Hi Zerina

Those who shout the loudest that they 'deserve' to have a highfalutin' job title are usually the very least-deserving of nurturing re remuneration etc!

Re removing a 'promotion' from normal career progression , best to reassure everyone that removal of a level in the structure won't usually / necessarily result in lesser financial reward (and make sure you act upon this undertaking!) - if it does in certain cases result in slower progression, then so be it - overall, the rationalisation is probably still inherently a lot more cost-effective than the previous structure.

What was the reason and rationale for these changes in the first place and how much were they top down or bottom up?

Its not much of a reorganization is it really? Most staff just get a new job title.

BUT if you were in one of the two lower grades I can well see why you might be unhappy/very unhappy unless there was a strong communication exercise and need to do this. As a "senior Analyst" I am now back lumped with the "junior" analysts. And as you say the "juniors" no longer will receive such attractive terms on progression (and I personally wouldn't see it all being to do with salary. Often people like to get promoted to validate their progression and status. Its something Consultancy businesses do well

So it will rather come back to why you did it and whats in it for the troops?

Has anyone had similar experience and how did you manage it?

Yes, and by (1) consulting people on the changes *before* they happened and (2) making sure the changes were meaningful and consistent with changes in KPIs rather than fancy window dressing. Obviously, we only have the information you've given us, Zerina, and I'm sure there was more to it, but from here it looks like you inserted the word "Solution" into everyone's job title and then replaced the functional "Analyst" title with the laborious "Associate Solution Consultant", which is a bit like re-branding "white" as "pale chalk in moonlight" but with the addition of meaningless business buzzwords.

Obviously they are thinking about salaries as they would have that promotion jump from Analyst to Senior Analyst but under the current level they just receive usual merit increases or increases that are not as high as they would be if it was case of promotion.

I would refer you to my previous answer. You've (forgive me, I'm sure it's not you personally) told a group of people that they aren't going to get the promotions (and salary increases) they were looking forward to and you're wondering why they're unhappy.

There's no magic bullet to fix this. The horse has bolted. Unless, that is, all of these changes are yet to happen. In which case, wind it back and think again.

In reply to Keith:

Hi Keith, thank you for your reply. This came from our HQ in the US as they wanted to align job titles globally hence why we had to go through this.

In reply to Robey:

Hi Robey, thanks for your reply. This came from our HQ in the USA as they wanted to align job titles globally. We did have a consultation with each employee and at that point there were no concerns. We are in process of annual reviews/pay increases at the moment and this popped up. Previously we has salary band for Analyst and Senior Analyst which we combined for Associate Solution role do the salary band for this role expanded. But i guess its hard to justify to the business why are we giving someone large increase if they are not being promoted so this is where it gets tricky. I completely understand why our employees are feeling frustrated and wanted to see if there was anything i could do or suggest to the business to make this better for our employees.

In reply to Zerina:

Ah, the US. I can imagine the next step up to be V-P (EMEA) Solutions.

Sorry... not very helpful.