What About Lateral Moves?
by Barbara Reinhold

DEAR COACH: I've been in the food business for about eight years, and we've just been acquired by a major competitor. Yesterday, my VP told me I was being transferred to another unit to make room for a team from the acquiring company. I'll keep the same salary, but I will have only one direct report, and I'll be doing different work. They say it's a lateral move, and I should be glad to still have a job.

But I'm getting lots of conflicting advice. One friend who's being let go is telling me to get out while I can and to ask for a package of some kind, because a lateral move is the kiss of death. He says my career here is effectively over, or they would not have suggested this move.

My husband, who survived a layoff a few years ago, is telling me to hold on for dear life and use this opportunity to demonstrate my skills in the new unit. We've just bought a new house, and the time is not right for us to try to live on less money. I must admit I am apprehensive about the new job because the VP to whom I'd report is known to enjoy chewing up employees. I'm not sure I want to put myself through that to stay here, particularly since I don't know what this company is anymore. My career is an important part of my life, and I don't want to make a wrong move.

What do you think? Is a lateral move the end of the road? Should I go or stay?

JANICE

DEAR JANICE: It's hard to know what all this means, but somebody in your old company seems to want you around long enough to be noticed as a strong employee. Is there anybody with knowledge of the situation to whom you could go for confidential advice about what this shift really means for your future with this organization? I suspect the politics were hard to fight, and if this acquisition is like most, the outcomes won't be known for awhile. It will be helpful to have a mentor.

You might want to dust off your old anthropology and sociology notes and observe what goes down as folks from these two formerly competitive cultures, which are probably very different, try to become one big happy family. Some careers will be made and many will be lost in the culture wars that will no doubt ensue. So watch for opportunities to move in the direction things seem to be going. Remember the great John Naisbett line: "Trends are like horses; they're easier to ride in the direction they're already going." Never is this truer than when you're trying to figure out how to behave in a new situation.

Lateral moves don't have to be a kiss of death in a corporate career. Many times they're a reasonable holding pattern while you wait to see how the leadership roles and promotion potential will fall out. You just have to watch carefully for the right moment to ask the new leadership about the role they see for you in the new organization.

This is also a good time to look at what else is out there. Many of my clients have told me that a reorganization allowed them to see that they wanted to be doing something else, and then they were able to go after it. So ask yourself some hard questions during this time. You could do that if you took your friend's advice and tried to get a package, but you don't sound like you're itching to leave, and I'm a little wary his advice might be contaminated with his being laid off.

So don't panic, but be on the watch for which people and units seem to be accruing clout in the new "family." Most of all, view this as a strategic challenge, not an affront to your ego, and you could profit from the experience. See what opportunities appear in the next six months. I've seen situations like this work out really well.

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