War on thousands of local borough council 'non-jobs'

ILW

What is the procedure within LAs for sacking someone who is just not very good at the job? It appears that it is nigh on impossible judging by by the amount of rubbish managers you refer to. Could this be at the heart of the problem?

lemonjelly

ILW wrote: »

What is the procedure within LAs for sacking someone who is just not very good at the job? It appears that it is nigh on impossible judging by by the amount of rubbish managers you refer to. Could this be at the heart of the problem?

It really isn't that easy. I posted this some time ago, & it feels appropriate to repeat it:

lemonjelly wrote: »

Not quite that simple.

See, first we'd need to do a risk assessment.

Then we'd need to have a tea break.

Then we'd need to look at the practicalities of carrying out the task.

Then we'd need a tea break.

Then we'd need to order some chairs - after all, in the public sector the first rule is take a seat (following the tea break of course).

After ordering chairs we'd put the kettle on & wait 6 weeks for them to arrive. Of course, if we'd ordered them from a private sector supplier they'd arrive within the hour.

By then, it'd be nearly lunchtime. Traditionally, that is what time we'd all meet up by the water machine.

After a chat, we'd have lunch. Following our 90 minute lunch break, we'd have to slow down, as the risk assessment says to avoid getting stitch...

By 3pm we'd start discussing how we laugh about our gold plated pension that all of you are paying for mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha

That lasts for 30 mins. By which time it is home time.

The next morning we'd come in for a cuppa.

We'd then convene a meeting to review the previous day, any progress made. We may well then become aware of the need to come up with an action plan. This may require another meeting. This is thirsty work, so a tea break is needed.

When a senior manager is reviewing the action plan he/she would be well aware of some council in far far away land doing something similar. To this end, a 3 week exchange trip - all expenses paid of course - would need to be facilitated for us to review their working practices, & the merits of their work.

Of course, on return, we'd have to meet for 3 days to share presentations of our experiences in far far away land.

We'd then submit proposals to the senior management team, & request permission to proceed.

Of course, the senior managers are always out, golfing mainly. Either that or holidays. One of them is long term sick & they're the budget holder, so we'd have to wait til they returned. They have a planned phased return to work in 2 years (completely coincidentally, when their sick pay is reduced from full pay to half pay!) so we'll have to wait for them to return before a final decision is made.

Of course, in between all that, a GE could be called which would throw a right spanner in the works!

Phew! That was hard work. Need :coffee:

poppy9, akin to tomterm8's post, TWH is just upset that the above is our working life, whereas he actually has to put in some elbow grease from time to time. We only put in elbow grease on fridays, on the way out...

ILW

So what is involved in getting rid of a poorly performing middle manager?

It does appear that a manager in the public sector suffering from stress will be given 6 months sick leave, whereas in the private sector he or she will be deemed to be "not up to the job" and demoted or sacked.

Teachers appear to be a good example of this anomaly.

Poppy9

lemonjelly wrote: »

It really isn't that easy. I posted this some time ago, & it feels appropriate to repeat it:



poppy9, akin to tomterm8's post, TWH is just upset that the above is our working life, whereas he actually has to put in some elbow grease from time to time. We only put in elbow grease on fridays, on the way out...

That made me laugh so much. :T

Brallaqueen

ILW wrote: »

So what is involved in getting rid of a poorly performing middle manager?

It does appear that a manager in the public sector suffering from stress will be given 6 months sick leave, whereas in the private sector he or she will be deemed to be "not up to the job" and demoted or sacked.

Teachers appear to be a good example of this anomaly.

Where I work, its partly fear of damaging the (service/branch etc)'s reputation. One hint that something 'negative' is going to go to the press and it is 'damage control' meetings and publicity exercises at the ready.

The rest is that you only really get promoted to manager if you 'fit' with the company - in the dog-eat-dog world of business that means making money and ends up being the biggest seller/most lucrative agent

Public sector seems to be more about 'providing a service', so while managers may employ people with skills, they promote people who 'will contribute to and improve on service provision' regardless of skill set. Basically, if they think you think like them, they like you.

ILW

Brallaqueen wrote: »

Where I work, its partly fear of damaging the (service/branch etc)'s reputation. One hint that something 'negative' is going to go to the press and it is 'damage control' meetings and publicity exercises at the ready.

The rest is that you only really get promoted to manager if you 'fit' with the company - in the dog-eat-dog world of business that means making money and ends up being the biggest seller/most lucrative agent

Public sector seems to be more about 'providing a service', so while managers may employ people with skills, they promote people who 'will contribute to and improve on service provision' regardless of skill set. Basically, if they think you think like them, they like you.

What about those that are promoted and do not perform?

The_White_Horse

ILW wrote: »

What about those that are promoted and do not perform?

you mean everyone in the public sector?

they get contractually agreed promotions every year. scum bags.

ILW

I am sure there are good people in the public sector. Problem is they are not allowed to shine as it would not be fair on the useless ones.

Hereward

The_White_Horse wrote: »

you mean everyone in the public sector?

they get contractually agreed promotions every year. scum bags.

Do they? I don't see that many CEOs of Councils kicking about.

asc99c

A lot of public sector jobs do have very fixed pay scales, where you go up grades based on years of service, rather than ability and contribution. Extra effort can make some difference, but usually you'll be earning within 10-20% of what you would earn putting in the bare minimum. It must be a bit demoralising to see the useless layabouts get the same pay rise as you each year.

At least in my job, usually when someone is useless I can think to myself, well at least I'm being paid twice as much as them.