Anxiety around Performance Improvement Plan

[Scorcher791]

Hi All,

I'm wondering if any of you can relate and/or advise? I left a good, well-paid job in teaching (primary) with great holidays as I hated the environment and didn't particularly like my colleagues . I also felt bored teaching kids and that I needed a change. I've now got another job in university administration and I've been there 4 months now and felt I was getting on pretty well. I really like the lecturers I support, my Line Manager is a decent guy and I get on with my colleagues on the admin team. I was quite happy as I felt I had settled in quite well and liked the place. However, I had my first formal probation yesterday and my Line manager said that my admin skills are not where they should be at this stage and put me on a performance improvement plan. I got quite a shock to be honest as I had felt I was learning at a pace that was appropriate given the length of time I had been there and had been told to ask questions etc if I wasn't sure of something. Now I feel that the goalposts have been moved without my knowledge and that I'm being expected to perform despite having little to no training, apart from what a kind colleague has shown me. I'm also scared to ask questions or say that I don't understand or haven't grasped something in case it reflects poorly on me and they think I'm not competent in the role. It's triggered a huge amount of anxiety and paranoia in me and I'm worried I'm not going to be able to pick up the skills quickly enough and will lose the job.... I suffer quite badly from anxiety in any case and struggle with insomnia and this was also why I left teaching as I felt a huge amount of pressure to be constantly "on" and "perform" and was often drained and exhausted. I'm 45 and not sure what else I could do if this job doesn't work out...I'm creative and enjoy researching ideas and writing and have had a few articles published but it's been exceptionally difficult to get paid and in the age of AI, I'm not sure writing full-time is a viable career option for me....it seems a lot of work for little to no reward. I would be very grateful if anyone had any thoughts or advice as to how to handle this situation and/or any general tips for careers in general.... Many Thanks!

@2024andsobegins thanks also for the advice and kind comments. You're right, it is hard and I thought I was adapting better than I apparently am!

@Sunshineboo thanks for the advice and suggestions. Yes, the role is hybrid- 2 days in office and 3 days working from home. I don't know if the college offer f2f training - it seems not as my induction was online and the iProc training I did was online too... I would have much preferred in person training where I could learn the necessary steps and try it out there and then and ask for support in the moment but that hasn't been an option so far....

I’ve been on and also put people in PIP

really wouldn’t get excited over this we can all improve
it should identify areas u need to improve , how they are going to enable and measure your improvement and review dates

PIP aren’t a bad thing if they are done and managed properly

@Scorcher791 as pp have said, and you have acknowledged, the IT systems are clunky. I agree stop criticising the software.

From my knowledge (limited so happy to be corrected) there are several admin offices in a university each providing a service to their school or Department. Have you tried to contact anyone in these offices who could give you an hour (no more) a week to help train you on the systems.

Do an analysis which system do you use the most, which system is the most important to get to grips with. For each system list the different tasks and then put them in order - use this to target the 1:2:1 training. Talk to the IT team and ask who is best on each system. Try to find 3 people - one for each system and try to schedule one hour a week. One hour is best for absorbing the knowledge - make copious notes, and ask questions and then practice.

Don't stop asking for help from colleagues as that is self defeating.

WRT the PIP - make sure you have SMART objectives with the agreed trading you need as part of the objective.

This is a wake up call that you are not developing as expected, being proactive to really learn the systems is where you need to focus your energies.

We had a new woman start where I work and she constantly complained about systems and suggested improvements to them but honestly it was just irritating.

Everything she was saying had been said and repeated a million times since the systems were installed. We had all suggested better ways to work thousands of times and were ignored.

She was not the first person to realise that they weren't fit for purpose. She wasn't even in the first hundred people to say that.

The fact is that yes they are shit, yes we do have 4 different systems, only 2 of which directly communicate with each other, where we used to have one and yes they are long winded, obstructive and very VERY picky about the order in which certain tasks are done and if you get it wrong you have to void out and start again but they are what we have and the company is not going to back out after sinking this much money into it. It just won't happen. They could improve it but it was never designed to be used like this.

I just used to want to yell at her that Yes I know, you're preaching to the choir here. Just stop moaning about them and learn to work round them. So it's possible that your complaints about it are pointless and they are trying to make a point that you need to work with what you have.

Absolutely this! I know things have to be spoken about for the first time at some point. But this type of meeting should not be a place for new information regarding possible poor or problem performance.

Came in to say the same. Performance issues should never come as a surprise to the employee at an official meeting, that's poor management skills. You should have been made aware that you weren't at the stage they expected you to be at before this, and they should have reiterated training it put it in place for you.

Can I suggest some questions for you to think around? My advice would be to take a bit of a lead on the pip by asking for what you need. Ultimately, if you don't want to fail on capability, I would suggest speaking up more not less so go in showing you are willing to learn and commit.

What have you done already to improve your ability to use the systems?
What more can you do?
What specifically, would help you? IE not general training, but what sections?