I’ve really messed up at work

[ohbuggera]

I’ve name changed for this and I’m deliberately leaving it vague to avoid being outing.

I have worked in my public sector job for just over a year. I’ve bedded in and worked between multiple different departments in that time.

I’ve recently been given what is essentially control of the smallest department. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks and it’s not really a full time job. I can work at it for one day a week and it would be done. I feel I could work in at least one more department and still be fine.

I’ve raised this to my manager who completely agrees with me and raised it to our big manager.

The big manager is fuming. My concern is that if jobs were to be cut mine would be the first to go because of how small my role is. I’ve heard her talking all morning, in earshot of me, pretty unhappy that I’ve raised this. She’s agreed to meet with me but now im terrified.

AIBU to think raising this wasn’t actually an issue?!

I’m confused. You’ve said there’s no work to do, but now there’s an excess of work 🧐

Well your big boss obviously construes it like that, otherwise they wouldn't be fuming would they. The title of your post is actually "I've really messed up at work". So you clearly have some fundamental grasp of what you've potentially unleashed. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just pointing out the bleeding obvious.

The worst times I've ever had at work was when I had nothing to do. One time I was employed as an office temp to cover someone who was on holiday. At no point did anyone give me any instructions as to what to do, despite me asking. I was so bored I decided to do their huge pile of filing and had to go very slowly, with lots of loo breaks, to make the task last for 2 weeks (this was a private company). Utterly soul destroying.

And years ago I did a summer job at a large pharmaceutical company and the amount of clock-watching/abuse of the flexitime system was so depressing.

Surely OP is saying that work she’s expected to do for the area she’s in charge of is not enough to keep her occupied, but other teams in the area need support which she can give.

Were you asking to have control of another department? Were you asking to gain experience for your personal development? Were you seeking a promotion by taking on additional departments? It sounds like possibly your manager needed to ask you these questions first before going upwards.

It is also possible that a restructure is coming up and the big boss is worried about fairness of giving everyone equal chance to go for roles.

Exactly what I’m saying. Some people are just being wilfully obtuse.

I think it’s because people get criticised so easily, it puts them on the defensive. Public sector is very high stress because it’s public money and public services, so there’s a lot of scrutiny. This makes people get stressed and before they know it, certain people end up “fuming” as a defence mechanism.

However, notwithstanding the above, I think your “big manager” is unhappy because she feels she might have egg on her face.

Realising they’d potentially let the last person get away with doing half a job can’t be comfortable.

Good managers would take it in their stride though.

As this is a new responsibility, is it possible you just haven’t picked it all up yet? I get this with new starters. They want to make their mark so like to think they know it all from the beginning when the truth is they’ve only just gotten started and the work will increase as their knowledge increases/ more people come to them/ they realise the work is more complex than they originally think.

I’ve been there a year, I’m sure I know that I’m not about to be hit with new stuff

If you’ve been moved to this ‘little role’ it could be because your manager is hoping you’ll get made redundant.

We need more people like you x

You need to come to my department as definitely not underworked.

You are not being unreasonable but maybe the big manager now thinks that you don’t grasp the full extent of the role or maybe she’s angry at your predecessor for fooling her?

People said that to me all the time when I was in the same position. It was utterly soul destroying.

I’m so glad to be out of it. I find people divide very equally along the ‘sounds like a great swizz - why are you complaining?’ and ‘sounds horrific’

@ohbuggera In any organisation, telling people that you can do something much faster than anyone else could is often a recipe for trouble

The only time it’s not as if they’re actively looking to make cuts. I had to learn this hard way. Also, if it was taking someone five days a week and now it takes you one day a week, you saying that undermines all the people support around the role.

People will panic about their own jobs that’s understandable. It sounds to me this is what you have unwittingly done.

Even in the private sector, I have been surprised at how alarmed people are but it’s because no one else spotted it, it might actually involve someone having to justify their job, blah blah

I’m going to guess that in the public sector that’s an even bigger deal. If it gets out that somebody made a full-time job out of something that can be done in a day, then presumably the whole department will be reviewed, or it should be for efficiency.

PP have mentioned “ a great swizz” -I would kill for one of those jobs. I think they are all buried in the public sector and I have no experience there, but I don’t know how I would find one. If anyone has tips, please share! All I want now is just to kill time and collect the pension.

This is all to do with the culture in an organisation. I am a quick (and accurate) worker. I don’t expect people to be as quick but I do expect diligence and a willingness to learn.

