[Update]Friend [37/F] is about to be turned-down for a promotion she has dreamed of for years. I [36/F] know it's coming and don't know how to support her or what to do.
Lordy. Where do I begin. I need more help.
The guy they wanted took the job - way more than they initially wanted to spend. My friend was devastated. I followed the advice here and told her she did a great job and how proud I was of her, but the other guy did an amazing job and I didn't know what would happen. She was confident that she was going to win - she had more experience with the company vs. his experience & education. At 4:55 she got a call thanking her but that they went in a different direction. HR offered to meet to discuss how she could improve and to stabilize working relations with the new guy. Shortly there after it was announced company-wide he had agreed to take the job and they were thrilled. She took the following couple of days off and didn't respond to text or email. She just completely took some time away (fair enough). She returned mid-next week and found-out that he wasn't going to start until a couple of weeks later and that she had time. Then a company-wide email went out announcing that not only had he finished the final requirements for his MBA and took first place in his final case competition beating every other school in the country but that he was starting sooner than anticipated. A lot of emphasis was placed on his Ivy League education, which really irked Tina.
He would come in occasionally (before his start date) to meet with senior executives and his team members and pushed them to get unvarnished thoughts - a lot of them really complained about working conditions on the team and major obstacles they faced. A few really told him the unvarnished truth.
His start date rolled around there after, and the hype was real. He hit the ground running and his first week was incredibly busy. On day one he held an open meeting where he came in and immediately banned weekend emails (some teams were expected to check/respond to emails 7 days a week), gave staff commensurate working hours to the rest of the company (we never got summer hours or flex time, which he immediately changed) and followed-up on promises made by previous staff. He rolled out new processes, budget models and is a far more effective at advocate for the team - so much so that all the old time staff have become his "followers". A lot of people were worried about being fired (performance had been way down) but we're already seeing a glimmer of hope - the cuts he made preserved his staff, meaning they have a little less cash to spend but a lot more bodies doing the work. All told, they're better off now ( three weeks in) than we were this time last year. The staff love him, he's very approachable, informal and because of his connections to senior leaders in other departments, that team gets a lot more attention than we used to. Our old boss was sweet and kind, but she was incredibly ineffective. I'm considering transferring back into that unit because the working environment is better than where we are.
The problem has become Tina. She's tried to question his leadership, she's openly annoyed with colleagues and feels like she's the only person who doesn't "see" the truth. The value in the new guy is his ability to change - our teams work in close collaboration and their team is a lot more productive now than before and are getting better quality work done - they've started conversations with old clients and the business funnel has grown. VPs openly comment that he'll be moved up in short order. Yet, Tina holds are horrible grudge. It's obvious with how she interacts with staff and colleagues; she complains when he's not in the office and complains when he is in the office. I know of a least a few people who are growing weary of this and two have asked me to say something to Tina (since we're friends). Another threatened to go to HR.
For all his connections and Ivy League education, the guy is also a really strong performer. He has an activity board up showing process and change and people feel less dour, except Tina. She's complaining non-stop. It's impacted our relationship to the point where I've been avoiding her. It's been two months since she found out and three weeks since he started, and I feel like "enough is enough" that said, she's a single mom and I don't want to see her fired for being silly.
I'm really not good with confronting people, I don't know what I should say.
tl;dr the new guy started and the hype was real. he's been great but Tina took rejection so badly that I'm worried she's going to be fired. I'm not sure how to handle this. She's going to get fired if she doesn't stop complaining and people want me to speak with her.
Submitted May 27, 2019 at 09:33AM by Ohlordnotfriday http://bit.ly/2EB7fJI
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