Both office staff members leaving at the same time, is this a really bad thing to do?

[Newstartawaits2938]

I work in a school office, there are 2 of us plus a manager.
I have been wanting to leave for months because I find my manager very difficult to work with. She is effecting my mental health terribly. Found out the person I replaced also left because of this same manager.
My colleague also left for the same reason about 3 months ago and I had to mann the office completely alone for weeks whilst they recruited someone, and now I have a new person in the office with me who also doesn't have school experience.
She has now told me that she also wants to leave (same reason!) And is applying for jobs and hopefully will be gone soon.

Thing is there is only the 2 of us in the office. We do absolutely everything. I don't know how it works in other schools but when i started there was no training at all and no information left for me . (Had no school experience)
My colleague at the time who has now left was amazing and showed me what she could and I've picked up the rest myself over time. The work load and responsibilities are huge and my manager doesn't help whatsoever.
When my colleagues replacement started there was noone to show her what to do, I couldn't as didn't know her side of the role at all. She's become overwhelmed and is struggling with the lack of support.

I want to be gone as soon as possible and have an interview next week . Thing is , this could mean that both of us will be leaving at roughly the same time leaving them with no office staff at all or 2 brand new ones with noone in there to show them what to do.
I feel really guilty about this as I love the school and don't want to cause them problems but i just cannot work with this person longer than necessary, I have to put myself first. I know it's not my problem, this manager has caused every member of office staff to leave and I don't see why I should stay to the detriment of my mental health but my heart feels such guilt of the problem it will cause the school. When I do actually leave I will be telling them the truth as to why I want to , and colleague is doing the same.

Has anyone ever reported the manager that is making everyone leave?

The 2 previous staff members who left told the head that was the reason but I don't know what/if anything came of it.
Another person is also leaving (non office staff member) for the same reason so that will be 5 of us in total

My parents have told me to go and speak to the head about it and tell her it's making me want to leave but I don't want to as will have to continue working with this person who doesn't seem to react well over things.
I dared to say something that showed she wasn't doing something properly in a meeting once with the head, and afterwards she refused to speak to me for 2 weeks and has treated me like dirt since! So I know it would just be very uncomfortable so I would rather just leave.
She will then have to deal with having an entire new office staff with no knowledge of the school

You need to vote with your feet. You don't owe them anything, get out of there. Leaving and explaining why is much more powerful than staying on and complaining about the bad manager.

Don't feel guilty. It's not your problem or your responsibility. Don't stay there a minute longer than you are contractually obliged to.

It will be a kindness if you and your colleague can let them know how awful the working situation has been so that they can make serious changes for the next person.

What they will need to do is find and hire a superstar highly experienced administration goddess. These people exist, and are capable of walking into a school admin office like yours where the previous staff have left with no handover, sorting everything out, taking no shit and giving no fucks about whose toes get trodden on in the process, then managing a smooth handover to longer term replacements for you & your colleague once the awful line manager has been manuevered out of this situation. Such goddesses are expensive and rare but they exist - finding one, and finding the money to pay for her, is not your problem.

The head doesn't seem bothered that staff retention in the office is dreadful and satisfaction seemingly similarly low.

It's frankly their own problem that you and others want to leave. I'd say there's little point discussing it as the workload and culture just seems like they don't know how to employ admin staff properly.

Find a new job and don't look back. If you give notice then they'll have to try and find someone else.

What your colleagues decide to do regarding leaving or staying is not something you need to concern yourself with.

Honest don't feel guilty, do what is right for you.

If you leave and the whole place crumbles firstly so what, not your problem. And, secondly, it might make them finally realise they have a bully in the workplace that needs addressed.

Have you documented the various tasks you have to do? That will help your successor.

But do look for another job and go. Quite often, organisations won't do anything about problem staff members until it costs them money - and recruitment is expensive, so costs them money. I would be honest about why I was leaving, but you could choose to go without saying anything.

You seem lovely zOP. Your employer does not.

Put yourself first.

Is there a binder you can leave with some notes for new starters?

OP states she had no such help.

In the OP's situ, I wouldnt be making a folder with notes for anyone that comes after the OP leaves. Fuck that!

Thats the schools problem, not the OPs - two fingers to them really!

I was once part of a 3 person team at a company. There was a restructure and all of our roles were made redundant, however they wanted two of us to stay on in slightly different roles within the same function. We both refused. So they went from having 3 people to none! The three of us were the entire (critical) function! And you know what, I felt bad at the time, but after I left I found a much better job and have never looked back. And the old company managed to sort themselves out with new staff eventually.

Do what's right for you.

Do what is right for you. This is on the head who failed to tackle the bully. Your predecessors warned the head .

No put yourself first. Look for a job, and leave when you get one. Don’t worry about the timings. Tell them in the exit interview why. And leave with your head held high. Absolutely do not pause your life so the timings are better for them!

No one will thank you for staying. You won't feel better for it you will just be miserable.

They have no loyalty to you so leave. Go and let the manager suffer the consequences. You shouldn't stay in a role you aren't happy in.

Just go.

I would tell my colleague that you are planning to leave as soon as you can find another job but not anyone else until you’ve actually secured one.

It could take you a while to find a new role (hopefully not) and I would wait until it’s confirmed and then have your notice in and tell your manager exactly why.

You don't owe them anything. If they can't retain staff because of a crap manager, it's on them. Just make sure when you do leave, you tell the head everything that the manager is doing badly.

It sounds harsh but it's not your problem. You can't stay in a miserable job because you're worried about how they'll cope without you.
They'll have to get someone new ASAP and they might even reflect on why no one stays in that office.

Just leave when you are ready to, make sure you resign in writing. Its not your problem what happens afterwards. I look at it this way: if they wanted to fire you they would without a second thought. So no need to have any distress about leaving them, they should have managed it better.

They'll cope. They'll find new ways to do the required functions if they aren't told how it's done now.

Good luck finding a new, better job.

Not your problem. The HT should be addressing issues. Be very honest in your exit interview.

Don't feel guilty for a second.
The head should have dealt with the issue ages ago.

The school will find a solution. Your mental health is worth prioritising

Leave when you get the right opportunity.

Be honest with the HT as to why you are leaving. If they have been told previously that people have left for the same reason then that is a big clue on how serious they see the situation.

Make a user manual for your replacement and train them as best you can.

A Guy at my work died last year. He was high up in the organisation and therefore much more ‘important’ than me. He was missed, but also replaced at work really quickly. His little girls on the other hand have obviously not been able to replace him. I took a lesson from that. There are many more important things than work - your sanity being one.

You owe nothing to this dickhead manager. I do think you owe it to your ultimate replacement and the school as a whole to explain your reasons for leaving to the head. I would not do this until you had a new job and assurances your old manager wouldn’t be suppling the reference.

You need to be really brave and escalate it up to senior HR. Don't let that manager see off another person. It's horrible. I had to do it in a local government role years ago.
There was a huge investigation and the person was sacked. They'd upset almost everyone in the workplace over the years and several people had left.