I’ve really messed up at work

Find them ways to save money.

It’s true I once sourced some free laptops for our families to use, my manager was really irritated with me

Wilfully obtuse 🙄 get a grip 🙄

When I was at the LA I found it disgusting how bloated the back end was whilst people like you and your colleagues were so under resourced. They could’ve easily cut 3 people from my team and still had manageable workloads - that saving would’ve been around £120k per year easily.

I wonder if the issue isn't what you said to your manager. It sounds like you were perfectly reasonable and your manager agreed with what you said. Maybe your manager was a bit overzealous and worded it poorly when raising it to their manager. Unfortunately you have no control over that. All you can do it try to tone it down when you speak to her yourself.

And everyone wonders why the public sector is struggling! I can not believe some of the responses on this thread 🤔

You said you have been there a year but that this responsibility of managing the team was new. So you’ve been the team manager for a year?

First of all it’s not for her to redistribute work like that. She can absolutely offer her capacity but it needs to go through manager or managers. If the manager doesn’t support it she shouldn’t go over her

second re improvement, efficiency and fulfilment- if you want efficiency and fulfilment from efficiency don’t go work in a public sector. Nevertheless I work in very fast paced and efficient private sector and I would not recommend taking over work of other people if you manager and their manager doesn’t support it

Is it? I think you’d be shocked if you knew how many posters agree with me.

your opening post literally says you are worried about being the fist to let go because of that.

also:

• you can’t just go around helping other departments- they may not like it and feel you are trying to take their job away from them. Many people are territorial and worry about losing their scope. Even in very efficient private sector it’s good etiquette not just barge into someone else’s scope
• Yes the manager may well be insecure but it’s silly to lament that because that’s the manager you have and you have to work with what you’ve got

OFGS just a little sweeping generalisation.

Ridiculous.

I don't think it's a public sector thing, bit a large organisation thing. I've mostly worked in the private sector, and I've been astounded by how little some people seem to work, when others are working their arses off.

Also i now work for an outsourcing organisation working on a support contract for another organisation. The contract has paid for 3 sys admins and 2 network engineers, so 3 sys admins and 2 network engineers there are, regardless of whether that many are still required, but the contract isn't up for renewal/renegotiation yet. Plus we might have ideas about improvements, but if the contract doesn't have funding to cover it, then you can't do it, even if iwould save money/time or otherwise improve efficiency.

I think tactically you’re much better to frame this sort of stuff about your own personal development rather than imply that everyone else is taking the piss (which must be what was happening if your processor did nothing and your own manager didn’t notice).

Your manager should be looking to develop you. If this isn't an option, it maybe in your interest to look for some appropriate courses or to shadow others and learn more

It's management like that giving public sector a bad name. Me and my colleagues are working extra hours every week and still not meeting targets because the level of work is unmanageable. It's pretty much the same for every social work team. I'm sure every school is underfunded too. Then there is waste like this.
The manager is probably intimidated by you. People who put themselves forward for more work and work efficiently and much more likely to be promoted. She'll be worried she has competition.

It sounds like you may not have full knowledge of what the role involves, you say you’ve worked there for a year but in multiple departments. Given how cut to the bare bones most departments are now, I personally think they’re concerned you’re putting a role at risk and will have crease workload for others that don’t have the capacity.

My predecessor in this role made it a full time role. It definitely isn’t

I don't suppose it is, OP, but this is all too common in the public sector and your highlighting it has brought into focus the predictable poor management

Other taxpayers may well thank you for that, but IME those doing the managing certainly won't - not when the real preference of too many runs to pointless meetings and whining

Im a cs. My role isnt fulfilling. I gave raised the lack of work only to have arsey responses.

The cs is so hierachical. If you say your role isn't enough work, they probably dont want theirs to be considered that too. They also do not appreciate anyone speaking up. And therefore start being unreasonable to the person who spoke up. Its rife.

Best thing that can do is stay strong. Ask them why they spoke as they did and challenge them. (Nicely). Worst thing is to shrink into the background and take back all you said. Imo.

