Making so many mistakes at work

[Workworkwork01]

I have always been good at my job, excelling performance targets, not making mistakes etc.

Since coming back from maternity leave in March I am making SO many errors. I feel awful about it. My manager is so far being nice but I have a mid year review coming up and feel that I am going to get berated for my performance. I’m so worried I will be on an improvement plan.

Has anyone felt like this? They are stupid mistakes. I am asking people to check my work where appropriate but I’m a senior manager so it’s making me look incompetent to my manager and team.

Im pregnant as well, I just feel like my head is full of cotton wool and I can’t think properly. AIBU feeling like this? I hate myself tonight after I’ve just spotted another error.

Don’t worry about it too much. Just explain it all to your boss and I’m sure it’ll be fine. Are you public or private sector?

Post partum and pregnant? It's very understandable why your head is cotton wool. You say your manager is being nice so it's unlikely you'll be berated. You can't know what the outcome will be from the performance review. Be kind to yourself. Ultimately you and your family are more important than work mistakes and I'm sure it's much less of a big deal to those you work with. Do your best and look after yourself. And maybe look into why you would 'hate yourself' for something that really isn't your fault.

I’m in the private sector but I’ve worked in my company for 8 years. It’s a big company with robust HR. No one has actually raised my performance with me yet but I’m worried they’re going to. Although the latest mistake was something I asked my manager to review too and they also missed it!

There’s every chance that there’s nothing you can do about it but are you staying hydrated, getting fresh air, getting exercise (literally just a fast-paced 5-10 minute walk), and taking vitamins? I found pregnancy, post-partum, breastfeeding and motherhood in general threw those out of whack for me and I would get woolly.

I’m taking pregnancy vitamins now, trying my best but I have suffered with awful fatigue and sickness in this pregnancy which has made it extremely challenging to work sometimes.

Oh god yes I've been there. I felt utterly overwhelmed when I came back from mat leave, couldn't see the wood for the trees. It's very normal but not something we talk about! Don't beat yourself up about it

Theres a chance they'll say you aren't performing as expected but that should lead to a conversation.

You're likely not yourself at the moment, they know what you're usually like so it's fair to assume it's a medical issue rather than ability or effort. So really it sounds as though you should be leading the conversion, telling them you believe it to be related to pregnancy /maternity and asking for any adjustments that are reasonable - relaxed targets, a reduced workload or just understanding.

Also get to the gp for a blood test.

This might make me sound like a shit manager (promise I'm not!) but if you were on my team and

1. Had a perfect record prior to your maternity leave
2. Your only errors are now when you are just after having a baby and are pregnant again
3. Your errors are relatively minor & not causing complete chaos

I wouldn't say much, if anything at all, about it because it's your hormones, fatigue etc rather than you.

I would play the long game and just assume that when you return after your next maternity leave, that all will be good.

I'm not upsetting a pregnant woman unnecessarily and for something out of their control & I'm not risking you deciding not to return after your maternity leave because I've created a hostile or negative atmosphere.

Many will disagree (including my boss!) but I prefer to manage performance over time rather than go hard on understandable situational performance dips.

Try not to worry about it because that will only make it worse.

If you are noticing your mistakes before anyone else does, it’s OK no?

You're right to be worried about it. There's only so long they can be nice if you're basically not doing the job.
So, think about how you can help yourself. Lists? Checklists of key things to double check? Working out common errors and focusing on improving those at least?

It sounds to me that your mistakes are due to your pregnancy symptoms, they'd be on thin ice if they tried to discipline you. Keep trying your best and checking with others where you can.

Does your employer know you are pregnant or have you not told them yet?

Main thing you can do - I'm always not great at doing it - is to go to your GP and get the maximum help for your symptoms. If things are impacted your work, tell the GP, so they know and can offer you whatever available support, treatment there is. Go with the mindset of sorting out your biggest symptoms.

If it continues then talk to your manager about adjustments you need.

Yes my employer does know I’m pregnant, I’m 20 weeks now so it’s obvious. My nausea isn’t so bad either although I am so tired but it’s not been an easy pregnancy so far with a few complications and also a high risk result at my combined screening that caused a lot of stress.

I guess I didn’t realise I would struggle so much! I actually just got promoted into this role when I returned from leave. I interviewed on maternity leave and felt more confident even then!

Have you had your thyroid checked? I suffered from an overactive thyroid with both children and it’s common in new mums. I’m sure any reasonable employer will give you some leeway. With regards to the mistakes, were they small? I would focus on upskilling yourself on the errors, see if you can identify where in the process it fell down, how the error happened and what you can do to mitigate in future. I would be prepared to discuss in your review. This shows accountability and a willing to improve. Best of luck and try not to be too hard on yourself.

A lot of the mistakes are small but the one today was bigger and stupid, although like I said my manager had double checked the work and also missed it. I feel like I can’t remember or retain information the way i used to be able to. I haven’t had my thyroid checked but my iron levels were borderline low at my booking appointment which may be why I’m so tired. There is not a huge gap between my pregnancies.

I am doing the job but I just keep making the errors. To be fair I have a one to one with my manager weekly and they haven’t mentioned worries with my performance but I’m sure they must have picked up on it.