Annoyed and undervalued

LegacyUser

Hey folks. I work in the public sector, in a department that has responsibility for part of the Covid 19 response. My issue is a little bit difficult to explain and might seem a bit petty but will try my best.

My organisation has a lot of different sections, some of whom have massively reduced workloads due to Covid 19 and some who have the opposite issue. I’m in a section that has seen a huge increase in workload volume, I mean at least doubled if not tripled. I was told on Friday that I am being redeployed three days a week for Covid 19 response work and will now be required to work weekends as well. I will be expected to continue in my current work the other days. Nobody else in my section had been redeployed and there are others in other sections who now have no work to do by their own admission that have not been redeployed either. I am absolutely stunned at the decision, we knew redeployments were coming but we had all assumed that the staff that are now idle would be the ones redeployed. I asked my section manager what was going on and he just said that every section was asked to put forward staff etc, and that is just have to prioritise workload and get what I can done in my main role. It’s not the type of place where colleagues will pick up slack for me to any great degree because everyone else is under pressure too, I am going to be absolutely drowning to get my work done now and people are depending on me to get projects finished.

The decision makes absolutely no sense to me and I am just dumbfounded, my section colleagues cannot believe it either, we had actually put in a request for additional temporary staff such is the pressure we are under right now. I have been told fairly decisively that the decision is final. I should add that I don’t mind doing my bit in the current crisis and I don’t even mind the weekends quite honestly. I am however very upset with my manager who I feel should have stood up more and insisted that we were too busy to release staff right now, and also the fact that I was picked as the one that is dispensable. I am a high performer, a team player and very well liked by everyone. My suspicion is that my manager felt I’d be the most accommodating as I know some of my colleagues would have absolutely exploded if it was them. I don’t even know what I am looking for here, there doesn’t seem to be any going back but am I right to feel a bit aggrieved? The thoughts of the buildup of work on my desk the three days I am out is what is really getting me, it is going to be a nightmare for the next three months. I know it is a small issue in the grand scheme of things but I’m still raging at the way the whole thing has been managed.

The_Honeybadger

Sounds like classic public sector mismanagement and lack of joined up thinking. You have no choice but to ride it out and be thankful that this is hopefully temporary and that you’ll have a permanent job to go back to at the end of it. From what you’ve said, I’d be annoyed too tbh.

boombang

Would it help to explicitly raise the issue? Could management have simply overlooked it?

November Golf

OP you have ever right be annoyed but I would suggest you put your focus on the new role for awhile, if your normal work builds up, you can't take responsible for that - it sounds like a silly decision was made by management so let your management team deal with the fallout.

beauf

You are probably right in that because you normally don't complain, you are getting the short stick. Also your manager wants to look good by not refusing work, or people for this work.

Perhaps look for a lateral move to a different team or manager? Where work is better managed.

The risk is though is a quieter team might have lower visibility in terms of promotions.

Hoboo

One-off OP from 2 weeks ago by a temp user that never returned.

Id save my breath.

PhilOssophy

To try to put a positive spin, in this environment I would say your boss put you forward because you are a high-achiever.
There are some people in our public sector who there is just no point trying to get to do more, or anything beyond the bare minimum. Because they just won't.
I'd say go with it, when this is all over people will look back at who did what in every organisation. It would be worth the shot that it will work out well.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies. My OP took nearly two weeks to appear on the site so I don’t know when this will appear but the issue has been sorted.

After the first week my work started to back up and this had a knock on effect on other projects and team members and started to cause my manager a bit of a headache. I am working on some stuff that would involve a fairly steep learning curve if others took it over so it’s not simply a case of just giving it to somebody else. He went up the line and agreed with senior management that somebody from another section could be subbed in for redeployment so I am back in my original role five days as normal.

It’s amazing how ‘final decisions’ can be changed when the implications start to become a pain for management. I realise it’s a pretty small issue in the grand scheme of what’s happening in the world but in our little team bubble the original decision was ludicrous. I’m still a bit annoyed at the whole debacle but glad it has been put to bed.

smelly sock

Demoralised wrote: »

Hey folks. I work in the public sector, in a department that has responsibility for part of the Covid 19 response. My issue is a little bit difficult to explain and might seem a bit petty but will try my best.

My organisation has a lot of different sections, some of whom have massively reduced workloads due to Covid 19 and some who have the opposite issue. I’m in a section that has seen a huge increase in workload volume, I mean at least doubled if not tripled. I was told on Friday that I am being redeployed three days a week for Covid 19 response work and will now be required to work weekends as well. I will be expected to continue in my current work the other days. Nobody else in my section had been redeployed and there are others in other sections who now have no work to do by their own admission that have not been redeployed either. I am absolutely stunned at the decision, we knew redeployments were coming but we had all assumed that the staff that are now idle would be the ones redeployed. I asked my section manager what was going on and he just said that every section was asked to put forward staff etc, and that is just have to prioritise workload and get what I can done in my main role. It’s not the type of place where colleagues will pick up slack for me to any great degree because everyone else is under pressure too, I am going to be absolutely drowning to get my work done now and people are depending on me to get projects finished.

