Disastrous return to work after many years as a SAHM.

[NewjobOldme]

I'm in a difficult situation with work and I'd love some opinions on it. Sorry if this is long.
I was a SAHM for 10+ years.
I began looking for a job a couple of years ago and had some interviews.
I ended up on a panel (not UK based so not sure if it's a similar system) for a public sector job as clerical staff in a hospital and I was recently placed in a part time position.
I was delighted and enthusiastic to return to the work place. However it has been extremely difficult. I was originally placed in a dept with another clerical worker of a higher grade, who I believe is my line manager but this was never clearly expressed. I asked for a job description but apart from a brief verbal explanation I didn't receive one. I didn't receive any proper training and no computer access or email was set up for me for over 2 weeks. I was just getting settled there when I was re-deployed to another dept. And it has been awful. No one knew I was coming when I turned up. There was no real plan of what I was to do, or where I was to do it.
I needed different system access which after several weeks has not been sorted.
There are issues which I am not privvy to regarding which dept I am actually supposed to be working for and I am being told to do different things by different people. I have changed my working hours several times to be flexible where needed but I am very stressed.
I feel stupid and out of my depth. There was no training given or any sort of handover of the work I am supposed to do so I don't know how to do a lot of what is expected. When I've tried to explain this I am met with the response that we are in a crisis situation and we just have to get on with it.
I don't think I can cope with much more but will it be a bad move career wise to leave a job after just a few months?
I really feel lost and stressed and also quite angry with the with the situation I'm in.
Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?
Thanks

This sounds like an absolute shitshow and no fault of yours. You did the right thing to ask for a job description.

It truly shitshow and I'm not coping very well.
When I've said I'm not familiar with something or I don't have access I'm met with surprise which is very frustrating. It's like no-one can get their head around the fact that I've never worked there before so how could I possibly know some of this stuff.
Someone left papers on my desk saying they needed to be filed with no explanation of what they were or where the files are kept. It's crazy.

Just bumping as it was quiet last night when I posted.

I'm sorry this is happening. I think you're probably being too conscientious really. They have the responsibility to give you work and resources. I would write an email to your line manager asking clearly what you're expected to do and wait for the response. More fool them if they're paying you to do nothing. It's not your responsibility at clerical level to train yourself and design your own workload. I've just started in a similar sector but as senior management and I would have kicked off if I hadn't received support like you.

Don’t leave, it will look bad for a start but why should you. This is their fault, not yours.

Email your line manager and tell them that you’ve had no proper training, hand over of work, etc and that you feel it would benefit everyone if this could be addressed as it would enable you to be more productive

I’m sure that it’s very stressful and unpleasant to have to work like this. It’s not your fault though and no reflection on you either.

Is it possible that the pandemic is possible for the lack of training/induction? If so I might try and ride it out. If not, then start looking for something else. Good luck.

I'm with you OP.
I was made redundant got re-employed with a different company but the same industry.
WFH, no training, everyone surprised when I ask for help, boss emails me to ask if I have access to xxxx, I don't even know xxxx is a thing, he acts surprised 🙄
I have 20+ years experience in the industry so they seem to assume I magically know how their (different) systems work.
I hate it, this job is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up, I spend most of my day near to tears of frustration.
I'm leaving, life's too short, don't be unhappy and stressed op it's really not worth it

I would go to HR and ask who your line manager is and then schedule a meeting with them. It will be their responsibility to make sure you have a work plan and know what is expected of you. Then you can reassess based on how that goes.

Thanks for the replies.
@Dizzy1234 - that's exactly how it is for me. They are surprised about me not knowing things that no-one could know without being trained, yet no training provided. They want me to have access to certain systems but how can I apply for access when I don't know what access I need etc.
Some of the disorganization is due to the pandemic and I understand. I've tried to be flexible and have changed my hours to be available.
It's like everyone wants me to do work for them but no one wants to take responsibility.
I'm just not sure public sector work is for me. I wasn't very confident coming back into the workplace after a long absence but this is eroding the bit I did have.
I will try to figure out who is supposed to be managing me now and contact them.

Don't give up. They've messed up. Agree with pp about talking to HR, finding out who your line manager is and then setting up a meeting to clarify things. I was once put in a similar situation. I hadn't been given access codes/swipe cards to allow me access to emergency areas. I got it all documented with HR/line manager to clarify it all. Bonkers.

Anyway, stick with it. Good on you for getting out there.
Midwife

Don't give up OP. It does sound awful, poor you. Contact HR and explain. They should arrange a meeting with your line manager. Good luck.

I'm back at work today after Christmas break. I was awake most of the night worrying about it.
I'm going to try and get some clarification on my role/hours/manager today but based on previous attempts I'm not sure what I will achieve.

