Stupider and stupider

[graculus]

So, apparently my last post a month ago didn't quite capture the depths of stupidity I am dealing with on a regular basis - if you visualise my part of local government as the former Soviet Union, I am about to get shipped off to the gulag for re-education. ("And you might even enjoy it!" chirped my boss, to which my response was "I think that's asking a little much"). When even my fellow managers are saying "Resistance is futile" then you know you're not alone in thinking that...

Yes, apparently my previous unsullied record of 21 years in this line of work and almost 3 in this current post avails me nothing when I don't get as much as physically possible and then some out of not very much at all. In other words, I am crap at ticking boxes and excel at getting the best out of people except that my definition of 'the best' isn't 'wringing every last drop of work and then some' so I am therefore a Bad Manager. That's basically what it's about, though it's being couched as being infinitely more esoteric than that.

Anyway, I shall do my time though I'm not sure what I'm going to actually be doing (not much by initial accounts which seems a bit daft but if they want to carry on paying for my trip to Sri Lanka who am I to complain?), amount yet to be finalised (it started off as "three months minimum" and then became "but it could be less than that" - this word 'minimum' it does not mean what you seem to think it means...) and then start looking for jobs elsewhere in 2013. This rampant asshattery shall not stand!

Comments

[katyabaturinsky.livejournal.com]

Ah, so Good Manager = miracle worker. That's completely fair and not at all ridiculous or unreasonable.

Good luck with the "re-education," and more importantly, even better luck with the job search in 2013!

[graculus.livejournal.com]

My manager is so far from being a good manager, but she is Good in the eyes of those above her so that's what counts. Seriously, I've been in tears because of her/this job more in the past couple of months than I think I have ever in my entire life - that, if nothing else, tells me that it's not a healthy place for me to be.

[khek.livejournal.com]

Your boss sounds horrible. Or maybe just threatened because you know more than he (she?) does? Twenty-one years is a long time...how much time does he have on the job?

You can't get blood from a stone, and yet there seems to be this push in human services for bigger and better results, even if it's not physically possible. Maybe the boss will be placated by making you follow orders, and things will get better for awhile? But in any event, good luck with this "retraining". And good luck with the job search!

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I don't know how much of it is my immediate boss and how much of it is pressure from more senior management - basically it all started with my team's figures being anomalous to what was going on elsewhere and that started them looking. I've held my hands up to the fact that our compliance with procedural issues isn't as good as it could be, but we also have way more work per team member than anyone else and that's been an ongoing (ignored) issue.

Now they're basically re-framing it as being about my attitude to the job rather than the fact that we've had so much going on that nobody could possibly do what I've been asked to do, to that ever-increasingly picky standard, and that there is no allowance made for either that or just sheer human error. Hence the proposal for me to be re-educated because that'll magically overcome all the practical issues about me just not having enough time or team members to do what they want to the standard they want it and do that 100% of the time.

I'm resigned to cooperating with it all, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with it in the longer run. Word in the office where I normally work is now 'everyone is one mistake from the sack' and that's playing hell with morale, to say the least - of course me being shipped off isn't going to help with that.

[sg1scribe.livejournal.com]

I don't understand the logic behind a lot of managerial decisions. A friend of mine has just suffered a 'restructuring', the result is that she still has a job, but now she is expected to do the work of three people. The other two people have been judged as unnecessary. Oh yes, and of course she expected to output the work of three people to the same high standard.

Lunacy, sheer lunacy.

Beware the re-education. If you catch a glimpse of silver helmets run like hell.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of a nightmare in that everything is being framed in a very subjective manner which makes it incredibly easy for them to say I'm not measuring up in the re-education period. For example, months back my boss raised with me that she wasn't happy about how I presented to other agencies and would work with me on that, followed by the matter never getting mentioned again till this week when new third-hand comments are being taken as gospel (never mind that I suspect the source of them is a worker from another agency I had made complaints about). This is once again an issue that they want to include in the re-education period even though there's no way of me proving it's an issue when I'm not actually doing my job. I don't regard this as anything except a drawn-out prelude to my being dismissed from this post and after donkey's years of no complaints whatsoever about my practice it's a bit hard to swallow that I'm suddenly so very problematic.

My first mistake was even trying to do what was being asked - my position is that nobody could do what was being asked of me to the standard required 100% of the time, since my workload basically doubled after a new system was introduced in February. The other districts have responded to the change by putting in more staff. Not mine.

Anyway, I'm done. Can't see how, if I manage to survive re-education, I can ever have any confidence that the big stick isn't always hanging over me in the future for the slightest perceived infraction? Why on earth should I put up with this kind of shit? Unfortunately, it's likely to stick with me regardless of the outcome...

[sg1scribe.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear that it has done so pear-shaped. I empathise with your frustration. I once worked with a company that asked me to list strengths and weaknesses in my annual review. What I presented as 'this is an area I could improve in' then became in their minds 'You are rubbish at this and therefore we can't trust you, use you, yadda, yadda'. No offer was ever made to help me improve. Stupid managers.

Absolutely you shouldn't have to put up with what they are doing. Can you raise a grievance? Like you say you have a long and unblemished track record and if the issues are not measurable and if the managers have not followed proper procedures in terms of dealing with things then you should have a strong case. Another friend who is in a similar position - different field of work - has got the union on her side and they are kicking up a stink on her behalf.

Sadly, from the little I know of your line of work, what you are describing is happening to people all over. Most of my friends in your field have quit or are just trying to keep their heads down and making it to the next pay day. It is a tragedy on many levels :-(

[siluria]

After two goes I really don't think I'll be going back to public sector working. I just don't get how they can manage to get by!! You have my sympathies and I hope a wonderful new job comes your way.