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Ok here is the situation I was just put in.

I have an available opening for a manager in my dept.  A peer of mine in a different dept just got notice that his dept is shutting down and he needs to look for a different job.  I feel he is a good candidate and has got good results.  I share this with my boss who knows his boss well.  My boss contacted his boss and the feedback was not good.  My impression is they didn’t get along well and it was more about this than results.  My peer has called and asked me what his boss told my boss as he knows they spoke.

Dilemma is that if his boss is telling everyone same thing he told my boss there is no way he is going to find a job within our company.  Do I tell him so he doesn’t wait hoping he will get one of these jobs or do I not tell him?  Do I tell him I don’t know what the outcome of the discussion was?

I would like to see this guy land on his feet but doesn’t look good if his boss is sharing this with others.

 

tlhausmann's picture
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Hmmm. Unfortunately, anything you learn from your boss is an interpretation of *his* conversation with your peer's boss. The information you pass along is second hand and likely to raise more questions.You won't have answers to those questions.

I believe encouraging your peer to have a frank discussion with his boss is a better course of action.

I recognize you want to help your peer. There is nothing preventing your peer from applying for positions within the company. Yet, your peer would figure out pretty quickly he is persona non grata when he is not considered for internal positions.

Mark Horstman counsels that ever increasing managerial effectiveness depends on improving *relationships* more than results as a career progresses. That is, if I understood the presentation correctly at the Manager Tools conference--you are getting the information second hand from me. :-)

 

ken_wills's picture

 I agree with the comments above.

I think your best course is to encourage your colleague to broaden his job search as much and as quickly as he can.  Inside AND outside. Not because of anything you've heard on the grapevine, but because it's the wisest thing for him to do under any circumstances.