Just want to say how common this is, even when businesses aren’t dealing with pandemics. Many employers don’t seem to understand how to pull off a seamless onboarding plan. Just hang in there, as others have said. Take this time to watch and observe.

This is pretty standard in UK NHS hospitals too. Did the recruitment process take a long time? I think what happens is they recruit for a role but because it takes so long to employ someone the existing staff end up rejigged to fill the gap and then when the new person eventually starts it takes time to work out what their role is going to be.

In 2002 I returned to work after a long time as a SAHM. Got an nhs post. My return to work felt reasonably smooth but that's probably because I was lucky enough to share an office with friendly and helpful people who tbh were responsible for showing me the ropes. Without them I would have been lost and work would have been a very different experience.

That sounds really frustrating. I would put effort into finding out who your manager is but I would also start cataloguing the things you have done, the things you can’t do /have asked for help with (to who/how/when) and what’s outstanding in terms of training. Be organised to cover your own back and focus some energy on being meticulously personally organised in your own records.

Fingers crossed you get eome answers today.

Your department will have a service delivery manager. Contact them and ask for details of your line manager, JD and training needs.

whatever happens cover your own back like @Twickerhun says. its easy to feel it's your fault. ,its not. .its a horrible situation for you, I hope it goes well today.

Well done forgetting back in the workplace. Good luck for today, l hope you get the help that you should have and deserve.

In my last role, the recruiter told me to arrive on a specific date, but my line manager wasn't expecting me. There was no lap top, email, or much of anything ready. I made myself useful by calling IT myself, and organising the procurement, finding things that I could do.

Think it's fairly typical to feel useless at work in a new role, and my best advice would be to try to find someone who can give you work. There may not be formal training, but get someone to show you the ropes, which often is the best way.

Don't give up unless it's completely unbearable, but I hated my job at least for the first 3 months, and then it got better slowly..

God that sounds awful. I would advise you to look at it from a different point of view. See it as needing to be assertive. You have little direct work experience and it sounds like little self confidence in the workplace.

I don't mean to be patronising but if you received this sort of customer service, it would be much easier to stand up for your rights.

Pps who have suggested going to HR are right. It sounds like no-one knows what you should be doing and are passing it back to you. One person at least should have an overview.

Believe it or not but going into hr and saying you don't know what you need to ask to get started it an excellent place to start. Don't feel uncomfortable or unconfiendent. You are not revealing your limitations, but theirs (although that can be intimidating in itself). Ask for an action plan with clear steps, goals with suggested dates. Try to get a way set up to enable follow questions so that you don't feel awkward and someone knows to expect questions.

Remember you are flexing your communication skills. Feeling proactive should help to reduce feeling like you are floundering.

I had a similar experience trying to return to work as a Dr in the NHS. I could cope with the clinical side of work, but no one would help me get to grips with the administration side. And the day I asked three people directly for help, two didn’t help and the third shouted at me. I did ask clumsily - said she spent all day on computers - meaning she must know how to get me into all the groups I was meant to be on, but no one would help me with.
It was demoralising, and they weren’t even paying me to go in for weeks on end. There weren’t communicating with me as to what my actual post was going to be, and I think they were taking it for granted that my return was a done deal.
So I just stopped the whole thing and will not be doing that again.

Ok - you are wandering along a corridor at work one day and you suddenly fall through a trap door. Luckily you manage to catch a corner of the hole and are alive but dangling by one arm with a fifty foot drop below you.

Whilst you are frantically trying to figure out how to get yourself back up without falling someone comes along and says “we really should have a process to block off all the trap doors so no one else falls through one.” They then hand you a pen and paper and ask you to write one.

This is how it feels when you are frantically busy and you have a new starter.

You quite agree that training them would be the sensible thing to do in the long run and would make your life much easier but right now - you are just trying to survive the next ten minutes.

It is incredibly difficult to be a new starter in this situation. Try and be as proactive as you can - if someone has mentioned XYZ system apply for access for it and send your boss (or at least whoever you think is most likely your boss!) an email along the lines of “Liz mentioned that XYZ system would be useful so I’ve applied for access. Let me know if you disagree.”

“Let me know if you disagree” is my favourite phrase for my boss. As it means I can just plough on regardless unless he tells me otherwise!

Another good thing to say is “I know you are really busy but I have literally five minutes of questions then I can get on”. And be very efficient about exactly which questions you ask. (Have them written down in priority order.) One thing that drives me up the wall at work is when people collar me between meetings and ask a load of unimportant stuff and then just as I need to run off they ask the thing that really matters.

It might be comforting to know that this is classic NHS even before Covid. Absolute shambles. I could spend all day reciting various tales of woe from my experience and my family's.

Also, everyone is in the same boat. Senior people are tearing their hair out over similar things too. There's a big 'not my job' culture and blame culture too. Lines of accountability are very blurred.

Hang in there, keep smiling, keep calm, keep being assertive. Good luck!