4 months in - can't cope with new job

[DoubtjngThomas]

I started an admin role with local council 4 months ago. It's FT but I also clung on to a few weekend hours in my supermarket job just in case things didn't work out.

It all started ok and on paper is a great job. Security, able to work remotely. The reality is the work volume is unmanageable, I work across several teams doing a multitude of ever changing tasks using several different systems, one of which I just cannot use without making mistakes.
They all have their own priorities with zero communication between themselves or understanding of my workload. I am expected to be autonomous but just feel abandoned.

I have tried telling my line manager that
A) the volume is unmanageable
B) I am not learning enough to be able to do my job properly as the work is so diverse. It hasn't made any difference.

I am stressed anxious and about to resign. I
Could just pick up more hours in my supermarket job while I look for something else. I have also recently divorced and moved house so my resilience is on the floor.

God this sounds awful, isn’t your line manager supposed to assign your workload somehow? It sounds ridiculous if the different teams don’t communicate and all throw work your way :(

Are there other people on your team doing tte same role? If they expect you to be autonomous does that mean you can push back on certain work if you’re already at capacity?

Hi OP, this sounds so difficult. Can you request a formal meeting with your manager? Ask to schedule a meeting to specifically discuss your workload? As opposed to mentioning it in one to one’s. If there isn’t a satisfactory outcome you could escalate it in the form of a grievance. Local council should have pretty tight processes in place. Don’t give up just yet if it would otherwise be a good set up

So in your situation all of the teams won't know how much work you're being given from other teams. It's your admin manager who should have a handle on that.

I'd make a list off all the job tasks you're being given over a week and how much time they all need. Then I'd ask for a meeting with your manager to discuss this. I'd ask her to prioritise as you don't have the hours to cover them all. Get her to decide which you should focus on and which can be left/reallocated if you haven't got to them by end of the week.

One of the perils of working remotely is you can't always see how much stress other team members are under so no-one helps out. We had an absolute disaster with this in my team! So do make sure you do this formally in a meeting, saying how much stress you are under due to the workload. Take notes and follow up with an email summarising the discussion and outcome.

Good luck

This sounds like my job. Overly complex processes, a multitude of shitty systems and huge pressure to meet deadlines.

At 4 months in I was regularly crying (not like me at all) and had huge stress and anxiety. I'm almost a year in now and it's better. However the team I work with are brilliant and make it worth sticking with!

You might just need to give it a bit more time. I'd try and get to the 9 month mark, by which point you should feel more confident with the role. But if it's still no better then leave.

It's time to update your CV and start applying for new jobs.
It's unprofessional of your manager not to offer you proper support when you have addressed your concerns and life is far too short to be miserable in a job where you're being abandoned with unrealistic work volumes.
Try stick it out for a little while, while you apply for new jobs, especially if financially you rely on this income. It is also easier to find a new job while still in employment. Don't worry about explaining to a new potential employer why you're leaving so soon if they ask, just keep it simple and say that although you want longevity in a job, you've realised it's not the right fit for you so it's time to move on.
Good luck 🤞🏻

I'd give it another couple of months. Pass your probation period. And then look for something else.

It sounds awful. But you will get quicker with the processes as it becomes more familiar and the mistakes will lessen.

Make sure to only do your contracted hours and put in writing that your work load feels very high and you are feeling pressured.

Also - if you work for a local authority I'd recommend joining the union (Unison) if you decide to stick it out. They are good at advocating for you if a problem arises. Which it sounds like it might.

You've every right to work there & do the job that was advertised, them piling too much on you is a problem that can be addressed.

It sounds like a complicated job with multiple departments and you just haven't had the support . My view is if you aren't supported to learn the job it'll only get worse .
Leave .

So I have literally spent all morning raising just 3 invoices because the process is so overly complicated and open to error. 4 separate systems needed to collate and record all the information. Every convoluted step increases my anxiety that I am going to make a mistake.

I don't have have any background in finance (which they knew) and has meant I haven't looked at any other work for 4 hours!!

Sorry you're in this situation but you might as well try and sort it out before resigning.

Previous posts have helpful suggestions - meeting with manager, can you email manager and say I currently/today/this week have been asked to do xyz , I won't be and to do them all, which would you like me to prioritise?

If you had free reign what would you do to make it better? - think hard and then you could approach the manager and say these are the issues, these are possible solutions..

When I was cleaning a local council, the clerk encouraged me to apply to a higher position. The job description sounded great, focus on IT skills etc... I applied and got into the second round of interviews. Then I decided not to go through with it. Im glad I made that decision as the guy they hired is essentialy their man for all dirty jobs ie his first task was to unblock a loo. The job description was nothing like the actual job and he is now on a 2 week sick leave...

