How do you know when it's time to leave your job?

[Myleft]

I've been working in admin for 6 years, recently my manager left and I applied for and got her job. I'm an admin manager now.

My employer is good in some ways - flexible working, healthcare scheme, sick pay. I have 28 days annual leave plus holidays. Pay is alright.

But when I think about work my heart just sinks.

I haven't been given any training on this new role. It's similar to my previous role but with different systems to use as I now have staff to manage. There is a high turnover of senior managers and it feels like no one has a clue what they're doing. I don't really have anyone I can ask for help when I don't know how to do something. The company is very slow at replacing staff so my team has a full time vacancy that I've picking up the work for since April which means I'm really falling behind. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened - team members have gone on maternity and extended sick leave before and haven't been covered, leaving the work for the rest of us. I often get texts and calls to my personal phone on my days off so I never seem to get a break in my head from work.

Anyway I've applied for another job but I'm not sure if leaving is the right thing. Should I stick it out until my team is fully staffed? Then try to catch up on everything and organise some training? I feel useless and overwhelmed at the minute. But maybe all workplaces are like this? I don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.

I feel for you!

Presumably you have someone who line manages you (if only technically)? I'd speak to them and lay out the biggest issues - that you can no longer cover two roles, for a start. What are they happy to let slide?

Follow up with an email of what's discussed - or at the very least, keep your own record of the discussion (in your work and personal email) just in case.

If senior manager turnover is high and there's nobody to ask anything - can you make the job your own? Ie do what you can and make your own decisions on how to run your department?

There's bound to be a bedding in period with some discomfort in any new role. But at the end of the day - it's just one job. There's no harm in applying elsewhere to see what is out there. There could be a great job that would make you happier :)

I realise it's time for me to go. We've just had to produce motivational maps for a team away day in the autumn, and I realise there is nothing to motivate me in this workplace. Management is weak, nothing will change and there's nothing to be gained by continuing when alternative employment can be found. I used to love the job and, most importantly, the people I work with, but that has changed and I now owe it to myself to head elsewhere.

But when I think about work my heart just sinks.

Yep, right then. And no, you shouldn’t stick it out (or rather, you should but only til you get a new job).

I do have a line manager and she's nice on a personal level and understanding but she's fairly new to the company and I have found her in tears before at work so I'm not sure how long she'll want to stick around for, plus realistically the lack of staffing for the team has happened under her watch.

I think you're all right. I just feel sad about it as I've mainly enjoyed my time with this employer and there's still a lot of good in the job. But when I see emails or someone ringing me I just want to sigh, it's the same shit, different day. I really don't get paid enough to spend my evenings feeling like crap because I've either got work the next day or I've had a bad day at work.

Hopefully I'll get an interview for this other employer and I'll see how that goes.