To think I’m getting fired?

[gettingfired]

ive been working at my company for nearly a year. After I’d been there for 3 months a promotion came up which I applied for and got, a supervisor position. Everyone seemed very happy with my work. I’ve had no training and no guidance on what the expectations are for the role. My manager and the manager above him have both quit in the last 6 months.
We have a replacement for my managers manager, who seems to have come in to the workplace looking to make changes. He keeps commenting on my output- my team make a product. Every day the demand can be different. I’ve worked out that our team can make a max of 100 of this product realistically with the staff and time we have.
The orders each day range from 70-120. But my new manager keeps saying all the days orders have to be made. I’ve tried explaining that it depends on the number- I can’t promise will make all the days orders as some times the number is beyond what I think we can make. But they see it as ‘the days orders’ being the goal rather than the number we have time to make. I’ve explained this several times but he just seems to think I’m the problem.

Today I’ve been unexpectedly taken to the office and told I’m going on a PIP by this new manager. He made some criticisms about my role as a supervisor. Things like he says I’m not fixing staffing issues by getting extra staff in- I’ve had no training AT ALL for this, I don’t think I have this authority. So I’m not sure how I can be on a PIP for failing to meet expectations that I was unaware of.
Am I being unreasonable to think I’m getting fired, and they just want me out? Do I just need to look for a new job?

I think my manager and the manager above left because the most senior management are quite toxic. I’m the next person down to get the pressure I guess

Are you supposed to rota staff in to work overtime etc to complete the orders?generally you need staffing based on what is required to cover your busiest times eg your 120 order days. If you regularly don't have the staffing for that, had you requested to hire more?

I fed back that we needed more and he said we just need to be working faster.

Are there other teams delivering at 120 units with similar staffing levels to yours?

does the product have a short shelf life that means it has to be produced on the day?

If you have days where the demand is 70 items, are you making 70 and calling it a day, or do you do 100 every day so that there is a surplus to cover for the 120 days.

This

You can’t make them in advance, so you can’t ’get ahead’ for the next day.
they don’t seem to accept there are limits in what you can make in a day. He just says you need to get them all done.

Ok so this is where as a supervisor you need to be doing a few things.

1. work out what your current max is by day, hour, person (look up Pareto calculation)
2. What are your ideas for increasing the your throughput to get current max + average over , current max + highest day order. Is it more equipment, more people, better processes, work ahead if possible, etc bring all your ideas
3. talk to the team… what are their ideas to improve throughput

At the end of the day he’s made it your problem so you’re going to have to show that you’re working on it. Sometimes this is how crappy or new to a role managers shake things up. I don’t like that approach myself but have seen it and survived it.

What sucks is that some of the things I’ve suggested would typically be your direct manager’s job and it’s not great that you don’t have one…but even if you did s/he’d be given the same mandate so nothing would really change for you except having a buffer.

I suggested similar but can you pull the next days orders ahead? I’m assuming something that’s made to order…but is it perishable?

sorry if my question doesn’t make sense let me know and I’ll try to reword it

Start gathering evidence and sending it to your personal email. I would also go to HR, off the record at first, to get advice if you feel you've been unfairly treated. For example, proof (or lack of) to show you've never been trained, or something like an email that shows what happens when you raise issues to management.

You may not be fired but if they do, it could be constructive dismissal/unfair. ACAS might be of assistance re advice and potentially submitting a grievance via HR.

This is good advice.

Im imagining you make…cream cakes. It’s worth pinpointing what is currently maxing out your capacity. Is it the equipment you have available that limits you to 100, the current staffing levels, storage/delivery space, the working hours you operate on?

How do orders come through to you? What is your costing model? If it is something like cream cakes, then can it be twisted into a good marketing ploy that you regularly ‘sell out of our tasty treats!’ By capping it to a 100 That can generate a buzz of a desirable product with an increased value.

One of the options you could consider although it would potentially be a contract change, is a more flexible workforce or annualised hours contract so that your team doesn’t work say 8 hours a day regardless of order number but can flex up or down depending on demand. How much notice do you get of each day’s demand? Are these bulk orders for numbers placed or is it a ‘wait to see what customers turn up’ scenario?
You’ve had good advice upthread on looking at calculations/solutions/comparators
if you give more information people may be able to help with further suggestions.

This is a great suggestion and should be included in your list of ideas!

Could you just try and be a little more patronising??

Wow… 😮 it’s not patronizing to say I’ve explained something badly and can try reword it it’s incomprehensible.

So um thanks for assuming the worst.

Bizarre you wouldn't just make 100 per day even on low order days so you have a surplus than when you get a 12p order you add the 20 already made.

Your new boss sounds like a dick.

What you ‘explained’ was so blatantly obvious that it was patronising to assume that anyone wouldn’t understand it.

Go away… unless you have something to offer the OP. If you just want to poke at me take to PMs nobody wants to see crap like this

It didn’t seem even a tiny bit patronising to me.

It’s something that can’t be made in advance or kept for the next day. It always has to be done on the day.

Basically you said ‘if it’s something that isn’t perishable can it be made ahead’ then ‘if you can’t understand what I mean then I can reword it’.

but goodnight all. I will leave you to it.

Ohhhh

Shouldn't their be a cap on orders then?
Or have adhoc overtime?

I mean its besides the point really...

The company sounds a bit of a mess.

They are probably looking to push you but you should want to jump

Unfortunately, unless you have a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, you can be fired without a good reason if you have been in the role for less than 2 yrs. You can't claim unfair/constructive dismissal in those circumstances

If I were you I'd go in with a positive, happy to learn how you want me to do the job attitude. This will very quickly help you identify whether you can in fact work for this person or whether they really are completely unreasonable. Because at the moment, all you seem to have is a lack of shared understanding about how he wants the job done.
So I'd hear him out, then ask him questions.
Could you have a JD for you role and a set of KPIs so you're clear as to his expectations?
What is the remit of your authority to recruit extra staff?
Are there any efficiencies he can suggest to make your team faster?
What is the number of product he thinks one trained person can make? Has this been based on assessment of the process? (This will help you know if your team are slower than they should be)
Any others you can think of.
If he is able to give you satisfactory answers, there is hope that you will be able to work for him. However if he takes an overly adversarial stance or says 'that's your job' or similar, I'd start looking elsewhere.

Oh I definitely do want to change jobs.
the company are just unreadable, they don’t seem to want to acknowledge any feedback or constructive advice on how to be more efficient.
they don’t accept processes need to change, just ‘work faster’