Restructure at Work - Unwanted Role Offerred

niish150887 on 29/09/2020 - 22:16
Last edited 29/09/2020 - 23:13

I work for one of the Big 4 banks and had to go through a restructure recently. I was asked to fill out 3 preferences as part of Expression of Interest within our overall business unit. I was not offered any of my preferences but was offered a role which the management deemed to be comparable which i had to accept as i was not given an option for redundancy.

Whilst the role offered is in same business unit and my salary remains the same, the scope of the role is very different, no where related to my skills/ previous experience and i have no motivation to perform my day to day role.

I am really confused on how to approach this issue and if i should be very honest with my manager advising this role was not preference as part of my EOI. There arent many roles in the market nor they are internally. I have always been a high performer in my previous roles and this role is not the right fit for me and have no interest to learn to even meet basic expectation.

My manager is also new to his role and feel like this may cause issues between us if i be honest at this stage as its very early days.

Please help !

P.S : I know when things are put into perspective around the world.. i am not in a bad position and it could be worst but its really taking a toll on my mentally and affecting my personal life.

Poll Options

  • 9
    Have a honest conversation with my manager.
  • 48
    Look for a role internally and then advise my manager.
  • 2
    Raise this as an issue to HR team
Education & Work

Comments

  • RM on 29/09/2020 - 22:25
    +4

    Without knowing your financial position… Liabilities etc.. Would be very difficult to advise either ways.

    Take what you have while you look for what you want.
    You never know you might grow into this role that you are writing off…

    With limited jobs in the market.. Buy time and take it easy. Management would also (hopefully) be easy in you since you have no prior experience in the new role.

    It also might add value in your resume going forward or teach you some transferable skills

  • miwahni on 29/09/2020 - 22:41
    +1

    What are you hoping to achieve by telling your manager that the role was not one of your preferences? What sort of a difference do you imagine it will make? I'm genuinely curious because I can't see any benefit to be gained by telling him/ her that. If anything it will alert your manager to the fact that you will likely be leaving the organisation soon.

  • jtc13 on 29/09/2020 - 22:55
    +6

    Do the best you can in current role whilst continuing to look for a role that fits your skills and that you will enjoy more. Once you land this give notice and move on.

    Worst that can happen is you go through the motions and still get paid.

    Alternative is you are true to yourself and back yourself in but in current climate ( which is just about to go belly up IMHO ) you may be out of work for 6-12 months so better to keep money coming in but put all your extra effort into finding something you will like and enjoy…

    Still might take 6 months but at least you have a salary coming in during that time.

  • arislan on 29/09/2020 - 23:03
    +3

    If you don't mind redundancy then turn away any offer that aren't matching your current role, they really can't force you - despite how persuasive management is. If you don't want redundancy and there's no other similar roles then yea you don't really have a choice but change roles.

    If you reject any offers for non matching roles, they have to either keep you in that role or pay you off with redundancy. They cannot force you to switch role - do not fill out any form saying you'll pick x roles as options as you're consenting to switching roles. Management have all sorts of tricks to make you consent to switching roles - do NOT do it if you want redundancy.

    I've been in this situation before. They either have to give you redundancy or continue to pay you in this role. I ended with the latter as management insist on not giving me redundancy. The role I was in was completely redundant though as it was off-shored (not for cost savings mind you as it was off-shored to the US for political reasons), so I ended up keeping the same role only in title, same pay, but no work. I was free to do whatever I want as long as I turn up on time, leave on time and remain professional. Of course I got bored after a year and just left on my own - but I did use the time to self train on the companies time and money.

    • Janko on 30/09/2020 - 00:03
      +3

      This page suggests the employer can apply to the Fair Work Commission to not pay redundancy, where it's decided how similar the alternative position was.

      http://www.andersons.com.au/lawtalk/2015/december/redundancy…

      Makes sense - a company shouldn't be able to avoid a redundancy payout by offering someone an alternative position that would drive them crazy enough to leave of their own accord, but an employee shouldn't be able to get redundancy for rejecting a trivial position change.

      • burningrage on 30/09/2020 - 10:14

        New thing learned today

      • arislan on 03/10/2020 - 21:30
        +1

        As per the page you linked to:

        The question of whether alternative employment is “acceptable” depends on a number of factors including:

        the nature of the work;
the pay in the new position;
working hours;
skills;
duties;
seniority; and
the location of the work.

        In any case, the OP didn't really give much insight into his role/job so hard to tell. I'm speaking from a perspective of a white collar specialized/technical professional, i.e. say a Python developer. Unless the employer offer similar technical roles, you can't just toss you training and experience out the door as it can be construed as "unacceptable", i.e. if the employer offered a role as a Business Analyst or Test Manager, etc. They are completely different specialized technical roles.

        I was in exactly the same situation as per my anecdotal experience. Management tried to sell me a "growth" opportunity which was utter bullshit. They also tried the "Its just a different title but you'll still be doing the same stuff as before" - its basically a bait and switch. Never agree and never sign any papers. The OP's example of his/her management asking them to pick 3 alternate roles sounds like Management is up their nasty tricks again.

        I'm not a legal advisor, and one can opine that these kind of tactics are borderline illegal and may not even hold in court, but no person would have the resource to pursue legal recourse anyway so organizations with big lawyers typically feel confident to pull these kinds of shenanigans. Especially banks, they don't even give a shit about the Royal Commission, heads roll and its back to their usual internal politics.

        I would say anything that requires you to abandon your career experience and training in one field to another is not a trivial position change. A lot of technical roles takes time to develop your skill and experience.

  • askme69 on 29/09/2020 - 23:30
    +1

    I don't see the option to LEAVE in your poll?