Yes, in theory

I worked in one (private) place where somebody asked for some data analysis, and told me I also had to collect it. I was quite young at this time. I wasn’t yet understanding all the politics, so basically this senior person did didn’t know that the data was already collected in two different places. Frankly, in order to save myself some work, I told her. But it made her look bad because she had two other members of staff doing a job that she was then asking me to do.

I didn’t get in trouble. But I definitely interrupted her coasting, I guess. She couldn’t really argue with it when I said “ happy to analyse this data, but it’s already collect collected by two departments and all I need to do is merge that information and then analyse it”. She kept telling me she couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t paying enough attention to her own direct reports, basically.

I mean, yes, it went okay in the sense that she realised that I was actually a good efficient worker - to be honest, I think she had it in her head that I wasn’t that sharp? I don’t know maybe she just wasn’t paying attention.

But I was lucky that it worked for me. And going forward, I had a policy of thinking very carefully about saying stuff like this, especially if it exposes someone who is taking ages to do something that doesn’t take long.

Quit and go into retail. You'll be on your feet all day, as busy as you like, and shouted at for not doing the work of ten people in one. The minute it drops and becomes quiet, your hours will be cut and your weekly pay will crash through the floor. If you attempt to take on a second job to compensate for this, you will be told you must be fully flexible and available at all times, and threatened with being let go. The second job, of course, will treat you exactly the same as the first.

Seriously, OP, I understand your frustration but you don't know how lucky you have it. There are lot of posters who would bite your arm off for a job like that. It's better to be bored than sick with stress because you can't make rent again.

I agree with those who say you've made yourself a target for redundancy too. If I were you I would have just looked for a more stimulating role and got out without rocking the boat.

I guess it's because she thinks you've made her and others working there look bad/lazy. A lot of people like a slower less challenging pace and are attracted to the public sector for that reason.

Personally I'd prefer employees who are proactive and efficient but others won't like the uncomfortable contrast it shows up.

A few years ago a new lass joined our admin team straight from school. She was great - bright, hardworking, super efficient and organised. We (the lawyers) thought she was fantastic. Unfortunately her team members were pretty horrible to her with a very "who does she think she is" attitude. I think it showed up how little they got away with doing and they were angry about that. She left and found somewhere her talents were more welcome. Just a thought ...

My friend in the Civil Service got pulled aside for completing cases too quickly - not because of the quality of her work, that was all great - but because it was making everyone else look bad that she could complete triple the amount of work in a day and that it would then pressure the big bosses to raise targets. So now she only works 2/3 hours a day and dosses the rest of the time….

This is all to do with the culture in an organisation. I am a quick (and accurate) worker. I don’t expect people to be as quick but I do expect diligence and a willingness to learn.

I have never felt like being good and efficient has been anything other than welcomed (except at the local authority). Where I am now my role has just got bigger and bigger and I make efficiencies and take on more. When I leave they will likely need to replace me with more than one person but whilst I’m there then that’s fine.

A new team member worked on a new way to automate some month end reporting. Literally turned 2 days of work into 15 minutes. We’ve not cut her job, we just have more time to do new things.

Surely that’s why we have development plans?

@ohbuggera In any organisation, telling people that you can do something much faster than anyone else could is often a recipe for trouble

The only time it’s not as if they’re actively looking to make cuts. I had to learn this hard way. Also, if it was taking someone five days a week and now it takes you one day a week, you saying that undermines all the people support around the role.

People will panic about their own jobs that’s understandable. It sounds to me this is what you have unwittingly done.

Even in the private sector, I have been surprised at how alarmed people are but it’s because no one else spotted it, it might actually involve someone having to justify their job, blah blah

I’m going to guess that in the public sector that’s an even bigger deal. If it gets out that somebody made a full-time job out of something that can be done in a day, then presumably the whole department will be reviewed, or it should be for efficiency.

PP have mentioned “ a great swizz” -I would kill for one of those jobs. I think they are all buried in the public sector and I have no experience there, but I don’t know how I would find one. If anyone has tips, please share! All I want now is just to kill time and collect the pension.

People said that to me all the time when I was in the same position. It was utterly soul destroying.

I’m so glad to be out of it. I find people divide very equally along the ‘sounds like a great swizz - why are you complaining?’ and ‘sounds horrific’