Internal promotion, didn't get the job - but they want all of my ideas?

[Unboundcuriosity]

I interviewed for an internal promotion about three weeks ago. I went for the role as a rank outsider, and as expected, I didn’t get it.

However, part of the interview was to give a pitch on how to improve an aspect of our workflow. Knowing I was at a disadvantage, I really worked hard on my pitch and was really proud of the plan I had come up with and the implementation framework I built around the plan.

I am back today after two weeks' leave. I received an email from the lead interviewer asking me to pass over all the details of my pitch, as they were blown away by the detail, the build work, ingenuity, and the work I had done, and they want to implement the changes I suggested.

Um no?

The person who got the job should be implementing their pitch? Right?

‘Sorry I deleted the pitch when I was told I had been unsuccessful’

CFs

I have heard of employers doing this, essentially using recruitment process to steal people's ideas. Easier to say a flat no when you don't currently work for them, much more difficult if you still have to work with these people. I would want to pretend I had deleted my entire presentation when I wasn't offered the job, but it sounds petty. I'm not sure where you stand with refusing their request, hopefully someone else will have more experience of dealing with this sort of thing.

That's definitely an ask, isn't it

No doubt the successful candidate wouldn't be up to implementing it either so you'd have to help them out.

Say no with whatever plausible excuse you can come up with I reckon.

hmmm it kind of depends how likely it is that another role could come up in the same team. It could help build your relationship with them.

Is there a way you could use it to your advantage? Offer to meet with them again to go through it, learn more about what they're doing, build a relationship with the boss there? Have you asked for feedback already?

I think people are missing that this is an internal promotion, so these people are already her colleagues. It's a bit different to doing it for company you don't already work for

Just say you deleted the pitch once you knew you hadn’t got the job . There’s no way they should get your skills for nothing but equally you don’t want to burn bridges incase another role comes up.

Could you use this as leverage, to get a pay rise and some responsibility for implementing the ideas? I agree they are CFs and that it is much more difficult to say no when you already work for them.

You would be happy to negotiate if you can find the material…

I see it is frustrating for you but it's possible to implement more than one new idea at a time.
I think you can say that you haven't kept the specific pitch paper but would be able to work on this project alongside the relevant people. That you would value the experience and sharing your idea more widely.
Refusing to share your ideas is going to look petulant and difficult.
It is also possible that you had the best idea but overall were genuinely not the strongest candidate.
I would however want the experience of working on the idea and be acknowledged as the creator of the idea.

This. It would also mean they have to set aside time during your working day to do this. It might not get you the job but would get you some degree of workplace recognition for that work and mean they are paying you to do it (even if only at your current salary - i presume you worked on the presentation in your own time). You could then justifiably claim in future to have been involved in/instrumental in the changes without having to say ‘they pinched my interview ideas’.

”I deleted it when I found out I didn’t get the role as I presumed it was inferior to that of the successful candidate’s pitch and therefore irrelevant” They’ll either have the brains to accept this and move on or be stupid enough to moan and have to say yours was better.

The pitch is very much built on a qualification /skill I have - so to make it work and upscale the build I did to show in the presentation, I'll be expected to pitch in on top of my current workload (which is beyond frantic, and why they are promoting to start a new team to alleviate the wild pressure we are all under)

So I am very much toying with the idea of it being deleted (even if it would help the team/department)

Presumably having come up with this idea and implemented it is something you could use as evidence in a future job interview, so I would resist the temptation to cut off your nose to spite your face.

At this point it's about your relationships/reputation in your current job, though.

Did you have to tell your manager you applied for the internal job? Could you ask their advice? They might not even want you to be spending time on this.

‘Sorry I deleted it/I would love to work with you on it, but I would need time to be freed up from my current role’

Could you reply along the lines of, you’ll have to see if you kept the files, in the meantime could they explain how they would see implementation working given that you were unsuccessful in getting the post.

Is there someone you can have a sensible conversation with? Your line manager, or the hiring manager? If the latter, you could set it up for 'feedback', and when you get in the meeting you could say that you were a bit surprised by the request for the pitch information when you had been unsuccessful, and that you are wondering why you weren't placed into the role where you would implement your strategy.

This is petulant and cuts OP's nose off to spite her face

“So sorry, I deleted this after I didn’t get the role, if however you wish to adjust my workload accordingly to give me time, I will be happy to rework my idea.”

Have you had feedback as to why you were unsuccessful?

Don't play games - be honest, but professional, I would reply, "Thank you for your feedback. I'd be very happy to work with you, but I would appreciate a chat first as I am struggling to understand why my application was unsuccessful when you have given such a positive response to my pitch'.

THIS ! Absolutely do NOT give them your ideas for free…. The cheekiness of them 😱

I’d go further than this:

”apologies, I deleted the pitch when I found out id been unsuccessful, however if there is an additional role available to help implement these changes I’d very much like to be considered for that and to work alongside the candidate that was successful in [role I applied for] in sharing the thought processes I went through and learnings I took from preparing my pitch and helping to implement this using [my specific skill that is required]”.

This forces them to either say that it isn’t your job and that there is no job role to do what they’re asking, or consider whether they should be creating a different role for you.

That's brilliant !
They are just being sneaky, but I'm glad you didn't fall for it.
(They really have a brass-necked cheek btw ! )

This is so tricky, I'd feel so insulted, not good enough for the job but you want my knowledge and skill. However, they are your current employer and likely own the work you developed through intellectual property. I wonder if there is a middle ground of sharing your disappointment at not getting the role and shock that they would still want your input into the work? You tell them you are getting very mixed messages which is leaving you confused and disengaged. Maybe they will realise they are being CF and try to make the situation better.