Female accountant boosts CFO’s status to partner and friend and is promoted to CFO
Marissa presents to my office complaining of stress secondary to a strained relationship with her work supervisor. Marissa is an accountant and has been with her company for 15 years and been promoted from a receptionist to an accountant to a supervisor. Over the past 15 years the company has grown from 5 employees to over 100 and during that time Marissa had become known as the jack of all trades in the company, someone the partners would entrust to manage a multitude of problems. Marissa's issues with the company began when the partners hired a new CFO, Barbara, to whom Marissa began to report, and whom Marissa described as “critical, dismissive, demanding and insecure.” Marissa adds that Barbara had become bitter after learning that she would not be promoted to a partner because she lacked the people skills to represent the company externally and as a result directed her anger and disappointment towards Marissa.
To exacerbate matters, the partners would surpass Barbara and go directly to Marissa with problems or concerns. Barbara was also aware that Marissa had been offered a partnership, but had turned the opportunity down because she has three children and had decided that she didn't want to work 70 - 80 hour work weeks which is common for the partners. Marissa is committed to the company and is at a loss in terms of how to deal with Barbara.
These were my recommendations to Marissa:
First, for Marissa to make it crystal clear to Barbara that Marissa was satisfied with her current position, had no interest in climbing the corporate ladder because her family was her priority. Also, I recommended that Melissa communicate to Barbara that Melissa was eager to not only learn from Barbara, but to help her meet her business objectives.
Secondly, I suggested that Marissa attempt to bond with Barbara by discussing the roles of wife and mother, roles which were shared by Barbara.
Thirdly, I suggested Marissa ask Barbara for a formal review to both empower Barbara and to provide Marissa the specific feedback she needed to meet Barbara’s expectations. In the event that Marissa didn't feel like she was being treated fairly or was being provided objective feedback in this evaluation process, I recommended that she request a partner participate in the process or read the evaluation for a second perspective.
Finally, I suggested that Marissa refer the partners to Barbara with their problems as a way to set appropriate boundaries, adhere to the chain of command and not provide Barbara additional ammunition to use against Melissa.
Marissa reported that the relationship between Barbara and herself improved immensely now that Barbara felt like Marissa was Barbara’s teammate and friend, that Barbara was now recognizing Marissa for her contributions to Barbara's department and the company, the partners were realizing the value Barbara was adding to the firm and Barbara was even confiding in Marissa regarding both business and personal matters. Ironically, Barbara was not only Marissa’s “partner” but she earned partnership with the company and Marissa accepted a final promotion to CFO only after negotiating a work week that would not exceed 45 hours.