I'm the only person in my department other than a part time admin support person. It's a fairly new dept which has been very tough to integrate into the organisation and even now there's still a lot to get sorted and refine in addition to the actual work we have to do. We did have a second person for about 9 months. When they left my organisation knew they wanted to replace them but dithered for 9 months, meaning we could have been in a much better position right now than we are. New person is now starting next week.
I get mixed messages from senior leaders about where they see my role being, one minute they're talking about me taking on line management in my dept, the next they're saying I'll be reporting to someone else (as in they'll be adding an extra layer of management between my role and my current manager), the next they don't know. They don't bother keeping me up to date with any of it or seeking my input. I hear about everything once its done.
My own manager seems to have lost interest in putting in regular catch ups with me and has actually said recently he has too much to think about and my department is too much to think about right now so I'll hear from him a bit less. My department is absolutely integral to the huge projects this organisation has going on. They cannot be done without my team. So that was weird.
My own development takes a backseat and no one really engages with me on it. Even in review meetings we hardly talk about it, or if we do my manager never ever follows up to see where I am with what we discussed which makes me think why bother when I'm busy anyway
I feel like I'm a bit taken for granted, but also ignored when I give my input and expertise. My manager complains I don't touch base with them enough, but I don't know what they expect when they're indicating they're too busy for me.
Which brings me to my question. From an outside POV is there a future here for me? In general I like this job, I like the benefits, the pay's ok, its secure, its really convenient, I like my colleagues. A huge part of me wants to stay.
I've been offered another job and it's fine but its a lateral move and to a much busier job for only a little more pay and it wouldn't ordinarily be enough to sway me to move from a secure role, but I'm thinking maybe I should just do it if I get the offer. I'm also very nervous about arranging this since the offer is dependent on a reference from my current employer and I'd be leaving at a terrible time.