To feel belittled at work

[Homedeco]

I’m 24, have 6 years of work experience in financial analysis and retail management, and a psychology degree.

I currently work in a job centre and the work I conduct is easier than any job I’ve had before. My previous manager was invested in my development. I led on 2 areas in the job centre & was deputy, so line manager in his absence.

New manager joined a month ago and has asked me to stop leading in all areas and has told me to just conduct normal job centre tasks. She said my lead areas aren’t a priority & that I’m too young to be the deputy. She shows zero interest in me - she’ll say hello to the others on the team and ask about their lives, but she only talks to me about work. Aibu to feel pushed out? It’s odd going from excelling at work to being irrelevant

Actually thinking about it, the professional way to deal with this is send manager a list of the duties you have been fulfilling in your deputy role. Ask how she wants them handled going forward.

People work part-time when studying, sometimes they don't just do it for the money, like just doing the minimum etc, some do enjoy it and excel at it. even in a part time environment.

Your previous manager delegated work to you including going to meetings for them that your new manager doesn't want to delegate to anyone yet. This is very common when a new manager comes in.

Unfortunately for you unless the duties that were delegated to you were added to your contract or you were officially promoted then having these extra duties taken away from you is reasonable thing for them to do, though a better manager would have explained this to you in a kinder way.
The thing is you come across as very self assured which can be mistaken for arrogance and if you've spoken about your new manager vs your old to anyone at work or within hearing distance of your colleagues it will have gotten back to the new manager. This will not endear you to them. The thing is at 24 you don't have the life experience to understand that no 2 managers are the same and that any unofficial extra duties that may be given can be removed just as easily with no reason (which sucks). Take this as a learning opportunity and either find a way to work with your new manager or find a new job

Why didn’t you get the manager job when your old manager left if you were the deputy?

I went to uni in London so worked in retail whilst studying to afford life - I was promoted to manager by graduation.

I haven’t been gossiping about her. I learnt those lessons when I was in retail. This situation is more embarrassing for me than anything bad about her, so I get nothing out of discussing this with colleagues…

Weirdly the same situation happened to her - she was asked to lead a new initiative, which was given to another manager a few weeks after. At least no one has taken over the areas I lead, I think that would be more embarrassing. I think those of you saying she might have had a difficult career journey herself are probably right,

I can’t offer you legal advice but one of my majors was in employment law in the context of the Equality Act and I currently work in DEI as a voluntary role so I understand this area.

Treating you differently because of your age is likely to be found flag raging unlawful by a tribunal and you could raise this complaint. However the stress and sleepless nights and potential expense of this are unlikely to BR worth it.

Your new manager is clearly just jealous of your level of competency at ‘your age’. As you say, she has a daughter your age and she can’t take it. There are a thousand versions of this manager in jobs all over the country unfortunately. Don’t take it personally.

Quietly polish up your CV, use any spare time to polish up any skills you need to progress, and get in touch with a few recruiters. Move on to somewhere where you are appreciated. X

The vacancy didn’t need filling. All the managers were initially hired on fixed term contracts. They all had to reapply for their jobs again when the contract ended. My old manager was successful and assigned to a different office and this manager was assigned this office. I managed the team during the transition but it was pretty much a direct swap.

Thank you all for your support by the way. Given me the boost I needed to head into work shortly 😊ultimately this is a stop gap job for me and the experience will be useful to help me get into my dream role x

She sounds insecure and frightened you want her job. Look for another job , you will never get anywhere with a bad manager like this, I have experienced several bad bosses like this. Good luck!

yes i wonder the same

I think working for DWP you’ve definitely got a leg to stand on considering how into their equality and diversity they are. I think you should really make a complaint especially stating how you feel belittled.

Aspersions 😄

Have you discussed this with your SEO? Is your SEO on site? Do you have a PDP?

IKR 🙃

I also happened to be a Work Coach at the Jobcentre when I was 24. My personal experience is that people hang around the CS for a long time- there is an entrenched culture, especially within the more service/operational delivery branches of the service. I do believe there is an element of suscipicion towards new/younger people, especially ones with degrees who are quite ambitious. You will find many people at AO/EO/HEO have been in those roles for many many years and do not want people to rock the boat. The fact they are saying you are too young to deputise sums up this mentality- it means they think you haven't been around long enough and therefore its not your turn yet.

However, I would add a few thoughts just based on my own knowledge of JCP. Managers are under targets from their own managers and in turn their managers etc (team leader < office manager < area manager etc etc) and the targets will change depending on the current flavour of the month and what someone at the top is prioritising. I would try not to take it to heart. Prioritise change and workloads will shift- sometimes quite rapidly- accordingly.

When of the best bits of advice I got was "noone cares as much about your development as yourself" I.e its great if you have a manager pushing you, but really you need to seek your own development. Use downtime to volunteer or do learning etc.

I eventually moved on into policy and up several grades, but I valued my time at JCP. Dont take things personally, sometimes people do just want to go to work to work and not build personal relationships. If you pushed yourself and you have the ambition, there is nothing stopping you from applying for HEO roles. Until then just soak up the experience.

Did she actually use the words too young or did she use other words, Ie lack experience

she wants you to focus on rhe day job ,,for the rest if someone asks something then Just say it’s not your job and to ask manager

is this your first job post graduation?

Ok she has come in and is working hard to establish herself and position within the team; meanwhile everyone is gravitating towards you so she feels undermined.

If she was a good manager she would work more collaboratively with you but she's taken this approach till she is more secure in her role.

Just do what she asks and when 'leading' work falls to you redirect the person to her.