I’ve recently joined a team in a big corporation that is split into two different entities; I’ll call them A and B. Entity A has 5 employees and entity B has 7. So our first line manager is managing 12 employees.
As entity B has a higher member of team members, our first line manager is very focused with them and is invested in that time while leaving entity A astray.
Sadly, his focus caused entity A to have team members who barely attend work, who don’t work at all, and who pretend to work.
In reaction, I was forced to schedule meetings to get the team together as we have shared goals that cannot be achieved by myself alone.
Our meetings included discussions on what to do and ideas were bounced around and considered by each member. At the end of it, I would circulate our agreements and set timelines.
At the of the timelines, I would meet with the team again and see where we reached and if there are any challenges to achieve the goal. My first line manager encouraged this as it made communication smoother.
It had reached a point where my first line manager would assign tasks for me to delegate to the team.
Although I thought everything was going smoothly, there had been complaints about me assuming the role of the leader by older members where they were offended by being directed.
In response, my first line manager sided with that employee with the rationale that he has been in the department longer than I have and therefore he should be managing the team.
I personally think it is unfair as for the past year I’ve poured my sweat, blood, and tears into the team to make sure they succeed. Especially when the older employees were uncooperative.
I was told I need to be respectable and respect the older employees in the department although we are almost the same age, have the same years of experience, and the only difference is they have been within the same department longer.
It felt like my manager’s decision was biased, especially since I’ve contributed to more projects and ideas for the department to grow. Now I’m demotivated. I don’t know how to move forward next.