You Need to Let This One Go
In one of my jobs, I had a new role I needed to hire for my team so I worked with Human Resources to post the job opening.
About a week after the job was posted, an internal candidate emailed me and asked if I could answer some questions they had about the role and my team. After talking with the candidate, they expressed a strong interest and they had the right experience and qualifications.
The candidate did the right next thing by approaching her manager and expressing interest before applying for the role. After getting the OK from her manager, she applied for the position.
The candidate next interviewed with me and then my manager for the position. I was excited about the possibility of her being a strong manager on my team and doing great things for our department and the company. She was excited about the possibility of taking on a new position with increased responsibilities and becoming a people manager for the first time.
Then something unexpected happened. Someone from Human Resources asked to meet with me. I was informed that the candidate’s current manager met with company leadership and said they did not want me ‘stealing’ their employee because the person would be difficult to replace.
The conversation with HR ended with me being told ‘You need to let this one go’.
Some companies love to tell employees there are endless opportunities for internal career mobility. In reality, you may just be a fish stuck in a small pond.
Note: this story was first published on my LinkedIn profile page.
