job promotion - then demotion

[MILO]

i'm hoping that i'm not alone in this situation.

 

i've been with my company for over 13 years and i've been a supervisor for almost 6 years, and give 100% day in, day out. finally it paid off. i was offered a promotion to oversee another department, and also my current department, including being the boss over my current position. i was given the details of the job, salary increase, new office and so on. the job was mine if i wanted it despite the channels that should have been taken, as in the position being open to others to bid on. so of course i agreed and took the opportunity to advance again. BUT, after one day in this new position, i knew without a doubt that it was not for me. not that it was too much to handle, or too stressful or anything, i'm used to all of that stuff. partly due to the fact that being around the chemicals and vapors in the new department through me for a loop healthwise. but the atmosphere, the work pace(actually slower), my personality and work habits really clashed with this other department. so rather than waste time with any training or getting settled and changing things up, i declined the position and asked to be returned to my normal job, and they agreed to do it. i love my job that i do now and i'm happy where i am. i know that i would not be happy and enjoy my job anymore in this other department and therefore wouldn't give it 100% effort. i'd rather go to work and come home being satisfied with my purpose and performance, than be in a position i don't like and dread going to work each day, regardless of the salary or title, etc. money isn't everything, at least not to me. they agreed that if i wasn't comfortable with it, it was best for all for me to not be in that position, and they had no reason not to return me to my normal position. i just hope that it doesn't ruin any chance for advancement into a different position in the future.

 

anyone ever been through something like this?

[FireHead]

Sometimes promotions aren't all they are cracked up to be. At the end of the day you have to be happy with what our doing otherwise the pay raise and new job title just won't matter. From my experience people can perform outstandingly in one position and given different responsibility or a different environment they wind up performing very badly. It would be much more detrimental to your career to keep the promotion that you weren't going to be able to do the best you can with, in that if you continued on not doing the best job, management may not understand or care why you are not performing and simply decide to can you. I would always rather have an employee come to me within the first week or so in a new postition and tell me that he didn't like it or that he couldn't do as good of job as he would like. That way, as a manager, I have time to deal with the problem and accomodate the employee. Otherwise, I would be forced to figure out what is wrong on my own and deal with however possible down the road after things had already fallen behind or been screwed up. In that case, I probably would not be real happy and not very interested in helping you.

 

It sounds like you did the right thing. :thumbsup:

[bansheefourseven]

I personally would have given it at least a week. What if you being the boss could actually change things for the better? Maybe make it faster paced and worked into your personality rather than just jumping ship because it was not like your normal day. Now you will never know. And will probly never get another chance to know. One day was jumping the gun a little. I think they would have been fine with you going to them after a week rather than just giving up after one shift.

[FireHead]

I personally would have given it at least a week. What if you being the boss could actually change things for the better? Maybe make it faster paced and worked into your personality rather than just jumping ship because it was not like your normal day. Now you will never know. And will probly never get another chance to know. One day was jumping the gun a little. I think they would have been fine with you going to them after a week rather than just giving up after one shift.

 

That is a good point. I think I must have skipped over the fact that you were only at the new position for a day. i would have atleast given it a week, if for no other reason, not to seem flakey. :shrug:

[[email protected]]

stay where you have fun at..... i work in a restarunte im the pit master for a huge smoker.... they try to get me to be a floor manager.. for a dollar or two more a hour, and honestly i rather sit on a chair and watch the temps while throwing in wood. ( tv / keg right next to me )....... I leave work everyday like i left the club, i love it .

[MILO]

thanks for the replies guys. yeah, i thought about the possibility that what i could bring to the job may change some things more to my management style, and better the department, but i seriously doubt that this would be the case here. this process etc. is pretty much set in stone. i also thought about the fact that it was only 1 shift and didn't give it enough of a chance, actually pretty embarrassed about that. one of my upper management people suggested that i was just out of my comfort zone and had to adjust. again not the case. my first day as a supervisor, nightshift of all things, with a shift of people that i had never met before wasn't this uncomfortable. 5 years later, my first day of day shift supervisor dealing with sales, engineering, qa, shipping etc, all people i didn't really know, and a new shift of people in my own department under me, and lots of new responsibilities, wasn't this uncomfortable. my boss and another began setting up training sessions and things for me, that's when i put a hault to this. as a supervisor, i wouldn't put forth the time or effort to train somebody in a position that i knew that they were not going to continue in or do well in. i explained this to them, that i felt i would be wasting their time and my time by letting it go on. they seemed to appreciate my honesty, told me that i was an asset to the company no matter what position i was in, and had no reason not to return me to my normal position, in which we all feel that i am well utilized. the situation was that the position i took on, had just opened up due to demoting the last guy, and they slipped me right in there, with my consent. so the position is now void again, being handled by the original guys backup man. i told them that i would prefer to return to my normal position, but would help out in the other department any way that i could till they found a permanent replacement. same as if that supervisor was on vacation or something. i also threw in that i didn't necessarily want to be in my position forever and would still like to advance, just that the other position was not for me. it seems to be all ok, but of course it still concerns me. not that i made a wrong decision for myself, just how it will affect their perception of me and the possibility of future advancement.

