Secondment position not going well but too embarrassed to go back early - wwyd

[LadyInside]

3 months ago I applied for a job above my current grade and they offered me a secondment for 12 months. I was so happy and determined to do well. Most people don’t go back after a secondment and my department gave me presents, decorated my desk, leaving meal etc.

Unfortunately it’s not been going well. I’ve always been a top performer, but here I’m being told the quality in my work is lacking. It’s a completely different area and I’m struggling to deliver what they want in the way they want it.

My approach when they explain a task to me is to try and understand it and then to have a go. I will then make improvements after receiving feedback. However my manager is now saying she’s surprised that I wait for feedback to be given on tasks and I should be contacting her multiple times a day to ask for direction instead. I find this idea a bit weird. I’ve never interacted with a manager that much before and it would have been frowned on in my previous roles.

In my previous role I was able to just get on with my work and there would usually only be a 10 min meeting in the morning with the TM to discuss workloads. I’m not used to and don’t really want constant interaction throughout the day.

I’m also struggling with the deadlines. For example I was contacted at 12:30 and asked to do some PowerPoint slides by 3pm the same day. I missed my lunch in order to deliver this and was then told by the colleague and my manager that the tweaks had been necessary on my slides due to the quality. I’m not a graphic designer and designing PowerPoints isn’t a part of my actual job! They hadn’t even asked if I knew how to do it. This is just 1 example and I’ve never had so much negative feedback before. I really am trying my best and doesn’t seem good enough.

I could technically go back to my previous role early, but it would be so embarrassing. I don’t want to go back there at all and there will definitely by some teasing if I go back after 3 months. Is this sort of thing usual in a more senior role? Constant negative feedback is denting my confidence.

You ask your secondment team for support. Presumably they employed you knowing your experience levels and that you may require some degree of training? So ask for it.

Have they actually used the phrase "the quality of your work is lacking?" Or is that just your perception of it?

Tweaks on a PowerPoint doesn't sound too bad tbh. What did they actually change on it?

yes, ask gor support.
maybe look at a training catalogue for skills that might benefit you.
there is no shame in stepping back from a secondment.

however, I havd not worked in any place where a good basic grasp of office programmes including power point was expected.

It doesn’t sound like constant negative feedback to me, though I appreciate you’re receiving it that way. Yes in a more senior role, I would expect the style of work they’re saying - collaborative, and much more engagement. With a more junior role, I would expect the dynamic you describe of ask-do-feedback. You see that as a feedback loop, I see it as senior leadership team engagement. With a PowerPoint, I would have put it in a shared area or shared it off my OneDrive and done a basic set and allowed them to look at it while I refined it, especially because it is urgent and short timeline. I can understand their frustration if you’re in a senior leadership role and not communicating for hours and then they get something they feel they can’t use.

No one has said you shouldn’t do the role. The interactions haven’t been extreme. You’ve only been there 3months. It’s a 12 month secondment to try it out. Don’t expect to feel comfortable during that 12 months, it is a stretch, that is why they gave you a secondment rather than the job permanently. You need to give it the 12 months. If you’re given the role permanently, don’t expect to feel as comfortable as you did in your old role until end of 24 months.

I think you should stay in the role. You are growing. It will be uncomfortable! Change your mindset and attitude to the “feedback” you’re getting. They say if you start a new role and don’t feel out of your depth for 6 months at least, you hold have gone higher. And enjoy the process!

This is growing pains - I would stick it out if I were you. You should be thinking of questions, and tapping into your manager. This is a great opportunity to constantly learn off someone and be coached. Being left to your own devices is great for a bit but how are you meant to grow? I would ask the team for PPT training, and any other training. If you don’t have a line manager/mentor ask for one so your can feedback how much it is different but you are keen to learn. Also don’t see it as negative feedback, see it as an opp to learn a different way of working. Its difficult and painful but with the right support and mindset you can succeed. Like pp, you must have the right potential if they chose you for the job. Good luck!

I can understand their frustration if you’re in a senior leadership role and not communicating for hours and then they get something they feel they can’t use.

I think this hits the nail on the head. It sounds like there have been times when you have spent hours on a task and it has then turned out to be wide of the mark, so your manager wants you to check in with her at an earlier stage in the task to check that you are proceeding along the right lines. If that's what she wants then you need to go with that.

This stood out for me too. I’d be really unimpressed if someone didn’t ask for guidance but waited for feedback to fix something. In the early days it’s much better to check progress as you go rather than complete and give a poor effort.

im curious why you are reticent to do so? You are not as experienced in this role to be able to just do it, it’s far too early.

Trying to understand it and have a go is the wrong approach. If you don't understand the task you've been asked to do, you need to ask for clarification.

You didn't need to check in all the time in your previous role because you knew what you were doing. You don't in this role. It's inefficient for you to complete tasks incorrectly and then have to redo them.

For the ppt stuff, do you know what you'd done wrong? Can you ask for further training?

Thank you for the comments.

I’m happy to start checking in at earlier stages and I can see the reasoning behind it now. No one told me this was expected and then I felt like I was being told off for not doing so.

The PowerPoint stuff was to do with formatting and making it look more professional. I have done them before but I’m not brilliant at it. It is something I can train on going forward.

I really want to do well and I’m honestly not a sensitive person with feedback. I just feel stupid and incompetent right now.

It's not uncommon for secondments to be badly managed. Stick at it, OP.

I would go in on Monday morning and ask for a meeting with your boss and for more guidance on how she would like you to work. Tell her you really want this secondment to be a success and you would really appreciate her support to help you do that.

You're not stupid and incompetent but if you can't do something, you need to tell them rather than muddling through which is what it sounds like you've been doing.

And I agree it doesn't sound like it's been well managed at all. Have they have many other secondees? Ours are offered a huge amount of support and we don't assume any existing knowledge.

I really want to do well and I’m honestly not a sensitive person with feedback. I just feel stupid and incompetent right now.

I think sometimes the issue can be that a way of working that goes down well with Manager A may not suit Manager B, eg Manager A may want you to get on and produce a first draft without interrupting her with questions during her working day. Manager B might prefer more interruptions in the interests of getting a draft that requires minimal amendment. So a key element of succeeding in a role is to work out how your particular manager likes to work.