The decision makes absolutely no sense to me and I am just dumbfounded, my section colleagues cannot believe it either, we had actually put in a request for additional temporary staff such is the pressure we are under right now. I have been told fairly decisively that the decision is final. I should add that I don’t mind doing my bit in the current crisis and I don’t even mind the weekends quite honestly. I am however very upset with my manager who I feel should have stood up more and insisted that we were too busy to release staff right now, and also the fact that I was picked as the one that is dispensable. I am a high performer, a team player and very well liked by everyone. My suspicion is that my manager felt I’d be the most accommodating as I know some of my colleagues would have absolutely exploded if it was them. I don’t even know what I am looking for here, there doesn’t seem to be any going back but am I right to feel a bit aggrieved? The thoughts of the buildup of work on my desk the three days I am out is what is really getting me, it is going to be a nightmare for the next three months. I know it is a small issue in the grand scheme of things but I’m still raging at the way the whole thing has been managed.

Are you part on a union? There is no way they can force you to work weekends for a start. I wouldn't and if you're not happy you need to make it known.

Have you conveyed your feelings to your manager?

On another note it my be a good competency for future competitions. "Backs to the wall and you volunteered to help out for the greater good etc"

And to add, as a manager in the PS I wouldn't be redeploying one of my best workers. So to me there is something a little fishy about this situation.

Perhaps your view as being one of the most productive workers doesn't sit like that with management.

beauf

Hoboo wrote: »

One-off OP from 2 weeks ago by a temp user that never returned.

Id save my breath.

More people read the threads than post on them. Perhaps people in the same situation. Just a thought.

rdwight

Hoboo wrote: »

One-off OP from 2 weeks ago by a temp user that never returned.

Id save my breath.

No reason to doubt that OP is genuine. Description of situation rings true and no less important than lots of issues raised on boards.ie

Division of work in PS (and sometimes in private sector) is often unfair/uneven. Management can also be unfair/uneven.

How hard OP might push back probably depends on age, ambitions for promotion etc. At very least should document concerns about level of work and possible impact on productivity within section. Having in writing can help frame discussion in next performance review. I presume getting co-workers to tell manager that section losing three mandays a week isn't on, or getting union involved aren't options.

Good luck anyway OP. There's a lot of PS workers not at actual frontline but working under extreme pressure during this period (eg in Social Protection getting out massively increased numbers of social payments).

punisher5112

I'd be slowing down a bit and 100% looking after number 1 and not stressing over the extra work.

Don't just start bursting yourself to get things done.

My wife is in a hospital caring for patients and they are ran off their feet but I've said it to her no matter what get your breaks and take time for certain things as you will only get burnt out and then it will be even worse.

I feel terribly bad for all those out of work and especially those that have been let go permanently such as Debenhams.... Shocking how they were told Ireland branch was ok to them get an email stating their jobs are all gone.....


I'm really not looking forward to hearing off others like back in the recession about aren't you lucky to have a job and I'd do it for half what your on and so on.... People like that can go run off a cliff.....


Hopefully we will be back to some normality soon....

LegacyUser

smelly sock wrote: »

Are you part on a union? There is no way they can force you to work weekends for a start. I wouldn't and if you're not happy you need to make it known.

Have you conveyed your feelings to your manager?

On another note it my be a good competency for future competitions. "Backs to the wall and you volunteered to help out for the greater good etc"

And to add, as a manager in the PS I wouldn't be redeploying one of my best workers. So to me there is something a little fishy about this situation.

Perhaps your view as being one of the most productive workers doesn't sit like that with management.

Hey SmellySock

You raise some good points, just to clarify the issue has been sorted and I am back in my old role full time but in relation to some of the things you raised

We have been told (not officially) that we are part of a response to a National emergency and the usual rules are out the window. I do not think militant behaviour and going to unions would have benefited me, certainly not in the long run. I did convey my astonishment and pushed back initially but my manager hid behind the fact that he had orders from above him and that was that. He did say to give it a bit of time and if there were issues he’d look at it but the decision was made for now, I thought that was just lip service. In the end the mistake became clear and it was rectified

We are a small specialist unit, five people. Section manager is quite new and also has responsibility for other sections, he is quite hands off as our section works well and doesn’t usually need much input from him bar asking for reports when he needs them for meetings. I’m not quite sure he fully understands the workflow and how projects and services are delivered yet, in fact he vastly underestimated the workload which he has since admitted.

I do not place myself above others in the team at all, all of my colleagues are very capable and committed, we have no slackers or troublemakers thankfully. My point was that I work with some very headstrong and outspoken individuals who would have made the thing much more difficult for the manager and I think he knew that. I am no shrinking violet but even so I probably offered the presumed path of least resistance and that is why I feel I was put forward.

We had a section meeting last week where the issue was raised among other things and we all agreed that the only sensible action was to try to get me back full time as the work was only going to continue to pile up and nobody had capacity to take on the excess. It was resolved very quickly thereafter.