Advice please

sharneM

Hi,

I am desperately unhappy and I seeking some impartial advice.

Basically i have worked for a company for the last 6 years moving on from a customer service assistant, supervisor, duty manager as well as other duties in other areas.

I have applied over the years for a couple of promotions and in Novemeber i was offered the position of Assistant Manager, however there is no manager in this section.

I feel completely out of my depth and i feel like im continuously attempting to do things which i have no idea about. Ie Rotas, budgets etc in an area i have never worked in. I feel like im unable to talk to the next manager up every time i have gone for a talk they just say something like 'if you have come here about x then come back when its sorted'

I feel so lost, I constantly feel sick, my heart races and every time i think of work i cry i just want to go back to my old job.

Does anyone have any advice ie can i ask to go back to my old job?

poet123

Are they currently advertising for a Manager? If not then your job title is a misnomer, you are in effect the manager not an assistant,which was not the job offered.

whitewing

As you already work for the company, I seriously don't think you would have got the job if you weren't capable of it. It has always taken me a good six weeks to get used to a new role. Yours will be a little more demanding in terms of the run up to Christmas. You maybe want someone to tell you how to do it. But perhaps the way to get help is to work things out for yourself but then tell the next manager that is how you want to implement it and get his feedback at that stage. You will already know a lot, lot more than you think you do about the job. Stop panicking and have a little faith in yourself. If you make a mistake, it's no big deal, you can put it right. Really good advice is 'fake it 'til you make it' - act confident and happy and you will inspire confidence and that will make others easier to handle. You can do this. Seriously, you can.

[Deleted User]

Give yourself some time your job teething, remember they wouldn't have given you the job especially on the 'inside' if they didn't think you capable

Think: A brand new job elsewhere may be worse. Your kind of part of the furniture, don't let it go 6 years = lose of rights in a new place

A 'head above' might be being lined up which may mean things will get easier - have you asked this?

LittleVoice

whitewing wrote: »

You maybe want someone to tell you how to do it. But perhaps the way to get help is to work things out for yourself but then tell the next manager that is how you want to implement it and get his feedback at that stage.

I agree with this. Don't go with just a problem, go with a proposed solution.

(This applies to all levels in the workplace - unless it is a matter of real urgency and you have no idea of what to do but the senior person needs to know there is a problem without delay.)

poet123

I think the advice above is all good but we don't know what level the OP is at and what level she is expected to be working at.

It is a big jump to actually be doing the job of a manager from a starting position lower than an assistant manager. There will have been no opportunity for the OP to see an actual manager in action, understand the processes or the deadlines, add to that she will be being paid for the job she is contracted to do not the one she is actually doing.

It must be horrible when you dread Mondays, and have a panicky feeling all the time you are in work in case something you cannot cope with crops up. That level of angst is not sustainable and it is not fair to the OP.

Yes, she needs to be pro active, but she also needs training and mentoring. Op is there a friendly manager who would be willing to help you? Can the firm organise training?

In your shoes I wouldn't be saying to your employer quite what is in your OP, but something along the lines of "to get me up to speed in this area is there training available? Is there a senior mamager who could oversee my decisions until I have had the training. Is there a plan to put a manager in. Couch your questions from the perspective of improving your performance rather than your lot, and it will go down better. The end result will be the same but you will have approached it in a way most firms will act on.

Nebulous2

Think of your job as a juggling act with too many balls, or a plate-spinning competition with too many plates. You will drop some. You cannot do everything you want to do.

The trick is in calculating which ones can safely drop off the bottom of your to-do list and which ones really need to get done. In other words prioritise, reprioritise then start tomorrow and do it again. Keep a list, tick things off as you do them. Do the jobs you dislike first, rather than leaving them. When you complete one of these, reward yourself with a task you enjoy.

This may not all apply, but where I have seen new managers run into trouble it has very often been because they don't get that you cannot do everything.

Takeaway_Addict

Give it more time, ask other assistant managers (I presume you are in a supermarket) for advice etc

sharneM

Hi,

Thankyou all for your comments.

Previously I was a supervisor within a completely different brand so this move is dramatically different. Ie, ordering for one is completely different ordering for the other, the same with all the different other bits i have to do.

I am going to talk to the general manager tomorrow although i am dreading it, it is hard to go with a plan when your not actually sure what you are meant to do other assistant managers in the building are not responsible for bits like Rota's and budgets etc they are just there to help assist the manager, which is the way it technically should be and there is no chance that a manager is going to be put in the place i am in.

I just feel like i have been duped into thinking i would have a little bit more help/ guidance when i accepted i was told that i would be going to another site to get training then after i signed etc it was decided this would not be the case.

Another thing he mentioned when i took the job was that i would have to prove myself etc and i think it is just adding unnecessary pressure on me, I just know I cant continue to feel like this

Thankyou all again