Private to public sector - struggling to adjust

[Anxiety17]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had been in a similar situation or could offer any advice.
ive worked in a career in the private sector my entire life. My original job was a vocation which morphed into a field adjacent (think film making to marketing even though it isn’t quite that).

my last role was extremely intense in the private sector. I was promoted several times and ended up with a lot of work on my plate and was very well respected and regarded - until a management change ended up with me having to leave.

Ive taken quite a large pay cut to do a role of the same title technically in the public sector. I am extremely grateful for the job and how quickly I got it, plus the fact it seems at present like the public sector is a better work life balance etc.

i am hired on an FTC for a specific project. The team is 9 people large and everyone on the team is from a different area (eg project management, engagement etc) so I’m not sat in a team who all have the same role as me. I do have a dotted line to the head of the department my role would conventionally sit in.

im finding the pace of work so painfully slow. It feels like the project is taking a while to get off the ground and I’ve done everything I can do until things start moving - I’ve been proactive, provided plans and forecasts, connected with colleagues, trying to learn what I need where I can. But I can’t deliver anything yet and I feel like everyone is looking at me like I’m twiddling my thumbs.

im used to doing so much that I didn’t look up from my desk all day, spinning lots of plates and being good at it despite how it ended. It feels here like there’s a lack of speed and although I want to enjoy the slower pace as I know the last role was unhealthy I’m struggling to not feel guilty day to day about not doing anything? My manager is fine, I regularly communicate what I’m up to but I can’t shake the feeling.

anyone else had this?

Yes, but when moving from local authority to the NHS. I was always flat out in the LA, had a lot of autonomy and got stuff done. The NHS was rigidly hierarchical and required multiple layers of sign off for the simplest of decisions - drove me mad. My manager, like yours, was great, understood my frustrations and that I wanted to do more but couldn’t. It did get very busy but only ever in bursts. I got used to it - mostly by being open with my manager and colleagues. I’ve moved to a different LA and now it is halfway between the two - so still able to breathe, but a bit more steady.

I'm a management consultant. Mostly private sector but the few times I've engaged with public sector the pace of decision making and the number of sign-off layers drove me round the bend!

Thanks both for your replies. It is driving me around the bend - for the few tasks I’ve delivered there’s endless forms, sign offs etc. my counterparts on the team I would conventionally be sat in seem to be doing a lot but because my wage is from a ringfenced pot they don’t want me to pick up workaday stuff (even though I have asked). I’m mid/senior level but feel like I’ve got no say in what I’m actually doing

Yes I went from a fast paced commercial environment to the public sector and it took me ages to accept the slower pace of work.

I did come to accept it but I was always looking to spread my wings and feed my experience into other areas. It worked for me. I was respected for my ability to “get things done” and frankly I enjoyed the work life balance.

For sure it’s a change of pace but so long as you’re meeting your targets and management are happy with progress, in my experience you’ll get used to it! It just takes a while.

I think part of the concern lies with the fact that it isn’t just public sector slow, the project is also slow moving. So my colleagues on the corresponding team (imagine I’m a policy manager but not working on the policy team, for example) seem to be getting annoyed at my lack of deliverables. But my direct manager is happy and I’m doing all I can do and more atm (unless I pick up less relevant work which they don’t want me to do). I could be imagining the annoyance though as I had a fairly bad experience at my last place which was part of a sector notorious for making people’s lives hell

Yes it is frustrating. I’ve been public sector for a lot of years but started in the private sector. Still get frustrated at how everything has to be cleared by very senior people so gets bottle necked. Have had a few very simple projects that should have been implemented quickly but took months or in one case years longer than they should have done. Our organisation is going through a reform programme to improve autonomy and remove bureaucracy but I think the culture is too ingrained.

The project is travelling at the speed of public sector. If it is concluded (let alone successfully) then take that as a win, even if it takes 5 times longer than in private sector.

It drove me insane when I worked for a council. The level of inefficiency was interesting.

The days, when they would modernise and re-felt garages and then the next week knock them down, are not gone.

I moved into public sector, found that I would finish all my work by mid-morning. When I asked for more work, they were shocked and told me to make it last the day. After I’d been there a year or two, I found it did indeed last the day, because I was becoming part of the culture. I left and went back to private sector because I didn’t want to live my life like that and the contrast was huge, took me a while to get used to it again.

The funny thing is, everyone who’d worked there for years genuinely thought they were super-stressed and overworked.

