I manage a team of 10 staff members, who are the nationals of the country where I am based in. The team and I get along so well and there have been no complains or issues so far. I was the OIC of this unit for a year on the absence of the head of the unit. The recruitment took a long time, but it did not affect us, as I could perform better with the support of my team. Our team was so successful, that we became 4th among 25 units in the year end achievement, and that too with the absence of the head of the unit. So, undoubtably, all praise was on me, and the team and we were so proud about our achievements. The new head of the unit joined in September, just a week before a huge event where our team's success was celebrated by the management. She was told by many that she is in good hands, and the team is one of the best in the country. Moreover I was introduced as one talented, and capable manager who has the fullest support of the team etc... She was cool, looked very innocent, and has just returned from her maternity break. She is in her mid 40s. Initially, her mind was elsewhere, and she could not focus on work matters. We thought it is related to maternity blues, and assuming new role in this stage can be difficult. So, we supported her as much as possible with good team spirit. She was so thankful to the support, but always made sure we do not interact with senior management as before. We were cut off from all the meetings which we attended in the past. I and one of my senior staff was still eligible to attend senior management meetings, as we are already managing different sub units, but she as the head of the unit, decided it is not needed anymore. Since then, we found out that we are misrepresented at the senior management platform. None of our achievements or challenges were discussed there. Instead, most of the in-house discussions were presented as if the staff/sectional heads have no capacity to handle a problem. Simple issues were blown out of proportion only to degrade us before the management. She also misrepresented the management in the unit, often saying Senior manager A doesn't like this project, manager B doesn't like to be pushed, manager C doesn't think you are a good staff etc..etc... instead, she never shares the decisions or major discussion points at the senior level with us. It has severe negative impact in the way we delivered our tasks, as we felt there was a huge vacuum in between. Unfortunately, most of the senior staff who worked closely with us in the past year has moved since December 2022, and new ones have joined who haven't seen us closely. So, this head of the unit was the only bridge between us and the new senior management these days. They are also new; hence need their space to understand and reflect the ground level situation better. I oversee 10 senior staff, who manage on average 5 officers each. The entire team is in trouble, just because this head of the unit misrepresented us, and gives misleading information to the management and us. First of all, she doesn't fully understand the project well. Doesn't accept ideas, rather impose things on different angle. She plans to dismantle the successful projects, and reshuffle the team/sectional heads and give them new roles. Never discuss this with me or them. She introduces new projects instead of the ones we already working on, and this creates a lot of havoc in the team who often miss the deadlines, and messes things. She also tries to create misunderstanding between colleagues in the team, gossips around, and often give importance to the lower level staff over the sectional heads, who feel less important and not respected these days. There are systems to report. But staff member are afraid of their contracts and positions; hence prefer not to report. Besides, there are no solid grounds to report. Nothing is discussed over e-mails, no evidence to prove what we experience. She is from the US, and most senior staff are from the same region; hence the frustrations. But, this has been the talk of the office, especially among the nationals who work in middle and low level managerial positions here. Yesterday, I came to know that my head of the unit has discussed with some senior manager that she doesn't want me and 2 other sectional heads, complaining about our performance; hence requested for replacements now. But the senior management did not accept her request, as it was too early for her to judge a senior staff's performance, unless there are fraudulent involvements, which needs investigation. Knowing that she can go to any extend to get rid of us, my staff are afraid of their future; hence requested me to intervene at the senior management level on behalf of the team. They assured that they will come in support if senior management request further evidence here. I am confused. In one hand I want this to be stopped as I hate double faced people, and such dramas. On the other hand, i am afraid it may backfire. My present contract ends in June anyways, so I will be placed in some other country and managing some other team. But this team of national staff are very special to be, who stood by me throughout last year and worked hard. If they lose their jobs, it is hard to find another in the system. So, I feel the urge to support. But I haven't complained like this at work place in the past, so feel a bit reluctant. Any advice?
How about developing friendly relation with this individual and get into her good books for the sake of your team so u can solve this problem more amicably. I understand in three months this individual is no more a headache for you, so you can just tolerate her and move on. But your good heart wants to help your team that are going to survive her, so instead of going in a combat mode, try offering an olive branch and make the environment a positive one for all. ofcourse this involves most if not all in the scenario to be ready to collaborate, I feel complaining has more chances to backfire especially when she has already complained about you/taint your image with her seniors.
Stop saving the world. Put your interests first. Tell the staff to approach senior management as a group. Assure them you will support them if further evidence is requested. Guide them in composing what they will tell the senior management, how to tell that with minimal criticism of the new head, how to identify which complaints are worth telling, how to focus more on the change your staff wants going forward rather than the wrongs that happened recently. Be the guide, provide them ammunition and armor, don't be the shoulder from which they fire the gun. It will backfire. This is a no-win situation. If they are in a system where it hard to find another job, they will learn to work with difficult bosses. That long-term skill will be more helpful to them that your support in this once instance. Support the staff if and when it will not impact your next placement and your official performance record. Maybe, mention the issues in your exit interview. If there is no formal exit interview, bring up the topic only closer to your contract end date.
I tried my level best to establish a friendly relationship with this woman. But unfortunately all my attempts were in vain. She speaks all nice in front, but start talking evil behind the back. I've seen such women in the remote villages of Sri Lanka, but never seen someone from an elite background can also act this way. In fact, she is not a bad person. But her incompetence makes her feel insecure before a talented team like ours. She feels intimidated and stressed. She has zero time management skills, and her motherhood at this age (40+ twins, first delivery) makes her miserable. She always asks for help, and now a days dumps everything on us as she could not manage the tasks on her own anymore. We are happy to help and we have been doing these things alone in the past during her absence, so nothing new. The issue is, she tries to manipulates things and throw us out of the discussion, just to pretend it is she who is doing all this. It is OK if she doesn't credit the staff for everything they do, but she tries to subtly damage their reputation to prove a point that they are not capable of running the show. This is bad and this is why they need support
This! Thanks @Rihana I did not think of it. I just have 2 more months, and then I will be reassigned to another place in June. So, I can discuss this matter with senior management during my exit debriefing