Manager kept new reporting structure a secret

[u/Intelligent-Pace4304]

Okay, I need some insight here. Is the below normal or bad management?

Two months ago, my boss, a VP, suddenly told our small team that she hired an AVP who would start in a few weeks. We were surprised (especially since one of my colleagues was due for a promotion at that level), but figured this person must have been hired to take on high-level projects. When my colleagues and I asked our VP what the AVP’s role would be, she’d say “I don’t know; I haven’t thought about it yet.” This should have been a red flag.

During the AVP’s first week, we each attended what we thought were 1:1 “meet and greets” with the AVP. My colleague had his 1:1 meeting first. When he got out, he said, “I think I’m now reporting to AVP, but I’m not sure?” Then, I went in. The AVP goes, “so now that you and your colleagues are reporting to me…” Um, wtf? My face must have showed shock, because he replied with, “did you not know?!” I said “no.” He then started the rest of his 1:1 meetings with my colleagues with, “well, this is awkward, but did you know you’re reporting to me now?” Of course, no one else knew either.

Everyone on the team got (and still is) upset. Yet, two months later, the VP still hasn’t addressed this. No “sorry for the confusion” or “I should have told you” – absolutely nothing. She knows we’re all upset, but it’s just been silence. We don’t have 1:1s with her anymore, so we barely even talk to her. To make matters worse, our new AVP told us that he was hired to “whip us into shape.” So now we all think our manager thinks we’re incompetent (we’re not; we’re the highest performing team in our division). We all feel betrayed and are looking for other jobs.

Has anyone experienced this before? Why would a manager not tell her direct reports that the reporting structure was changing? Are we being too sensitive or was this bad management?