If it’s CS you’ll get used to it, eventually.

I worked for the DWP in covid after running several businesses it was painful I could of reorganised the department by lunchtime and made it more efficient however after 18 months I was off with depression and my contract finished it was bloody soul destroying - I had no work to do none

@Anxiety17 I don’t think you will get used to it. Big salary drop and few wee hours but woeful productivity. Welcome to the public sector. Many people are there because they aren’t go getters. They don’t care about getting things done well and speedily because they are paid whatever they do and have decent pensions at the end.

My DH ran a business and would never ever employ anyone from the public sector. Just too slow and not used to making decisions. At a slow speed of working the company would never have made any money.

The answer: you thrive on a certain amount of pressure and success in your role. I recognise this from DH. I worked in local government and it’s largely absent. So can you find anything that’s a half way house? Something dynamic and exciting with people you feel comfortable with? If you have great skills, there must be something better?

I tried twice private to public and failed to adapt, it really wasn't for me!

It is worth remembering the reasons why projects take place slowly in the public sector. There are lots more stakeholders who feel they should have a say both internally and externally. Community Councils/Local Residents/Local Businesses etc etc all want a say in what is being done as well as Councillors. Because the money being spent is public money and comes from taxes and Council tax there is far more accountability to far more people than in the private sector. For example our local council is trying to increase parking spaces in a local tourist town but the amount of opposition to every location suggested is amazing but the backlash against there not being enough parking is also huge.

I think it is something you either learn to deal with quickly or decide Public Sector is not for you and move back to Private Sector.

Thanks all for the considered responses. Reassuring to know it’s not just me!
yes I think the point about a certain amount of pressure is pertinent here!!

That is exactly what my DH said when he moved to PS. He said they made theost simple tasks stretch out all day when it could be completed in an hour or so. He was told stop showing off and trying to make others look slow when everyone is working hard. He said if someone emailed him asking g for information he sent it to them immediately, but it seemed to annoy them, as they didn't really want the information quickly and wanted to be able to say they couldn't move on as waiting for information.

I volunteer for a charity and many of my colleagues are retired civil servants, several of them quite senior. They love talking, meetings setting up task and finish groups - and nothing ever seems to even actually be resolved or reach any kind of conclusion. I find it baffling tbh.

I’ve spent a lot of my consultancy career dealing with public sector organisations. Once you understand that their primary purpose is not delivering healthcare, education, local services or whatever but job preservation it all makes perfect sense.

Yes - moved from a big corporate to LA. It was hideous and no appetite for change.

If you like working at a faster pace and the ability to make decisions without 15 layers of authorisation then leave.

My leftie brain was so upset with how I found public sector - I believe it in and think it’s crucial. I saw a bloated back office and cut to the bone frontline.

What I also found were sub-par employees who were employed beyond their capability, so a team of 3/4 whose workload could be managed by maybe 2 people where I worked previously.

It was the most depressing period of my life.

I've been in the Civil Service for 2 years after working in private sectors for 15 years and when I first started I felt like I was in the Twlight Zone. It was the only way I could describe how it felt. The pace, the environment, the culture all felt massively different and not in a good way. Unfortunately, I now feel trapped as the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Those of you with no work to do, are you in the office or wfh?

I don't think you will get used to it, you will continue to find it infuriating. I'd either start looking for a new role or create yourself a side hustle and spend you time and energy planning and working on that whilst delivering what you are currently paid to do.

@caringcarer my Dh started out designing bridges for government projects. They were given very long deadlines. He was weeks quicker! Weeks. Did they give him more work? No. It’s poor management and no need to make money. He left and made a lot of money running his own consultancy.

You don't really get used to it you just find ways to keep yourself busy. Although weirdly public sector pays more than private sector for my field. So I can't move back without a significant pay cut.

I have to say this doesn’t surprise me.
i work in the private sector but work a lot with the public sector. The amount of times we have joked about not being able to get away with being as crap and slow as the people in the public sector, but as others have said they all think they are overworked.
I’m also the daughter of two public workers and know the culture from that side too.
Good luck!

I have worked for public sector for 17 years, currently as a project manager. Decision making can be a lot slower than private but then I have experienced some private sector that have more red tape than public. Currently I am stuck in decision limbo for a couple of projects but if it is anything like previous projects it's suddenly all go with elected members expecting it to be delivered within unrealistic timescales, at that point I will be rushed off my feet. I used downtime to do CIPD and admin like updating processes and file structures.