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An HEJ listener wrote in with this question: How do I navigate maintaining and building relationships at my institution after a restructure that involved the elimination of my role and being offered another role at the institution with a pay cut? They added that the restructuring happened behind the scenes, at a high level of secrecy, which resulted in a loss of trust on their end. They're also trying to navigate themselves professionally in the workplace while still allowing themselves to process how everything unfolded. I sat down with Andy Hibel and Kelly Cherwin on the podcast to talk through it.

When I first looked at this, it sent me back to my own situation. A few things were different. I went through the DEI-related changes happening at universities. My job was eliminated. I was offered a new position, not with a pay cut, and not with the secrecy this listener mentions. But there was a lot of scrutiny going on broadly at the time. My supervisor "didn't want to do what she had to do," and she was trying to protect the employees, myself included, by realigning us under strange circumstances.

So that's where I'd start. What's actually meant by your employer's secrecy here? This person is due some transparency. I can understand the lack of trust and the disappointment too. Depending on what happened, there may be something real behind that. But first, the bigger question: how is this being managed, and is there a legitimate reason for your manager to stay quiet for a while?

An explanation is owed to this listener, and the place to start is with whoever communicated the decision, likely a direct supervisor, or in some cases a new manager stepping into the situation. Kelly asked me directly on the recording whether I meant this person should go to their supervisor or to HR, and honestly, it can be either, depending on how the decision was first communicated. I'd start simple: I'm disappointed, and I don't understand this. Can I know more? Why the restructuring, why the pay cut, are my duties different now, and is this happening to others too? If those questions don't get a satisfying answer, or if the trust just isn't there to ask a supervisor directly, HR or an ombuds office, if the institution has one, is the appropriate next step.

Andy gave some great advice when he explained that "trust is something that takes a lot to build," and even in good relationships "it needs to be built and rebuilt -- it doesn't just happen." Something like this, even if it works out fine eventually, "is going to feel like a violation of trust," which, in my experience, is fair to name. What I'd add: Don't expect the answers to fully fix that feeling. Andy added a similar thought as well: "To expect answers to give you any more satisfying of a feeling is probably not a reasonable expectation," and pushing for more than people are willing to give usually backfires.

Kelly raised the point that the goal is "trying to [be] professional and continue to show up," because being strategic beats reacting.

The worst thing you can do is move too fast. Give yourself time to process. Figure out how to manage the work in front of you. Ask short, direct questions. Get what you can. Then, separately, start thinking about the longer road: stay, or eventually go. Just don't decide that in the middle of a bad week. Talk to people outside of work, family, and friends. That's more private ground.

Andy also raised something worth passing along to institutions and employees. With his experience of 30 years in the higher ed sphere, he's heard employers treat losing good people as just "part of the cost of doing business." He pushed back on that, noting there's "a second hand effect" when restructuring is handled this way and that it signals to everyone watching that this could happen to them too.

If restructuring is done right, this doesn't have to define someone, not their standing, not their next move. Stay professional, ask honest questions, and give trust the time it needs. That's about the strongest spot this listener can put themselves in right now.

There's another side to this too. Stay tuned-- I'll share my take on how employers can handle these situations.

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