Totally overwhelmed at work and manager doesn't care - AIBU?

[pizzaandcouscous]

I am a junior manager of 10 caseworkers. I manage the HR side of things (annual leave, sickness, performance management, approving overtime etc) plus allocate workflow and answer queries from my team. When I started the job last year, I began initial training in a particular workstream/project (workstream A). I was then told 1 week later that I was moving to a different workstream (workstream B). I was trained on workstream B and remained on it for 8 months. I was then moved back to workstream A for 2 months, at which point I was moved to workstream B. As of about 5 months ago I was told I was primarily on workstream B but that going forward I would have to do elements of workstream A also. My team are now split across both workstreams.

I am now expected to:

• deal with HR issues in my team
• ensure my caseworkers are meeting their weekly and monthly target expectations
• hold return to work and attendance review meetings after sickness absence in my team
• ensure my team are complying with hybrid/office attendance as required
• answer caseworker queries for workstream B and cover the workstream B Teams chat
• quality assure 2x cases per day (the caseworkers I manage are expected to complete 3-4 cases per day and one case takes on average 2 hours but can sometimes be more. Quality assuring the cases involves working the cases myself, inputting the results in a spreadsheet and writing a feedback email to the caseworker)
• resolve caseworkers' IT issues from both workstream A and B
• allocate cases out to caseworkers/manage workflow
• manage emergency last minute workstream A cases that come in that need to be resolved within 24 hours. This involves several spreadsheets, manually checking each one to see if it has been allocated and allocating them out to our organisation's branches across the UK, then checking progress of each emergency case throughout the day
• hold monthly check ins with each of my staff
• write a weekly report on each caseworker's performance the previous week
• attend any other meetings, organisational calls and training for both workstream A and B (usually 2-3 per week on average)
• forward on any emails relevant to my team
• deal with complaints
• monitor and record my team's productivity during any overtime they have done the previous weekend
• approve annual leave requests

etc

This is not feasible and I feel very overwhelmed. I've had two calls with my manager in the last week where he's told me that I am not quality assuring enough cases and that I need to get on top of this. I have cried both times because I feel so stressed I can't think straight. When I raise this with my manager he tells me it's all 'part of the job role' and that I 'just need to manage my time better'. He says I just need to manage to quality assure the 2 cases per day (plus everything else) and then his manager won't pester him about it anymore. My manager kept reiterating that the quality assurance isn't going anywhere. I also felt like he was implying I was making excuses. I am not, I am very hardworking and I want to do my best at work. I just genuinely can't fit it all in.

Today he asked me if there is anything he can take off me to help. Based on previous conversations, I suspected he wouldn't take anything off me given he keeps telling me it's part of my job, so I put it back on him and said, 'yes, is there anything that can be taken off me?' He simply said, 'no'. This left me wondering why he even bothered asking?! He also tells me how busy he is but swings in his chair playing with a ruler and chatting about football.

I can't sustain this but I have a mortgage to pay and I don't know what to do. I think these are impossible expectations from my manager - AIBU?

I’m sorry you are so stressed. However, a lot of what you are describing is a line managers responsibility op, nothing more. You talk about ‘HR issues’ like the people side of management is not your role as a line manager? Do you feel 10 direct reports is too many? (It is on the higher side but not uncommon). Are certain parts of the role very time consuming (you mention the quality assuring part as being an issue). Are other managers able to fit it all in? What do they do differently? Would additional training help? You need a serious talk with your manager. Ultimately if he can’t/wont change your tasks you need to think about the future in the role with this company.

Most managers in my company are only on either workstream A OR workstream B. There is only me and my colleague who is also in my branch of the company who is expected to manage both. Neither of us can fit it all in.

And dealing with the emergency cases is an extra duty that has only recently been added on top of workstreams A and B. Again, no other branch has to deal with the emergency cases as well.

Sounds like your manager is foisting a lot onto your plate. How many ppl does he manage?

