Getting Fired For Not Taking A Promotion?

iKantBelieveThis asks: "I work in a relatively small (6-8 person) IT shop for a branch of a Large company. I am the #2 person in the department, and the IT Manager is leaving the company. It seems that management has determined that I am going to take over and be promoted to IT Manager. I don't want this. I am quite happy where I am, doing what I am doing and the pay is just fine. I don't want the headaches, political bickering and exposure to hostile fire that being the IT Manager entails. I am willing to take temporary responsibility for the operation, that is part of my job description. I am not refusing that part of the deal, I just don't want it to be permanent." Why should an employee be forced into a permanent promotion if they are doing well in their current one. Of course...in the corporate world, things are never as simple (or logical) as they should be.

"The company, however, is saying that either I take the promotion or be dismissed. Part of their reasoning is that if I am refusing the appointment, I must not be qualified for the job (I am qualified), even though I don't want it to begin with. Ah, the joys of corporate logic."

Comments

No you don't, 'cuz they *really* want to fire you.

[SlushDot]

This is typical Mgmt-think. An employee happy where he is and who has been there a long time has "become too expensive". How does this happen?

(1)Since he does his job well, he always gets his raise at his annual (or more frequent) review.

(2) Since he's been there a long time, he's gotten many raises.

(3) Therefore, he is now waaaay overpaid compared to anyone else in his department, since the other workers are new, or left after a 2-3 years for greener pastures, while he has been there 6, 10, or more years.

But firing him for doing his job would be too evil. Cutting his pay for doing his job is even more evil. So what is an "honourable" way to get rid of him?

Promote him into incompetance! Keep promoting him and adding responsibilities until he can't handle it and becomes incompetent in his new duties. Then you can safely fire him for not being able to do his job. Hey! It'll be *his* fault, right? Wow, aren't we the clever Mgmt folk!

However, if he refuses promotions, though, he's obviously on to Our Plan, and will be fired for outthinking Mgmt and making us look dumb and therefore creating a "hostile" work environment.

Four times

[arfy]

I've been in this exact situation four times. Each time I told them I just wanted to be the best techie/programmer/analyst/engineer possible and that although I possessed management skills, I'd done it before and would not do it again.

At three of the companies it was a bluff; they didn't want to lose me and all stayed fine.

At the fourth, they DID fire me. I had a job within a month that paid nearly twice as much and had better working conditions. I later found out (after the company folded six months later) the real reason they dumped me: they were planning some manifestly illegal activities and wanted me on the "inside" rather than in a position where I might ask difficult questions. Their firing me had NO adverse effect on my job hunt. One place wondered aloud why I'd stayed there so long. Evidently the company had gotten a reputation as being run by jerks and idiots. Interviewees were suspect if they'd stayed there more than a year or two, so getting dumped was actually in my favor.

I have never regretted turning down positions I didn't want, and I've been pushed toward them many more times than four. It's just those four that closely match your situation. In the case of the other three companies, I found that they respected me MORE after my refusals. Two of them gave me larger raises than usual immediately, all seemed to place more trust in my judgement afterwards.

Not a good idea to threaten your boss...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps I'm a bit paranoid but in over ten years of working in the IT/technology industry I've never approached my supervisor or any other member of upper management responsible for signing my paycheck with an "or else I'll quit" threat.

If I feel my compensation and/or benefits are not what they should be I approach my current supervisor and in a reasonable but assertive fashion discuss what changes I think need to be made. At no point in the discussion do I imply that these changes had better get made or I'm gone.

After that I let my supervisor run with it for approximately two weeks at which point I touch base with them again.

Based on this second meeting I either get a sense that things have a chance of going my way or conversely I quietly begin my search for the next position.

Since a job search can take a month or two (to find the right position) you may end up being pleasantly surprised by being called into your supervisor's office to learn that you got what you asked for and that it just took a bit for the corporate wheels to turn.

If this doesn't happen then no big deal as you have begun you job search in earnest and are probably close to securing a new position.

