Doing a bad job at work but can’t leave

messedup123

i work as a social care worker with people with disabilities. For the last 5 months we have been very short staffed and I have had to take on extra duties. I have been finding this really hard and spoke to my manager about it and he tried to help me but they couldn’t get anyone else in until the end of this month. The issue is that I have been doing a terrible job and have let so much slide. I don’t have proper files done I have not been goving good care to the service users and I feel that I should leave the job. However me and my partner have a new build on the way the developers haven’t given us a specific date it will be ready but could be March. We have a mortgage offer but I can’t leave my job as I can’t be on probation when we draw down. I wake up every night thinking about things I forgot to do at work or ways that I messed up or let service users down, I don’t think I can last much longer and actually fee it is selfish of me to be in the job because I am not proving good care to clients and even though o know help is coming I feel like I hate this job and am waiting on everyone to find out how badly I have handled everything. I want to cry every day and was doing therapy but it didn’t help. If it was just me I’d say screw the mortgage and leave now but my partner has worked so hard to get to this point I feel I can’t let them down either. I just don’t know what to do.

lurker2000

You are overwhelmed and overworked and you will collapse mentally at this rate. Can you take sick leave due to this stress? Give yourself breathing space and time to research switching careers. There will be plenty of job opportunities for someone with your experience. You need to be Frank with your partner also and get him to help take the burden off your back. Good luck xx

FishOnABike

It's a job. It pays the mortgage.

If you are under resourced to do what you want to do as well as you want to do just do your best in the circumstances. Any shortfall is not on you it is on your employer.

I am sure your clients are better off having someone who cares about them rather than you resigning over a temporary resourcing problem and leaving them with even fewer care workers to look after them.

Rather than dwelling on what you have not been able to get around to doing, think of the things you have done every day which have helped your clients and made their day that little bit better.

Big Bag of Chips

Just keep letting your manager know that there are aspects of the job you are not getting to because you are over stretched. Ask him what does he want you to prioritise and what does he want you to let slide while you are waiting for more staff.

He's the manager. He is the one with responsibility for ensuring the job is getting done. So give the responsibility back to him. Tell him you can't possibly do everything to the standard you could if you were only doing your own work. Tell him something has to be put aside until more staff are brought on and ask him to tell you what. Then forget about that aspect of the job until such a time as you can get to it. If anyone questions why it wasn't done, refer them back to your manager.

Pomodoro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117862941#Comment_117862941

Exactly this. Something has to give. One of the hardest, but most important professional skills is to be realistic about the amount of work you can commit to, and make sure you follow through on the commitments you make. Its good that you have already discussed this with your manager, but it sounds like you will have to discuss it again, and make it clear that you simply cannot continue with some of your responsibilities. You should be able to decide between the two of you on what gets dropped.

HBC08

I work in the exact same job as you.

My current service has good people and is well run.I have been in others where management have been useless and the service was seriously understaffed to the detriment of the service user and staff.

This is the fault of poor management.Ever time they ask you to stay on,work extra shifts etc you are covering over their inadequacies.If you keep doing that it will continue.

It's a job that naturally caring people gravitate towards so it can be very tough to not give 100% to a service user but you have to put yourself and your health first.

Only work your contracted hours,dont cover and highlight at every opportunity this is due to staff shortages etc.

I was in badly run service before with a very challenging service user.They kept throwing inexperienced new ( like me) staff in because they were eager to impress and wouldn't say no.I left it after I saw what was happening but that was after 6 months of hell,that service is still operating the same way years later,dont be a martyr.

dublin49

the eternal problem,I cant do it because Im asked to do too much.

What you need to repeat to yourself about 10 times a day is it will be worse for the person that replaces me as at least I have the

benefit of knowing the ropes etc.

If you leave you will replace the worry about your job to financial concerns.Maybe consider doing a bit extra work until your Mortgage is sorted ,I know its hard and you should not have too but it will empower you because you will know nobody could be doing it better.

It will get resolved so hang in there and work weekend to weekend.

Big Bag of Chips

By the way, you've been short staffed for 5 months already. And he's now saying he can't get anyone until the end of this month. So 6 months without being able to find ANYONE? Or has he now only decided to look for someone because you've raised it with him?

Often management can take advantage of their staff and not replace staff who have left because other staff members run themselves ragged trying to cover. You need to start saying "No. I can't do that today".

You can be sure others say no. And you won't be let go or reprimanded because your manager needs you more than you need him. If, as he claims, he has been unable to get any staff to fill the position for almost 6 months.

HildaOgdenx

I agree with suggestions to keep pushing back on your manager. As long as things appear to be going reasonably well, and despite the fact that you are hugely stressed, there is no pressure on them to sort anything out.

I would also second the suggestion of taking time off, because it sounds like your health is being hugely impacted.

Talk to your GP. No job in the world is worth losing your good health over.

I am me123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117863936#Comment_117863936

I often wanted to speak up to management in past jobs about the huge workload and management of same. But I often thought better of it worried management would read me saying this as really saying " Im just not up to the job". Next thing they'd use it as an excuse to terminate my employment.

Tork

It all depends on how you present your case. Throwing your hands up and saying "I can't do this" is one thing. The way to handle this, in my opinion, is to approach management and be perfectly reasonable and display a willingness to work with them. Highlight the resource issues. Then tell them that you can do X and Y but don't have the resources to do Z. You can do Z but only if you drop X or Y. Which would they prefer? The most important thing here, from your point of view, is to keep management in the loop. It puts the ball back into their court and they can't argue that they weren't told. You're also being reasonable in that you've told them what is needed and that you're willing to work with them. You've also set your own boundaries by doing this.

As other posters have already said, management are often happy to let their staff run themselves ragged just as long as the work gets done. There's a big difference between doing a bit extra and taking on another person's workload. They know exactly what they're doing and they're simply pushing the boundaries of what their staff will accept.