I'm resentful I have to sell this to them.

Mother company is the fate decider of everyone position. They've reached out to me many times, nominated my for two awards over the past 2 years. I'm nervous going to them will be seen as complaining. Its backfired when others have done so. I want to point out the systemic culture of mistrust and bullying as the main reason the org is struggling.

You’re a perfect fit for the role because you wrote a job spec based around what you can bring to it 😂

Your not a perfect fit if you don’t get on with the manager and the manager actively doesn’t want you in the team.

Also people lie. Version of events are never in line and are often completely the opposite. Management never knows who to believe and doesn't have judgment to make a decision call. So they'll leave you hanging until you leave.

If the mother company is on the path to reform this is a great opportunity for me career wise. I can wait it out, make a play now, or tattle tale.

It is a difficult situation. My concern is if you go over the heads of Chairman and Linda, they will bad mouth you to the mothership and it muddies the waters for the mother as to who to believe. Which leads to a stasis and in the meantime, you are still stuck at your company working with those two.

Are there opportunities for you outside the company using your new qualification?

If so, start interviewing elsewhere. Once you have a firm job offer, see whether you still want the mother company role. If so, make an offer to them to take you on and if not, walk.

I find that when I interview elsewhere, even if I am 50-50 above leaving, the whole rigmarole of preparing for interviews and psyching myself for the new role turns my heart into actually wanting to work for the other company. It is weird. I have made many moves over the years and noticed this. Nowadays I don't interview speculatively unless I know I want to leave. Often you are brainwashed to stay, a bit of Stockhom Syndrome even if your current employer is treating you badly. Looking elsewhere will help to unblock that.

The mother company sounds dysfunctional. Maybe they are on a reform path. The spirit is willing but the flesh is still weak. There is no clear path for you to the mother ship so you may have to gain better experience elsewhere. You can leave on good terms and don't burn your bridges. People do come back. Boomerangers. By then, hopefully the placeholders will have been cleaned out.

In my experience when it one person’s word against another’s, the senior person will believed.

And in this instance it’s you vs 2 more senior people.

Keep your powder dry and plan another move. This move to strategy isn’t happening whichever way you try to engineer it.

There are clearly people at the mother ship who rate you. They are the ones who reached out and nominated your for awards. So well done.

How influential are they? Can they help you smooth your path to their company?

The internal politics can sometimes make transfers like this difficult. So even if someone likes you, if there isn't an immediate vacancy for what you want, unless the person is influential, your supporters at the mother may not be able or prepared to stick out their necks for you. By then, you risk burning your bridges back in your company.

It is a high risk strategy and that is why others got burnt. You need a back up of another job offer if you want to play this card.

thank you everyone for such amazing advice!

To give an update: I spoke to HR who were confused. The spoke to the head of the department who said she never told me she wouldnt want me to join. HR set up another meeting with her. She told me she didnt understand that I actually wanted to join- I made it clear several times and she rejected it several times.

This meeting was less aggressive but she made it clear that shes a "bitch" as a boss and I cant pick and choose my projects- ie I cant work solely on this collaboration that would realistically take up my annual work plan. She said I couldnt meet with C Suite staff independently. Shes very confused about my project and what it entails and I honestly think she'll fuck up my project and relationships with stakeholders.

Do I insist on moving to this department and take whatever she throw my way? Or give up? It feels like im giving into her bullying if I give back. Its what she wants....