Is it normal for hiring manager to reach out to your boss at same company when they haven't made a formal offer?

Question

Just caught up with a friend and wanted to get more takes on this.

Friend (Bob) - high level position at his company (director level more or less). Was hired into current group with the promise of taking over. The VP over his group was set to retire. She told him she would start going over the VP role and hand over things to him...

Well 1 year later he has been doing 2-3 jobs at once, the VP has delayed retirement, hasn't hired anyone to help out in other areas (down 3-4 staff), and the VP is considered blatantly rude/not-a-people-person to almost all staff.

To make matters worse there is a new executive VP over the whole division. This person already recognizes Bob is a key person but Bob is not their person and they want to make a big splash. They have already announced a "global recruitment" for the position and yea Bob will get his obligatory interview but no way is he getting the job.

So Bob applies for a higher level director job in another group in company. More than qualified and group sent him through interviews and called him back yesterday...

But says hey we need to reach out to your boss before we go forward with hiring you.

What? Yes I have seen almost everything but a position that high and Bob doesn't even get a $$ amount or really anything other than Bob knows that the group wants them working for them.

Bob has been tasked with reaching out to his boss before they call her. The boss will flip her lid as she probably doesn't care about Bob or his long-term position with the group but like I said Bob has been doing 2-3 other roles they haven't hired for - and Bob is so good they really will have to hire 2 more people on top of replacing him. She's going to look bad and she's got a TON more work on her schedule if he leaves.

That being said... Should Bob reach out to current boss before getting a formal offer? Is it normal at a company that this would happen?

Answer 1

Yes, it's not only normal, but Bob should have let his boss know prior that he was looking for other positions within the organization. It's very typical and considered a sign of executive maturity to inform your leader.

In a lot of companies (including ours), the direct manager gets an email already letting them know that the employee has applied for another position. When the other manager comes to me for feedback, I respond "this candidate did not inform me that he was looking. Take it to mean what you think it means," essentially calling into question this employee's executive maturity.

Finally, for a lot of organizations, especially above entry level individual contributors and entry level managers, hiring from within generally, it's often expected that there is a recommendation from the direct manager before we get to extending offers/negotiating salary.

Answer 2

Yes, especially for higher level positions

As you point out, this generally puts the job seeker in a bad position where they essentially have to tell their boss they are job searching and ask for a reference even if the boss will flip out.

Bob's boss might flip-out, but if the company will reach out to her anyway, it's probably better she get the heads up. Even if he withdraws his candidacy, she might hear about Bob's job hunt through her network.

The best course of action is for Bob to have a 1:1 meeting with her and explain he's near the end of a job search and the new company will contact her. It's surprisingly common for high-level leadership positions that your new division/company will talk to your current boss. Hopefully she's been in the situation before and will not react super badly.

EDIT

As for the why - the most common reason I've heard is your new boss wants someone at their level whom you have worked with recently to give a recommendation.

The new company/division wants to see that you're successful in your current role and get along with your manager well. Of course, people who are successful and like their manager don't generally go job hunting. On the flip side, most job hunters either don't like their manager or aren't successful in their job - sometimes for reasons outside their control.

Fortunately, there are companies that don't have to talk to your current boss. The good news is usually you can be upfront your boss doesn't know your looking.

Answer 3

Bob has not shown much wisdom here.

There is an old saying "Don't be irreplaceable, if you cannot be replaced, you will not be promoted."

Yes, this is normal, it is standard, and Bob's position is weak at best, untenable at worst. If Bob is doing the work of three people, and another division poaches him from his current boss, they will look bad for having undercut another department.

He's made two critical mistakes within the company

• He did the work of 3 people without getting recognition or compensation.
• He circumvented the hierarchy of the organization.

Instead of reaching out to his boss, Bob should be polishing his resume. He's done at this organization, he just doesn't know it yet.