I've not been invited to any team meetings so not even had an opportunity to introduce myself properly or be able to discuss the role with people I am supporting. Equally it's meant I don't get any insight into what they do.
I have raised this

I feel so deflated and inadequate. It's not even a well paid role - bottom step of the admin scale. The pressure is too much

Could you not just look for an internal move to a more suitable role, possibly a managed move to a new department?

Just leave, this is not going to get any better.

I am wondering whether it's possible to move to another role within the council - maybe something in customer service which I know is a large part of the organisation.
This is my background which I would feel much more able in.and get me away from the hideous finance processing which seems to increase by the day.

Would it be worth aplroaching HR?

You’ve said you can pick up extra hours in your other job so I would be resigning personally and be honest about why. It’s just a job that didn’t work out but has given you useful insight into what sort of role you prefer (customer service not finance). I don’t see that HR will be very helpful in this situation but by all means phone them for advice as it can’t hurt.

A low paid job isn’t worth the stress as long as you can financially manage without it by increasing hours at your other job. You have a bad manager unfortunately and that won’t change. Once you have more head space you can start applying for customer service roles.

I would try and hang in there if you can. You'll be on a decent pension scheme and may well find better internal opportunities.

With the complex systems

• you are still newish to the job, do ask for help if needed and write step-by-step notes for yourself as to how to use them/things to check. That way you're less likely to make mistakes and will get faster.

It would be less financially secure to pick up
hours in my other job; I'd be relying on overtime until a permanent vacancy was advertised but there is always plenty of hours available.
I am very mindful of the benefits there are from working for LG and infact they paid me full sick leave for 4 weeks when I was off recently with stress (divorce and moving house). That was amazing but actually a large contribution to that stress was this job and I think I would have actually coped better if my head hadn't been such a mess with work.

I just don't know what to do, I wake up in the middle of the night with massive anxiety and can't t get back to sleep. But then again the same might happen if I jack in this job and then worry about money!

Please don't give up on the job. You just need some help with the systems and processes. There will be lots of other people using the finance system and raising invoices, people who have done it for years and have the process off to a fine art. Speak to your manager and ask whether you can have a training session with someone who knows the finance system inside out. If you show them what you are doing to raise invoices, they should be able to tell you a quicker more efficient way of doing it. No way should it be taking the time that you quote but sounds like you haven't had adequate training and are just trying to muddle through.
Generally local authorities are very supportibe employers but you need to ask for help and be honest with what you are struggling with.

I am trying to hang on, but yet another morning of nothing being straightforward or achievable.i literally cannot believe that these processes and systems are so complicated - you honestly couldn't make it up.

I have put in a request for formal training on the finance system and been told someone might be able to give me half an hour!!

I am so frustrated and angry; I am honestly a reasonable intelligent and well educated woman but feel like a total hapless idiot who can't do her job.

I've had a similar experience @DoubtjngThomas so I know how it feels. It's really horrible that they expect you to learn new systems by osmosis or just picking them up or after half an hours training!

Not a good environment to be in which is why I resigned after a month! Never done that before but I couldn't see the culture improving and my line manager was not bothered about new starters and sounds like yours is the same unfortunately. I would either resign soon or at least start looking for another job.

It sounds hellish.

I've done quite a bit of mentoring. If I was looking after you, what I would recommend for now is to stop getting emotionally invested in your productivity. You know you have more work than you can get done in a day. You know the systems are cumbersome. So you can only do what you can do. If things get out of control, all for the better. No one employed new staff while they could still work their old staff to death.

If you can, put some music on, get comfortable, and just potter on and do your best. If you're finding you're making mistakes often (which I don't blame you for!), it's probably best to take things more slowly. Hastiness and panic won't help you here.

You'll naturally speed up as you absorb everything. That takes time but you'll be flying through this much better in a few months. I'm sure you're improving every day already.

But don't let it get to you. In five years time, no one is going to care about those invoices. It's not worth the stress.

Email your manager and ask for some direction. Ask how much of your daily hours should you allocate to each task. Then stick to that and go home at the end of the day with zero fucks given about the leftover work.

If you can get over the mental acceptance of leaving work at the end of the day you will be fine. I think admin is better than dealing with the general public.

I have a meeting with my manager this morning.

What specifically should I ask/say?

I really don't feel I am capable of be doing the financial aspects of the job and need to be open about how we can move forward.

I think you need to be clear that without adequate training you will not be able to be as productive as you could be. Be proactive and tell them what you require to ensure you can do the job. LA systems are horribly cumbersome.