March 18, 2002 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Q. I have just received an offer for my dream job. The problem is, there is someone on my new staff who wanted that job as well, and I’ve heard she was very disappointed when she was passed over. She will be given a raise to help keep her, but I’d like some other tips for starting off well with her, because I will be her immediate supervisor. She is a very valuable member of the team, and I want to keep working with her.
A. That’s a tough, but not uncommon, situation. Virginia H. Strull, vice president of Professionals for NonProfits, a recruiting firm in New York, says she faced the exact same circumstance twice during the course of her 25 years as a director of development in the museum field — and many, many times with her clients.
Her advice: Immediately start to develop a positive professional relationship with your whole staff, and pay special attention to the passed-over-for-promotion employee. Make an effort to discern her strengths, and assign her work that makes the most of them. It’s particularly important to acknowledge any accomplishments or successes that she experiences in the early stages of your relationship. This makes your good will clear, and it also can go a long way toward establishing loyalty. “It’s very important in the context of a staff meeting, or in discussions with the executive director, to make clear what her accomplishments have been,” says Ms. Strull. It’s also best to avoid directly discussing the fact that this person was passed over for promotion, she says — sparking a debate about your qualifications is not productive.
Of course, despite your best efforts, the staff member might still leave. And since this situation will definitely test your management muscles, you also may want to check out a few resources to help brush up your leadership and team-building skills: Ms. Strull recommends Price Pritchett’s handbooks on building teams, such as “Team ReConstruction,” a 14-point plan for rebuilding staffs hit by change, available for $6.95.
