It was a senior manager the restructuring was presented as more of a reshuffle. The boss said he wanted to move people around. He had done this before in responcse to a criss in one area of the business. When the reshuffle was muted my colleagues made it clear they viewed my post as a poison chalice. I was sure my job was safe because no one else wanted it. I was right but wrong. Non of my colleagues wanted my post but an ambitious area manager did. I was naive and didn’t realise what was going on . My personal assistant tried to warn me that I was being bad mouthed behind my back to my boss. Then one morning the boss called me in and informed me that he had decided the reshuffle would involve me moving from my post. Ok I said where am I moving to and who is taking over my job? That’s when I discovered I was the only one being reshuffled! He was prepared to give me a new temporary contract whilst I looked for a post elsewhere. I had made no secret of the fact that I was applying for other posts which he seemed to think justified this decision. Within months I had another post. I left by mutual agreement without working my notice.
What’s ironic about this is that I was Assistant Director for Resources which included responsibility for HR! Of course I knew this was constructive dismissal. My credibility within the organisation was good. I had a positive working relationship with the Chief Executive, I could have appealed directly to him and certainly made my boss uncomfortable although not necessarily saving my job. But why would I continue to work for someone who couldn’t be trusted, who had been so willing to believe whispers about my disloyalty from such an unreliable source.
The final irony was however to come a few years later when the ambitious area manager deposed my former boss apparently following a whispering campaign questioning his loyalty to the chief executive! Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
