To think £130 a month isn't worth the aggro

Agree with this.

If you stay on will you move up increments though and what is the difference between the highest grade in the current role compared to your previous? She sounds a complete pita. I work in local government and it's ridiculous they just never get rid of the worst people.

Management is not for everyone- mostly it is dealing with problems of one sort or another and is inherently more stress than simply delivering on a role. It is absolutely okay if this isn’t for you, but having one or more problematic employees is not unusual. Typically 1-2 people on my team taking up 80% of my time and mental energy at any given point in time- thankfully able to manage people out or manage people on in most instances so it isn’t the same people all the time.

I actually think, OP, there’s something so powerful and admirable in my view about someone having the decisiveness to walk away from something that is making us unhappy.

Do it OP. I realised my monthly increase split over each working day would buy me something like a sandwich. A sandwich for dealing with a load of shit every day, hundreds more emails every week and probably four times as many meetings.

I was in your position last year although I was getting an extra £400/mo. Still not worth the stress of dealing with someone like this. In my case the difficult person did actually work pretty hard, just only on the things they wanted to (which weren’t the things they should have been doing). I wasn’t their line manager but did direct their work and they didn’t like that I’d been promoted from their level. Refused to speak to me, except to undermine me in team meetings.

I also decided that life was too short for that kind of shit and stepped down. No regrets. The difficult person should have been fired years ago but we are also public sector and HR told us this person hadn’t done enough to get the sack. I debated raising a grievance but couldn’t face the process/stress.

You haven't failed, you've been put in a situation without the support you need to succeed.

Do what you need to do -- don't burn out, prioritising your own mental health is important.

Not worth it at all. Sounds frustrating and a hopeless situation. Just step down and enjoy life at work again. Let someone else step up. NB: they will also hate it.

absolutely not worth it.

education is just as bad.

Of course she can be fired, but it needs to be done legally. I’d make sure I did it.

I left a senior role in public service due to the stress involved in managing a particularly challenging staff member.
Kept me awake at night and I consider myself to be a strong person.
Sadly, there are difficult people in most organisations in varying extremes.
That's why a lot of people choose to stay away from management roles.
I fully appreciate that there are hardworking, straightforward people also and I have been fortunate to have worked with and managed these also.
Good luck OP
Stepping down is a sign of strength, not weakness

My DH’s best mate had a very similar situation in the public sector. The employee eventually lodged a grievance complaint against him, which was the start of 2 years of hell. He started losing hair from the stress, got a stomach ulcer… just horrendous. The complaint was eventually thrown out, but he says that he regrets not just stepping down from the role as soon as this guy started to get difficult.

Get out while you can OP, life’s too short. You can make that much money per week with a decent side hustle.

First post nails it!

Completely get it OP. CS myself and same situation. It depends on whether this is an interim step up to the next level or long term. If long term, knock it on the head now and go back to your substantive role. I’ve given myself 3 months, if no change I’ll be doing the same.

I agree that life is too short etc., but just wanted to point out that the more senior role will likely be better for your career in the long run (even this experience of managing someone difficult is beneficial for that). If you switch jobs you will be able to command a higher salary even if you're doing a lateral move as a manager in one role to a manager in another. Of course that isn't everything, and definitely not worth losing your mental health over, but it's worth thinking about your life beyond this job and into the next one.

Because they want money for nothing! Most people are fine at work. Then you have grifters like this

Nah. It's not failure to recognise when something isn't worth it.

Why are some people such a bloody nightmare?

Sounds like this colleague puts more energy into preempting why she shouldn’t be fired and documenting that everyone is out to get her instead of doing the job in hand. Very dangerous, very calculated.

I’d keep the additional salary and document to my manager the myriad ways this person isn’t manageable. This isn’t news if she’s been on two PIPs… they’re clearly only temporary reprieves. in short, I’d make this person the managers problem, especially if as you say other colleagues are threatening to leave. You and the organisation will soon have a much larger attrition problem. Make them see the urgency - if we can’t solve a problem like a Maria we will have Fred leaving, me stepping down as manager, Jane refusing to work on project xyz….

It’s not worth the hassle for that small salary change (can you negotiate?) but I do think at least you’ve got a voice and a seat at the table, and this person doesn’t deserve to derail your future career progression!

I had similar and eventually neither of us could work with each other. If you want promotion stick it out, but for 30 extra quid, I’d be looking somewhere else for the promotion, cheap bastards

I was just thinking this is why I’m so glad I didn’t get the post above mine - so much more shit for about £50 a month.

There must be a next stage beyond PIP. I suppose I would poke around the system to find someone in HR who knows what it is. I’ve been involved in sacking people in the NHS so it’s a myth that it can’t be done, but it does take persistence and a senior with guts (my Trust was run by a hard as nails HR director, she was terrifying).

Yeah and I mean looking at the longer term, treat this as a stepping stone, use the experience to push yourself forward and build resilience, if you feel you're strong enough and you're ambitious. Not everyone is. You don't have to make yourself miserable but if you look at it another way you may as well try to gain from it. That said, if there's no end in sight and you can't fire her I don't know what the answer is; but you could complain about HER harassment of you.

Use your temporary management post to job search into a higher paid senior role elsewhere. Use it as a springboard to elevate yourself upwards salary wise into another post.

No it's not. It's too long to spend it doing things that make you unhappy.