  • iratepirate on 29/09/2020 - 23:31
    +15

    Do not make the mistake of thinking HR are there to help you, as an employee, at all. They exist purely to save the company money in the form of law suits.

    • xuqi on 29/09/2020 - 23:53
      +4

      Can't believe OP even thought about HR, let alone include them in the poll.

      • vikvance on 30/09/2020 - 00:10
        -4

        Yeah, OP seems very young and naive. :-)

  • vikvance on 30/09/2020 - 00:14
    +1

    If you weren't given an option for redundancy, then there is nothing that you actually can do in this situation, except to try to do the new role to the best of your ability, and in the mean time start looking for a new job.

    It is much better idea to look for another job, while you are still employed. So, don't make the mistake of resigning from the new role without having another job to go to.

  • thatonethere on 30/09/2020 - 00:23
    +1

    Perhaps have a chat with someone in the workplace who is the FSU rep (https://www.fsunion.org.au/) they may know the magic words for redundancy

  • whooah1979 on 30/09/2020 - 00:42

    Whilst the role offered is in same business unit and my salary remains the same,

    Same pay, same company beats joining the queue at centrelink.

  • leiiv on 30/09/2020 - 01:39
    +2

    First, what are your honest (and main) reasons and rationale that made you have no motivation and no interest to learn? Why do you think the new role is not the right fit for you?
    Do you know the reason why the management decides to give the new role to you even though you have no skills and previous experience to do it?
    Are they doing experiments here?

    • Xastros on 30/09/2020 - 11:18

      Because they want to redeploy people and not pay them redundancies and they do not always have the number of roles available that people want.

  • AustriaBargain on 30/09/2020 - 07:12
    +1

    "I didn't choose to be here" to your new boss is such a Hollywood cliche. You'll be the best of friends by 40 minutes in and just before the credits roll you will be CEO of the bank, but only after avenging his tragic death.

  • try2bhelpful on 30/09/2020 - 08:01

    Unless you have another job to go to I would be taking the offered role until the dust settles. A steady income isn’t to be sneezed at and you can, always, look elsewhere in the meantime. The real secret is to network in the areas you want to move across into and to build up your reputation as a desirable acquisition. Make the best of what you have been given and build up the brownie points. If you go into the new position will a sullen attitude then you will blot your copybook for moving elsewhere. Who knows you might find you enjoy the new job once you are doing it.

    In relation to redundancy, give it a little while and they might get around to you anyway.

  • SelfMade on 30/09/2020 - 08:36
    -1

    Clearly it's not a comparable role, speak to HR. Fight for your rights!

    • Caped Baldy on 30/09/2020 - 09:01
      +1

      Nah, HR supports the business not the staff. There's a reason why it's called human resources.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 30/09/2020 - 08:40

    which i had to accept

    You didn't have to accept. You may have been temporarily assigned to "similar" duties and returned later. Or sacked/made redundant later.

    Either way, you're getting paid the same. That's pretty damn good compared to what a lot of other people are facing out there.

    Say nothing. Keeping working and banking that pay. Move on when you actually find and get offered a better opportunity.

    but its really taking a toll on my mentally and affecting my personal life.

    Lol. Think of the alternative. Peeps out there on JobSeeker are about to get their benefits dropped.

  • Seraphin7 on 30/09/2020 - 08:50

    i have no motivation to perform my day to day role […] and have no interest to learn to even meet basic expectation.

    While you are no doubt a valued employee, these probably aren't the attitudes aligned to success.

    • Porker on 30/09/2020 - 09:39

      ^^ This.. 'High Performer' and 'no interest' don't necessarily go hand in hand with a valued employee.

  • Porker on 30/09/2020 - 09:37
    +1

    My organisation is going through a restructure too, like so many others. I tell myself that if I were redeployed, I would HAVE to accept.

    I'd say you need to look at your motivations for working, as for me (for example), it's about supporting my family and kids such that I'd do whatever was required to ensure their future.

    If I didn't have any dependents and/or less financial commitment, I might be a bit more open to challenging things in the current climate.

  • DarthAntz on 30/09/2020 - 09:41

    Take the role, you'll go through another restructure in 3-6 months again anyway

  • sagrules on 30/09/2020 - 11:18

    If you are truly unhappy in your role, and haven't taken annual or personal leave for a while consider doing so. It may give you enough time to rest and come back afresh with new perspective and more committed to this new role. Could also use this time to attend other job interviews if you get any.
    Avoid the manager conversation until you have built some rapport and know what they are like and whether they "care" about your welfare.
    If you really hate the job, look outside for new opportunities.

  • Xastros on 30/09/2020 - 11:19

    Just out of curiousity what kind of role did they put you in? Don't have to be specific but maybe something like your previous role was sales based and the new role is more admin/analytical.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/09/2020 - 11:54

    You could consult an employment solicitor to determine if the role is comparable. They may be able to determine/argue for you if you should receive the choice of redundancy instead

  • JimB on 30/09/2020 - 12:04

    At least they didn't ask you to move to a distant location.

    • sagrules on 30/09/2020 - 16:39

      Someone i know in big 4 bank had to train their overseas replacement - talk about awkward

      • JimB on 30/09/2020 - 16:41

        Ouch!

        Was the person being replaced a permanent or contractor (whose contract was about to expire)?

        • sagrules on 30/09/2020 - 18:44

          permanent employee, was during "restructure" moved all the work to an asian country i won't specify
          was not offered redeployment internally

          • miwahni on 30/09/2020 - 20:49

            @sagrules: Hello St.George mortgage prep / discharge!

  • blueyez on 06/10/2020 - 23:01

    Common practice to avoid paying out redundancy… stick it out and hope a better role comes up within the company or look elsewhere.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join