Probation has been extended! Help !

[Sparkleypants]

I previously worked as a teacher. After twins I took 18 months out and decided to take a new role as a social work assistant.

The role is Less money but less stress and it means no planning and marking all evening and weekend. I have been in the role 6 months.

I have had some emotional wobbles in the role and been honest with my boss that I miss my children , feel slightly guilty now they’re in Nursery .
Once I said I was going to leave and they asked me to consider part time . Then I said I was struggling with the driving involved across the county. On reflection my first 6 months has been emotionally charged and I shouldn’t have shared this with my boss !

I have taken on a huge case load and been proactive and worked bloody hard. I have forged good bonds with my clients and coworker I belive and have been given a lot of responsibility. I haven’t been off once and have stayed late and taught myself a lot ( little training !)

I have just been told - they are going to extend my 6 month probation as they need to know I am capable of fulfilling all of the role and they have some concerns about my admin . This admin has never once been raised before. I am shocked.

On reflection I shouldn’t have shared so many of my worries during my supervision and I should have remembered my boss is my boss and not a friend . I can understand maybe they are concerned about my commitment as I did say I was leaving once and said I miss my chicken etc but I was shocked by the comments about the admin.
I’ve spent hours checking all my reports . Ironically they have just added more clients to my case load.
If they are extending my probation- why would they give me more work if they aren’t sure about my ability?

So what do I do ?
Look for another role as I’ll probably be sacked?

Share nothing with my boss that questions my commitment .

I was so shocked as the meeting was just put in my diary as a catch up so it caught me off guard. I just smiled and said okay and didn’t ask any questions after I was just told.

I have taken a 15k pay cut for this role from teaching. I was a good teacher but thought I’d try a new carer as teaching was so stressful but seems I’m not great at it ! 😭

So - my probation has been extended .AIBU to be gutted !

What questions should I ask my boss ? My fear is I’ll be made redundant without any notice in few months.

Did you have a mid term probation review? Do you have regular 1:1s with your boss? Nothing raised at your probation should come as a surprise so the onus is on your employer here.

How long has it been extended for? Has this been followed up by anything in writing?

There's a lot of unnecessary detail here.

On the face of it it doesn't seem unreasonable to extend your probation but unless they've raised issues necessitating a PIP I wouldn't be too concerned and would think you're unlikely to be sacked.

Ask for their specific concerns in writing and ask how you can improve. Don't overshare with your manager. Get your head down and learn as much as you can.

I'm a former teacher who had to navigate a different path when I went to work in criminal justice and drug intervention.

Can you ask for a follow up meeting and ask them to explain what capability of fulfilling role looks like and what are concerns re admin. Follow up in writing. You need specifics so you can work on it and support and training. They should also do regular reviews so you know if you are on right lines.
You’ve identified you have over shared, be professional from now on with boss. I wonder if you have lacked confidence so have run everything past boss rather than trusting judgement so they are concerned you can’t do role without a hand hold.

i think the level of detail shows you maybe overshare a lot and struggle with appropriate communication.

saying you’re leaving when you aren’t,saying you don’t like commuting, saying you don’t like being away from child is really a lot in a new job.

personally if yoh wish to keep your role knuckle down and be professional

Thanks all. I hear you. Since having the twins I have lacked confidence and I have not been anywhere near as ‘professional ‘ in this role as I was before.
i will definitely follow up on writing so I can see exactly what needs to be improved and then go about getting on with it .
I hate the term baby brain but it appears I returned to work with it. Hopefully I have now learned a lesson and can start a new professional approach.

Have they elaborated on the issues with your admin and what you need to do to fulfil the criteria?

I do think it's a bit odd that they've never mentioned it as an issue and suddenly it's the reason for extending probation. Reading between the lines they might be wary of the doubts you have voiced and might be worried that you could take spells of sick leave for stress and anxiety and/or ask for your role to be cut down/adapted to for better with your family situation, both those are a headache for an employer. Of course they can't actually say any of that! So another 6 months might be too see if you need a bit more time to settle into the role (or not).

Of course as you've been employed less than 2 years they can let you go at any time for any reason (or no reason) but it's a lot less awkward to just let someone go for not passing probation.

Hopefully they are just throwing you a lifeline to prove yourself (and prove you can cope overall). The fact that they are increasing your caseload shows trust in you and your abilities.

Good luck, it's tough returning to work and putting small children in nursery (ask me how I know ... no regrets though!)

You need to understand specifically what needs to improve admin wise .

Work colleagues aren’t true friends .

Also this is a learning curve. You said it yourself you were good at your previous job - you are now learning a completely different skill.

As for specific guidance . You absolutely can do this

@Sparkleypants Look for another role as I’ll probably be sacked?

Yes, I was working in a place where my probation was extended. What I found later from the friends I made there is that they didn't need my position and it was just an excuse.

Agree with PP just ask for a follow up meeting to address concerns with the admin, ask for specific examples (eg if something was late, how late, how much of your work is late, what are the timescales it should have been completed in, if you were waiting for someone else what should you do in that situation in the future etc. Ask why this wasn't raised in the 6 months. Ask for regular formal feedback in the review period so you can address any other concerns more quickly
Etc

I don't think your ability is in question. It sounds as though they might have some concerns about your emotional well being and professional boundaries in what is a stressful and demanding role where you've had to adjust a fair bit at a time of change in your life. I wonder too if your induction wasn't very good. I asked for some shadowing experience to get on top of admin and procedure and it made a real difference to my confidence. I came on leaps and bounds after that.

I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck.

If they have concerns re your admin they need to explain what the concerns are, what they have done to support you with this area of concern and what you’re being measured against.

