What happens when senior leadership leaves?

November 24, 2024 3:03 AM

The Partner and the Managing Director have handed in their notice and will leave my firm in 6 weeks. What can I expect from here on out?

Things have gotten bad enough that the two most senior folks at the top are leaving my boutique firm at the same time. I expect that this will cause a domino effect of employees quitting, based on what I'm hearing through the grapevine. I'm curious to see what outcomes the hivemind have actually experienced from senior leadership leaving at the same time (i.e. not subtly at all saying Fuck You to the company), and if they are congruent to what I'm imagining.

For what it's worth, I have a verbal offer with a much larger, global firm that's willing to pay me 10% more for a lateral move (in responsibility) + great benefits and insurance coverage. I'm hesitant only because the title appears to be a step down from what I currently am (they are offering me a Senior Associate role - I'm currently a Manager at the boutique firm).

Bonus question: take the job and screw my ego?

posted by antihistameme to Work & Money (16 answers total)

10% more for a lateral move (in responsibility) + great benefits and insurance coverage

sounds a lot better than the Staff Captain on the Titanic
posted by HearHere at 3:14 AM on November 24 [51 favorites]

Senior management leaving can potentially mean a few big things: the company is going under and they're the first to leave the sinking ship, or they're striking out on their own and taking the big clients with them which will cause major future financial problems, or there are so many problems at the top that with them gone everything will be an administrative disaster for at least a year before new leadership can stabilize.

In any case I don't see any enjoyable path forward for you unless you get a personal thrill out of doing enormous amounts of uncompensated work for long hours with the faint hope (but no promise) of future benefit.

If you like stability and a paycheck, take the new role. You can grow elsewhere.
posted by phunniemee at 3:17 AM on November 24 [6 favorites]

What often happens is either the place implodes messily or (if they have been ousted) a new broom comes in a makes radical changes. Either way, many of the good, competent people leave. You have a good offer, you should do the same.
posted by plonkee at 3:54 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]

Probably quite a long period of messy instability and uncertainty, with projects coming to a screeching halt. Maybe, if you’re lucky, great new management with good ideas who will in the long run improve the place, but getting there will be painful. But if you were already looking, and have an offer on the table that’s a positive move in all but title, I’d take it.

Disclaimer: I’m working out my notice period right now at a job where I am one of the first people fleeing the sinking ship after some terrible management issues. I know several other people are job hunting as well but I happened to find something first. I feel huge relief having made the decision and only regret that I dithered a while before doing it.
posted by Stacey at 4:05 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]

Side note I would read, in my industry, senior Associate as higher level than manager.
posted by chasles at 4:33 AM on November 24 [6 favorites]

Ask the new employer what your progression path would be. A large firm should have a clear idea of how they expect people to progress. Taking a small step back in the short term when you make a lateral move from small to a lot larger is often a blessing as you become operational in a new job within a much more regimented organisation but it should be clear how you’ll go up from there.
posted by koahiatamadl at 5:43 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

My experience is all U.S. based and specific to professional services. I can't tell from the question what the ownership structure is. If this is a consulting firm with a small group of partners who own the firm collectively, there is a lot of incentive for everyone to make the exit smooth to keep everyone financially whole. If it is a structure where the departing leadership don't have an ownership stake, then one risk is that they set up shop and pull over existing clients and maybe start poaching people from your current firm. I've seen that latter case happen twice in my career. In both cases, the eventual conclusion was a new, smaller firm competing against the original firm.
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 6:57 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

In my company, when leadership leaves, even lower level leadership, there's a ridiculous power struggle that makes work much harder until new leadership is hired or reshuffled into position.
posted by happy_cat at 7:14 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]

I just went through this. Senior leadership left, then all of the people that they were promoting/protecting in secondary leadership left, and then chaos ensued in which zero work could get approved and processes changed daily which made the managers in tertiary leadership insane, stressed and screamy. Not sure where you are in this organizational chart, but it wasn't fun for anyone. I'd take the lateral move. Titles are free, can you ask for a different title at the pay they are offering?
posted by Toddles at 7:59 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

If your industry is the sort to care about titles, they might also know your previous employer is having turmoil. Exiting at a good time to any sort of title can be seen as smarter than going down with a ship.
posted by nickggully at 8:41 AM on November 24

Are you ambitious? The Partner and the Managing Director's departures will create opportunities. Upheaval will create opportunities. If you're up for risk and possible reward, suit up and stay. If you'd rather not, then look around at other potential offers, and pack your office.
posted by theora55 at 8:49 AM on November 24

Depends on what you want in life. Do you want to run the company? Okay, you've got a (GIANT RED FLAG) leadership vacuum you can step into.

But as someone who just left a ship that wasn't quite sinking but was real fond of icebergs for a "soft" (non-billable, account management, but AI-proof) role with a 5% pay cut (but better benefits and so much time off I don't even know what to do with myself): TAKE THE OFFER.

You can even say later that you took the role not because of the title but because of the stability, and it's kind of a minor quibble that one company (a smaller one, right?) ranked the same job as Manager and another calls it Senior Associate because there's not room for everyone to be a Manager.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:08 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

I have former colleagues who have also put a slightly different version of their title on LinkedIn for roles where a former company called it something different than the industry standard. So even if the new company technically calls it senior associate, you could still later on, if/when you're job-hunting again, just say manager on your LinkedIn.
posted by limeonaire at 11:16 AM on November 24

Yeah i would take the offer unless all of the 3 following things are true:
1) There are well-respected people with a track record of success identified as replacements, who have expressed commitment and seem capable of achieving point 2,
2) There is a clear vision of where the firm is going and how it will be different from the current disaster,
3) You have some sort of emotional attachment and buy-in to going through some hard and confusing times, like if you strongly believe in the firm's important mission and can't stand to let it fail.

Seems unlikely, but it could happen.
posted by ctmf at 12:29 PM on November 24

Are you ambitious?

There's another idea for sure. i've leveraged numerous "taking over a dumpster fire" ahem... opportunities in my career and don't think i'd be where i am now without them. The trick isn't necessarily to save the ship, but to beat expectations under the spotlight. Maximize your networking in the new role. if people start thinking of you as [new title], going down fighting under unfair starting conditions, congratulations, you might have a [new title] job somewhere else next that you previously wouldn't have been thought of for.

it's tricky though, you can't whine about how it's not your fault all the time, but you also don't want to do this if everyone (external) is going to think it was fine before and you tanked it.

Bonus. there's a chance you might just be the genius who saves it, if you try hard enough.
posted by ctmf at 12:43 PM on November 24

A couple of large Canadian law firms just shrivelled up and blew away when their partners decided that work wasn't fun any more. The fallout was very messy, with large clients being left unsupported, and in some cases, losing their legal files.
posted by scruss at 12:53 PM on November 24