5 ms·
Emphasize the other reasons for the team switch, and don't talk about the promo likelihood difference. Talk about how you've always wanted to try working on tha
by lostdog 2y ago
Emphasize the other reasons for the team switch, and don't talk about the promo likelihood difference. Talk about how you've always wanted to try working on that field, and how this opportunity just came up and you've got to try it. Thank the VP for all their work on getting you a path to promo.
For switching, tell the VP you'll ask the new team what's possible. Go to your new VP and tell them that old VP wants this, but make it implicitly clear that you don't want this. Go back to your old VP and tell them that you don't think the long transfer period is going to work with the new team (but you tried!), but that you will still be around to help the team answer any questions.
Once you switch, deprioritize the old team. Deprioritize them slowly enough that you keep a good relationship with old VP, but let it be pretty clear that you're not gonna be doing any coding and only the bare minimum of consulting.
You should only debate promo likelihood while you're still on the team. Once you've decided to leave, drop it from discussion.
- rednafi 2y agoHighlighting what the IC wants instead of the promo thingy is a great piece of advice.
- Simon_O_Rourke 2y agoAgreed, otherwise it smacks of sour grapes and might come back to bite you on the new team, i.e., "they only joined the new team because they got upset about a promotion".
- mcny 2y agoBut that is the fact, isn't it? If the individual contributor could get a promotion in their old team, I assume they would stay there? This is about managing the "optics" but it doesn't change the facts?
- monsieurbanana 2y agoWhen you send a cover letter to apply for a job, you wouldn't say you want to work there because of the salary. Yet we all know.
- IanCal 2y agoNot necessarily. It's a desire to move out from their current position. They may prefer a move upwards where they currently are, or sideways, but a move nonetheless. I think that's different from "You wouldn't give me X so I'm annoyed and don't want to be here any more".
- mcny 2y agoI am sorry. I didn't mean it as a negative. In fact, when I read the post, it felt like the vice president was stringing the individual contributor along dangling a promotion to the individual contributor but never granting it. Yes, I agree a move could be upward or sideways but basically what I understood from the OP is the VP is either malicious or incompetent. I would love to learn why a VP would string along ICs like this... why not speak the truth? Do they think we are idiots?
- rednafi 2y agoWhile it’s an employers’ market now, it many regions, getting good people has become equally difficult. Seen it in first person and that could be one reason why the VP is acting like this.
- lostdog 2y agoSometimes the VP gets surprised with budget or headcount constraints. Or maybe they were expecting the IC to perform a bit better this quarter, but other people involved in the promo process do not feel that the IC has met the bar, and block the promo. And yeah, it's always possible that the VP is just saying what's necessary to keep the IC on the team and productive, but there's plenty of cases where the VP is trying for your promo, and we cannot tell from OPs comment exactly what's going on here.
- ipnon 2y agoThe maxim of office happiness: Strong relationships > any problem!