I wouldn’t overly worry about losing your job in the future if the next few months are calmer. I would bet a lot of money they are scared that if you are made permanent now, you are at risk of going off sick with stress and they will need to pay you a full wage for being at home for a long time. This seems to be such an issue in the public sector, as you are probably aware as an ex teacher! All the talk of maybe leaving, missing children etc will have made them nervous. If you are more positive from now, hopefully it will be fine

How often are your supervisions? Emotional wellbeing of the supervisee is part of a supervision meeting but I wouldn't expect someone to be telling me all the ins and outs of their lives. Follow problem-solution formula. I.e. "I have recently been struggling with driving long distance. I am considering planning my visits so they are clustered in the same geographical area for the day" or "I found that I feel guilty for having my children in a nursery. I planned to spend more time with them over the weekend and drop a shift a week so that I can be more focused in work" Short, sweet, to the point and not making your boss solve your personal issues.
Re admin, yes, you should have been aware throughout your probation but, equally, I would be unimpressed if after receiving the feedback, you decided just to take it and leave without asking follow up questions or how you could improve.
Overall, it sounds as though you are struggling in the job. Were you really surprised your probation was extended? I am not sure how much I would worry about them letting you go. I imagine, it's quite hard to find people queueing up for this type of jobs. However, I think you need to consider whether this is really right for you. And if yes, what steps you are going to take to deal with the issues and pass your probation.

Are you in a children's team? Everything is stressful in children's at the moment. Can you move to an adult safeguarding team?

I’m in a probation extension at the moment and I won’t lie, it sucks 😢 However, I’ve actually had a promotion in that time so they can’t think I’m that bad. Just look upon this as a little more time to get more experience, you’ll be fine.

Ask for some very specific learning points and ask to meet with your line manager weekly. Send her a weekly round up of everything you’ve done. Split it up into BAU, learning and ‘other’. Other includes conversations you’ve had with people, meetings that you’ve had that aren’t BAU and project work (anything really)

At your weekly meetings, ask her if there’s anything that you’ve done/not done that week that you should have done/not done. If you’re feeling bold, request feedback from colleagues about your performance.

You've been in the role six months and have already told them you were considering leaving, were given an option to consider part time and have complained about the distances involved driving. Why were you not expecting probation to be extended? If your admin is falling short they are giving you a chance to meet expectations, they could have easily said they didn't think this was the right position for you from your own feedback on the job.

Edit spelling

I think you need to gather evidence for all the points they have raised and used to extend your probation and ask for a formal review with your manager. As pp say, nothing in your 121s should come as a surprise as your manager should be actually managing you!

For a start, what does "concerns about admin" actually mean? If this was an issue why wasn't it raised before? You can't be expected to address a situation if you're not aware of it!

I'm a social worker, many social workers talk about leaving due to stress so I doubt that would be held against you as a social work assistant.
Admin is very important, particularly in children's. There are statutory timescales for things. There may have been an assumption you knew about the timescales. Have you been getting everything recorded within 24 hours? Are the files clear so that if a case was picked up on duty the duty worker would know how to approach it? Are recordings child/person centred? It might be worth looking at the authorities policies and procedures and you need to have a chat with your manager to have some clarity on what their concerns are and how you can improve

Please don't be offended by this, I cant stand people who come on here who correct peoples punctuation and spelling......simply because you've asked on here I am just pointing out what I see. Could it be to do with your actual admin/punctuation etc? Like all of the spaces before the punctuation is not correct, are there other issues like that where they feel it's unacceptable? I mean really that would seem insane to extend your probation because of this, you need to ask them.

Could you go back to teaching but retrain as primary so less marking and weekend work, you'd still get the holidays off and presumably a decent salary ?

I think this would be highly unusual. I work in the public sector and rarely do I see something which doesn't have at least a couple of spelling mistakes. English is my second language and I can't punctuate to save my life but I have never had any complaints raised against me for this.
I would guess it is either not complying with statutory requirements or not formatting documentation the way the manager/service prescribes.

I really feel for you because the same thing happened to me after returning to work from maternity leave. 🙈 Although it was a new role within the same company, I struggled to adjust back to work and missed my baby so much. I felt like I was doing well and met all my KPI's, but my probation was extended out of the blue by a manager that I definitely had viewed as too much of a friend vs an authority.

I'd advise documenting everything in writing. Ask for a fixed date your probation is next up, and for a formal check-in midway if possible. This will help you know how the 6 months are shaping up. Make sure any actions they require you to take are documented, and keep records of all your 1 - 1 conversations from now on. If you have any conflict or challenges at work, make sure to add them to a Google doc to keep them all recorded. Plus any wins or successes you have as well - all help prepare for worst case scenario.

Someone up thread suggested sending a weekly round up and that's a brilliant idea as well. Be clear & to the point in highlighting your successes, so there's no doubt about your suitability.

Plus familiarize yourself with your works probation policy word for word.

If your training has been minimal make sure you ask for the supports you need to be successful in the job. It's their role to provide these so don't be shy in asking.

Best of luck with this! It's a really tough situation to be in, but it won't last forever.

I have managed a lot of people and most people who have probation extended do get there in the end. If they didn't think you were capable of reaching the standard they would just have let you go.

Also, you haven't been treated very well if it's the first indication you've had that admin is a problem.

Agree with pp that you need a follow up meeting where you clarify which aspects of the admin are not up to scratch.

You also need to work on your work presentation. You've recognised you need to stop sharing so much emotional stuff. Don't bother sharing anything you're struggling with unless it's something they can support you with. Your lack of confidence also shines through your OP. Fake it to make it. "Rearrange your face" as they say.