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Here's the scenerio -
I have been on my job for one year. I am a production manager for one of 2 divisions in our company. I have 4 directs and manage a dept of about 75 people. Our operations manager, who managed production for the other division as well as some other functions (facilities maintenance) retired a few months ago, and has not yet been replaced. My boss (CEO) approached me last week about his idea to merge the 2 divisions and have me manage them both together (product is virtually the same, with 2 locations just a few miles apart. We sell into 2 distinct markets).
I am a high D (6333) so this appeals to me. I can also see a lot of advantages for the company as there is currently some replication of functions in the 2 divisions that could be consolidated. This will also open up some opportunity for a couple of my directs as well as key people in the other division to expand their roles.
While I believe I can do this job, the offer came as a surprise and I want to think it through carefully before accepting. The job I have is challenging but I am getting more comfortable in it than I was at first. I am also uncertain about what to reasonably expect in terms of a raise. We recently went through a layoff, and I'm sure one of the reasons for this change is to save money. My boss did indicate there would be a compensation increase but we didn't discuss it. He wanted me to think about the position over the weekend and let him know next week if I wanted to pursue it.
I'm not concerned about losing my job if I turn this down. We have a very good working relationship and he made it clear that this was my decision and he would respect it. My inclination is to accept this position, but I wanted to post in hopes of getting some input from this community. Has anyone else been through an internal merger like this? Pittfalls I should be aware of?
"When someone asks you if
"When someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"! " By this I mean to say, if the CEO is asking if you want a promotion, you take the promotion.
There is a catch-22 here, but I think you already know the answer. If you say no, you may be considered not a team player, the firm has to go looking for another resource and you lose some of the ability to be a master of your own destiny. Consider the alternative of your leadership under this consolidation - do you want to have to work with someone they may hire, or even worse, report to a new hire? It seems like you've got a direct relationship with the CEO and I don't think you'd want an additional barrier getting in the way.
The only way turning this down makes sense is if additional resources are absolutely necessary to get the firm growing again. If they're just trying to tack on extra work as a cost saving measure instead of doing what's right for the business, this could be really detrimental to long term sustainability. In that case, you may want to have a candid conversation as to where the business is going in 3 to 5 years.
My advice, take the promotion. These opportunities don't come along all that often and this is something you shouldn't pass up.
Good luck!
I'm accepting the offer
Thanks for the input Jiggymac! I also talked with a few close friends whose opinions I trust, and they all said the same thing. The new job will be daunting, and there may be some disgruntled folks who reported to the retired manager and hoped they were next in line for his job. This will be an interesting journey and I will probably be posting often as I take on this role!
I'm grateful for this community.
Congratulations!
It's always good to push yourself.
Also - Mark and Mike just did three casts on non-promoted directs. Even though I've never been in the situation, they were excellent as always. Listen to them and get ahead of the curve.
Take care and keep us posted!