I have never felt like being good and efficient has been anything other than welcomed (except at the local authority). Where I am now my role has just got bigger and bigger and I make efficiencies and take on more. When I leave they will likely need to replace me with more than one person but whilst I’m there then that’s fine.

A new team member worked on a new way to automate some month end reporting. Literally turned 2 days of work into 15 minutes. We’ve not cut her job, we just have more time to do new things.

Surely that’s why we have development plans?

My friend in the Civil Service got pulled aside for completing cases too quickly - not because of the quality of her work, that was all great - but because it was making everyone else look bad that she could complete triple the amount of work in a day and that it would then pressure the big bosses to raise targets. So now she only works 2/3 hours a day and dosses the rest of the time….

I guess it's because she thinks you've made her and others working there look bad/lazy. A lot of people like a slower less challenging pace and are attracted to the public sector for that reason.

Personally I'd prefer employees who are proactive and efficient but others won't like the uncomfortable contrast it shows up.

A few years ago a new lass joined our admin team straight from school. She was great - bright, hardworking, super efficient and organised. We (the lawyers) thought she was fantastic. Unfortunately her team members were pretty horrible to her with a very "who does she think she is" attitude. I think it showed up how little they got away with doing and they were angry about that. She left and found somewhere her talents were more welcome. Just a thought ...

Quit and go into retail. You'll be on your feet all day, as busy as you like, and shouted at for not doing the work of ten people in one. The minute it drops and becomes quiet, your hours will be cut and your weekly pay will crash through the floor. If you attempt to take on a second job to compensate for this, you will be told you must be fully flexible and available at all times, and threatened with being let go. The second job, of course, will treat you exactly the same as the first.

Seriously, OP, I understand your frustration but you don't know how lucky you have it. There are lot of posters who would bite your arm off for a job like that. It's better to be bored than sick with stress because you can't make rent again.

I agree with those who say you've made yourself a target for redundancy too. If I were you I would have just looked for a more stimulating role and got out without rocking the boat.

Yes, in theory

I worked in one (private) place where somebody asked for some data analysis, and told me I also had to collect it. I was quite young at this time. I wasn’t yet understanding all the politics, so basically this senior person did didn’t know that the data was already collected in two different places. Frankly, in order to save myself some work, I told her. But it made her look bad because she had two other members of staff doing a job that she was then asking me to do.

I didn’t get in trouble. But I definitely interrupted her coasting, I guess. She couldn’t really argue with it when I said “ happy to analyse this data, but it’s already collect collected by two departments and all I need to do is merge that information and then analyse it”. She kept telling me she couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t paying enough attention to her own direct reports, basically.

I mean, yes, it went okay in the sense that she realised that I was actually a good efficient worker - to be honest, I think she had it in her head that I wasn’t that sharp? I don’t know maybe she just wasn’t paying attention.

But I was lucky that it worked for me. And going forward, I had a policy of thinking very carefully about saying stuff like this, especially if it exposes someone who is taking ages to do something that doesn’t take long.

Im a cs. My role isnt fulfilling. I gave raised the lack of work only to have arsey responses.

The cs is so hierachical. If you say your role isn't enough work, they probably dont want theirs to be considered that too. They also do not appreciate anyone speaking up. And therefore start being unreasonable to the person who spoke up. Its rife.

Best thing that can do is stay strong. Ask them why they spoke as they did and challenge them. (Nicely). Worst thing is to shrink into the background and take back all you said. Imo.

My predecessor in this role made it a full time role. It definitely isn’t

I don't suppose it is, OP, but this is all too common in the public sector and your highlighting it has brought into focus the predictable poor management

Other taxpayers may well thank you for that, but IME those doing the managing certainly won't - not when the real preference of too many runs to pointless meetings and whining

It sounds like you may not have full knowledge of what the role involves, you say you’ve worked there for a year but in multiple departments. Given how cut to the bare bones most departments are now, I personally think they’re concerned you’re putting a role at risk and will have crease workload for others that don’t have the capacity.

It's management like that giving public sector a bad name. Me and my colleagues are working extra hours every week and still not meeting targets because the level of work is unmanageable. It's pretty much the same for every social work team. I'm sure every school is underfunded too. Then there is waste like this.
The manager is probably intimidated by you. People who put themselves forward for more work and work efficiently and much more likely to be promoted. She'll be worried she has competition.