Working in a Charity - anyone want to compare notes?

[ageingdisgracefully]

HI all. I'm looking for some insight really, I think. I work in a Charity (quite a well-known one, with a national presence) and I'm finding things a bit..strange. I've been here two years in a paid capacity so not a newbie by any means. I do not have a background in the charity sector, having spent all of my career in education (as a teacher and manager). I took this job after a period as a sahm. I volunteered initially and offered paid work. I was temporary for almost two years and I am now permanent (whatever that means).

I have never found the work difficult and I have a solid record. I do not make errors and I am thorough and punctilious.

However, I find the organsitional culture very odd. There does not seem to be an particular leadership, or focus. For the first three months in the job, I did not interact with my manager at all. There was no training, and no direction. Everything was a bit hit and miss. It wasn't a problem for me at that point, as the work was relatively easy.

I'm now in a much more difficult job (my choice) and wfh since last March. For the first 4 months in the job, there was no training, no identification of training need, no training plan. However, we are expected to reach a standard of work which is pretty much error free without any kind of proactive input from management. Everyone is supposed to be "helpful" but in reality the "help" is hit and miss. I've basically taught myself the job out of a Handbook, and resources cobbled together from the internet. Any training I've had, I've had to practically beg for (I'm talking basic training here, not anything fancy). I try to raise these issues and any questions are met with silence.

I'm beginning to feel there's some sort of conspiracy going on which I'm not part of!. I feel like I'm running round in circles just trying to get the basics of the job done.

I feel like I'm getting the side-eye for asking perfectly reasonable questions and beginning to feel somewhat paranoid.

Is it me? Are other charities like this? The vibe of the organsiation is happy-clappy where everyone is "nice" on the surface but I'm beginning to wonder if this just a veneer.

Me? I feel invisible, patronised and disrespected.

Anyone else? Is this sort of culture just a part of working for a charity or am I just a complete misfit?

@username2020 I worked for a social enterprise for two years. And I didn’t have a great experience. A similar thing happened to me - they received huge sums of funding for a particular project. Advertised my role and interviewed me 3 times. Then months later got back in touch to offer me the job, I can’t remember why at the time. But later it transpires that my would be manager set the project up and left. From everything she had set up she seemed very good, but they split her job across 3 (including bumping some into mine). Her leaving sent the project into schits creak. Anyway, from my experience social enterprises seem to be started from a band of mates and set up recruiting more friends along the way. Then bid for projects they have no experience of running and run them through marketing campaigns with out no real actual Impact or benefit. Obviously this is just my experience of one.

I’ve temped for some charities before - some professional and tightly run.

Others have senior individuals who love the charity “kudos”/gravy train/dinners and award ceremony/expensive hospitality and conference circuit

whilst the books don’t balance but they expect underpaid and undertrained staff and volunteers running coffee mornings to sort it all out whilst they look for another networking event to attend.

Charities are just like any other employers - some good, some bad.

There are quite a few threads popping up criticising the third sector as a place to work!

I've just started a charity job.

I am expected to deliver training on our cause to businesses in about 3 weeks time. I still don't know what kind of training - face to face? online? how many people? and I still haven't seen what resources (if any) I am to use. I also still don't have access to all IT systems and IT appear to be based abroad. I am being added to Zoom meetings with clients who want training and I can't even answer the questions they ask about the training because no one has shown me or given me access to what I need. I also think I have been misled about the amount of travel I will be expected to do. I just feel really uneasy as this is my first third sector job. Everyone is nice and smiley but at the same time not very forthcoming with information!

Is this normal??