I would ask him if you can reach out to others on your level, or perhaps seek a mentor. There might be time saving methods that you can employ, or others may prioritise their work load differently. Alternatively you’ll discover everyone feels similarly overwhelmed, or you’re the only one with so much work in which case I’d say very poor organisational structure and lack of care for your welfare, and start looking for a new job.

Ok, so it’s not just you in this boat, and the other manager on two work streams is also struggling. Could you both, either separately or together, raise these issues with your line manager? Talk to HR? Raise it with your union?

Is there any other training or support available in your company?

From the list you've given it doesn't sound wildly outside a normal managerial role, so it might be helpful to work out how much time each task is taking.

I find it helpful to plan my time in slots e.g. there's a slot in my diary for looking at leave requests, one for monthly supervision.

There does some like there's an awful lot of micromanaging involved - weekly performance reports and monitoring of productivity sound like horrible ways to manage. There's lots of evidence that isn't how you get the beat out of people. But, if you have to do it, can you make it quicker by templating your reports?

Could you ask for mentoring from a manager who's doing something similar elsewhere in the company?

How many weeks can you go off sick with full pay?

I feel for you. That is a lot of you to shoulder as a junior manager.

It sounds like the QA is most important to your manager as he gets pressure from his manager if not enough are done.

So take him up on his offer to see what he should take off you. I appreciate you threw the question back in his court and perhaps that is the appropriate response for a junior manager. However, someone more senior would be expected to manage their own workload which includes having insight as to how the job could be parceled out or resourced to best achieve the objectives. He seems to be treating you as operating at a higher seniority, whether that is fair or not.

At its simplest, you could ask him to take either Workstream A or B off you, since most managers at your company only do one. Point out to him that the managers that do two are more senior (if they are) and most likely paid more. The benefit to him is that you will be able to do more QAs if that indeed frees up your time.

Set aside some time this weekend when your head is clearer to think about how you can offload your work to achieve the company's goals. Put it down in bullet points for your discussion. After the discussion, follow up with your manager and what was agreed and next steps, so he cannot wiggle out of it.

He is HR. He should know the score.

This is quite hard line to play. But the alternative is to leave, not necessarily immediately. You can always slow quit and wait for them to start their own HR processes. He sounds too lazy to do that. You can always look for jobs in the meantime as insurance.

You got this.

CS? EO?

How did you guess?

Your manager is taking advantage of your good nature and hard-working attitude

I would ask him how you can manage your time better because you don't think that that is the issue. It is because you just have too much to do.

I would do a detailed timesheet of everything you do in the day and then ask him how you can manage your time. Put the onus on him rather than him blaming you.

I'm a genius! 😂I'm afraid it's a current pattern. I won't try and guess which office though. 😀Go back to your manager and show them the list you have written here. Break it down into how much time you feel you spend per week on the tasks. Ask them to help you spread your workload. They do have a duty of care. If that falls on deaf ears, go to their manager and ask for support.

I'm sorry you are stressed. It's horrible feeling overwhelmed at work. I would say what you've described is usual line manager activities. I do all of these tasks for a team of 16 and also manage their tangible output, in my case this is delivering training to approx 10k people. So what you've described is the "smaller" part of my job. It can be overwhelming and you need to speak to your own line manager if you're struggling to achieve what you need to.

Gosh. I was guessing CS. HEO. YANBU.

Curious why people are identifying this as CS. Is the dysfunctionality at this level endemic?

SO here. Most of your list takes minutes & aren't daily tasks. The bulk of your time seems to be taken up with qaqc your team's cases. It shouldn't take that length of time. Your priorities are: security and has the guidance been followed correctly. If your caseworkers are getting through 4 cases a day your checks should take 20 mins max. You need to streamline your checks. Pick out the high risk areas and check them. Email protocol, legislation applied, penalty decisions etc. Forget about the rest. As long as the legislation framework has been applied then the rest is fluff. Focus on any decisions made.