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Change New Hires Cliques Promotions Policies and Procedures Decision Making

Our department manager was promoted, and the company replaced her with someone from the outside. At first, the new manager said we have an excellent department, and she would not be making any changes. That lasted for about a week. Now she has changed our assignments, moved us around, and put in new policies that don’t make sense. What can we do?



When companies change department managers, one of the most common outcomes is that these managers change departments. When such managers announce that they will not be making changes, they may believe it at the time. However, sooner or later, most want to put their own imprint on their new department.

There are a few questions for you and your associates to answer in order to determine the best steps to take. First, is it possible that some of your dissatisfaction is due to the fact that the company went outside rather than promoting any of you? Are the changes all bad, or are some actually improvements? Are you more dissatisfied with the actual changes or with the way they were introduced?

Depending upon your answers to these types of questions, you and your associates can meet with the new manager to ask more questions, discuss your concerns, and present some suggestions of your own. If you find that the changes are indeed dubious, and you are excluded from the process, you and your associates should then consider talking to someone at a more senior level of management.

It is apparent that management believes that it is time for a change. With the passage of time, you will know if the same applies to you.



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