In fact if you're smart you're are preparing yourself to leave your current position by:

* Quietly migrating all personal possessions
at work back home.
* Making copies of useful work/documents you
have created while on the current job.
* Stealing office supplies/equipment... ;-)

All this is done quietly a bit at a time over several weeks prior to leaving.

Then finally, when you land your shiny new job, you can go into your supervisor's office, submit your letter of resignation and be prepared for that to be your last minute of employment at that company and be comfortable with the knowledge there is nothing left undone, except to walk out the door.

This approach has worked for me in both management and hands on technical positions.

I would also advise anyone to resist the temptation of "short-timeritious". Do your job well right up to the end of your employment at a given company. Leave everyone with a good impression because its a strangely small world in this industry.

Don't burn bridges or remove someone as a possible reference if you can help it.

Don't worry

[SoftwareJanitor]

There are 100's of thousands of good IT jobs open out there right now.

In the worst case you can go find a new job in a short period of time. They are only shooting themselves in the foot if they fire you because not only can you likely sue them, they will then be losing TWO people at the top of their IT department instead of just one. They will then incur two times the costs to hire replacements, they will incur more 'downtime' with the new IT manager because he won't have you to learn the shop from and if they have to replace you as well, that is another person who has to come in and learn the shop and your software. They really don't want to have two new people to bring up to speed at once, because that will severely impact the work of at least one or two others. So in all reality, for a while they will be more than two people short staffed.

That being said... One thing you can do is offer to do the job on an interim basis and help them find the new IT manager in the mean time. That may not be the most fun thing in the world, but it makes it look like you are taking an active role in dealing with the situation and as a bonus, it gives you some control to hopefully get someone in who you can get along with. Basically, they make take 'no' more easily if they are off the hook from having to find a replacement manager, especially if you can do it without them having to pay big headhunter's fees. Start tapping your contact pool to see if you can find someone who might be qualified.

One of their possible motives for trying to force promote you is that they may think that they can offer you less of a salary increase than what they'd have to pay a new hire as manager. You shouldn't let them do that. If you get forced into taking the promotion, you should demand more than what the previous manager was getting. Then even if you hate it and end up quitting, you will at least have gotten some bucks out of the deal, a little resume padding and a bump in your salary history that will hopefully land you a better job and more pay later.

Re:Think like an entreprenuer

[Wellspring]

Think of this department as your own company. The department is big enough (6 - 8 people) that it needs management and direction and you are obviously the best person to take on the responsibility in this temporary crisis. Step in, get things running smoothly and then hire your replacement. That way you'll be a hero and wind up working for someone competent and compatible.

I disagree on this one. Your idea is the right way to do it, if the management had handled the situation maturely from the start. They have handled the situation in a terribly unprofessional way, and these are not people you will want to continue working with.

Any 'heroism' you might display in saving the department would likely be ignored by these people. They obviously appreciate your skills enough to want to promote you now-- a lot of good that has done you.

Don't roll the dice of having them fire you. Instead, begin circulating your resume, and have a job offer ready. If you can't stall them any longer, leave. If you get a good offer-- even at the same pay as now-- take it. Don't get into bid and counterbid. Your current employer has taken a step which demands that you leave within the next 30 days anyway.

It isn't easy, I know, to leave your job for something new. But you have to recognize when that step is necessary and find the will to act on it. I've watched a lot of friends stay in bad situations out of momentum when they knew it was time to go. It never pays off.

counter with your own ulitmatum

[OlympicSponsor]

Here's what you say: "If I'm promoted to IT manager, I'll quit. Now you've lost me either way. If that was your intention, then this discussion is over--I have to go look for a new job, which I will likely find within 30 days. If losing me was NOT your intention, let's begin a reasonable discussion of our differences."

If a reasonable discussion does not begin immediately, start sending out your resume. When you get back a stack of interview requests, go back to Management and show them the physical evidence of the interest in your talents. Go to the interviews. When you get an offer, show it to Management. If they still do nothing, they really want you gone. More likely, though, at some point before you get an offer elsewhere they will get nervous about losing you entirely and start to be reasonable.
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