Just a vent, really, and hoping for wisdom from those who've been in the same position.
I'm happy to move into leadership roles at work but sometimes being a manager is just so grim. Like this week.
When you're a regular worker, you're just plugging along and assuming that others are, like you, doing their best.
When you're a manager you're sitting there explaining to a grown man that he can't just sneak away from his desk and take a nap in the closet for three hours. I only found out when the secretary admitted it to me. And then have him sit there and play it all reasonable like "Well I wasn't feeling well that day". (And yes we did the whole "If you're unwell and need support you can always come to us etc.") He's not hitting targets and evidently this has been happening for months.
Of course I have the tools and the support of upper management to deal with this and I am (warning, PIP). But it's just that disheartening feeling of having a colleague being disingenuous.
And there was me like a chump pointing out over the last few months: "Yeah you're still not hitting targets, how can we streamline your work?"
And please please can we not have a bunch of speculative armchair diagnoses. I appreciate that he could have all manner of issues and difficulties but we're a progressive office and I'm a Nice Lady and it's on him to tell us and say what support he needs. Not sneak off and ask our secretary to cover for him.