 

firehead, here's a good analogy for you to use. my boss is always telling me about having people in the right seat on the bus, i think you know what that means. i told my boss that not only was i in the wrong seat, but i think i jumped on the wrong bus. he laughed and said, your on the right bus, but if you feel your original seat was best for you, and we're happy with you being there, then it's better for all of us in the long run.

[FireHead]

firehead, here's a good analogy for you to use. my boss is always telling me about having people in the right seat on the bus, i think you know what that means. i told my boss that not only was i in the wrong seat, but i think i jumped on the wrong bus. he laughed and said, your on the right bus, but if you feel your original seat was best for you, and we're happy with you being there, then it's better for all of us in the long run.

 

I like that analogy. I may to borrow it from you some time.

 

I am out of town at the track this weekend, and one of the fairly new guys that was just transferred under me sent me an email yesterday asking if participation in day light savings time was voluntary. I certainly hope that it's not an indication of his performance, otherwise he will be getting released to the industry.

[MILO]

I am out of town at the track this weekend, and one of the fairly new guys that was just transferred under me sent me an email yesterday asking if participation in day light savings time was voluntary. I certainly hope that it's not an indication of his performance, otherwise he will be getting released to the industry.

:laugh: 99% of my guys are pretty sensible, but some of the temps i've had are out there. it's not hard to see why some of them are with a temp agency, still looking for a job 'cause i wouldn't hire them or keep them either. maybe this guy got transferred to you because no one else wanted him either. i get that a lot since i won't put up with some of the guys bs or poor performance and they know that i will either straighten them out (the goal) or send them out the door if needed. maybe they were just in the wrong seat on the bus...

 

as far as the other situation, one thing i didn't get into any detail on... i have a mechanical heart valve as of about 10 years ago and of course on medications for it now. i mentioned the other position through me for a loop healthwise. i had a pounding headache and felt like i hadn't taken my medications that day during the following evening after work. that was the biggest reason i bailed after one day / shift. they said it was anxiety from the new position. but like i said, i've been in tougher spots before. but i was fine in the position until we spent 3/4 of the day in the shop and the fumes / voc's from the chemicals got to me. that was the biggest reason i wanted out ASAP.

Edited March 11, 2007 by MILO

[FireHead]

:laugh: 99% of my guys are pretty sensible, but some of the temps i've had are out there. it's not hard to see why some of them are with a temp agency, still looking for a job 'cause i wouldn't hire them or keep them either. maybe this guy got transferred to you because no one else wanted him either. i get that a lot since i won't put up with some of the guys bs or poor performance and they know that i will either straighten them out (the goal) or send them out the door if needed. maybe they were just in the wrong seat on the bus...

 

I am pretty demanding of the folks that work for me with respect to quality of work and professionalism. In my industry, if your ideas or work is correct 80% of the time, you are a winner. I don't actually wind up having to get rid of many people, they mostly take care of that themselves. We work at such a fast pace someone (office folk) who can't hang will be behind, lost, or frustrated very quickly and they leave on there own. The strange thing is that most of them do not ask for help and try to hide the fact that they might need help all the way until the end.

 

My shop guys on the other hand tend to sort themselves out. We have a couple really good shop supervisors and quite a few very experienced guys that work for them. Obviously the jobs out in the shop require less in the way of education, experience, or skill so they pay less, but have more potential applicants. The guys out in the shop know when somebody is going to work out or not almost immediately and they usually get any issues sorted out before it ever gets back to me. The shops jobs are the ones that get the most creative applications and resumes submitted though (it's pretty entertaining).

 

Back to my original employee issue, I mean who in the world thinks that day light savings time is voluntary, let alone thinks that it's something they should email and ask their boss while he's out of town? :shoothead:

[Animalman294]

Ya, I think I would have also gave it more time. Tryin' to get that position back in the future may be a little difficult, believe me I know. At least you didn't tell your Captain that he could stick his Seargents position up his a$$. That didn't go over to well............................. :biggrin: