Job and Workplace Advice Thread

My company has gone through about 4 different Review forms in the last 4 years. Makes it completely impossible to have any continuity if you rely on the forms. I’ve just told my management team to set the goals separately and screw using the forms. We use the meeting more to catch up, point out any work that needs to be built on, discuss what the employee wants to achieve this year, making sure we haven’t missed anything, and give the employee a chance to give us feedback.

I’ve been having constant debates with our HR team as they’re trying to have standardized procedures for training, onboarding and reviews across the board. I keep on having to explain to them that a lab doesn’t work anywhere near the same way an office does.

Not exactly in a free wheeling, go my own way job. The business sets my work. Not me. And I don’t mthink the data exists for anything I’d set KPIs on.

On of the sales team in our open plan office is an one of those obnoxiously loud individuals who lacks any kind of self awareness.

When my new manager started a couple of months ago they introduced themselves as someone with no filter.

Well, someone went no filter on them today and they couldn’t get into the only manager on sites office quick enough!

You finally cracked?

Not me.

Another, who is also massively overworked atm as they’re covering for someone on LSL who wasn’t replaced …

I found a $1000 dollar discrepancy in our beer invoices this week.
We have 70 stores.
It’s not my job to do that.

You want me to set my goals?

Performance frameworks are absolutely essential for project-based work. I’ve definitely worked in places where bosses did not put such things in place and it was a rolling disaster, sometimes not even knowing whether something done now would be useful in two weeks time. I was far too patient in some cases.

Well this is awkward, the paperwork’s been delayed a few days and now I’ve been asked to review a federal tender for my current employer and brief the sales team on our capabilities in the Service Management and SIAM space.

My future employer is planning to bid on the same tender with me as primary solution lead.

Now I need to do an availability dance to avoid even seeing the tender till I hand in my resignation.

Awkard is an understatement, even looking at the document would create a conflict of interest and block me from being involved in the bid at my new place.

The tender is due to be published on Monday, I could be saved if they delay publishing, which I’m told is a real possibility. Fingers crossed for bureaucratic incompetence.

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Go on a wild bender then be hungover a few days. Job done!

Sounds like a good time to call in sick

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Believe me I’ve considered a few scenarios involving my absence, but I’m in the midst of a complex transition for another Federal client and we’ve lost 2 of 7 resources, had another put on limited hours and had budget issues because we had to allocate work to more senior staff, bailing even for a few days would create even more issues and while I still work for my employer I won’t give them less than my professional standards. I’ll rely on being really busy till I can quit.

I imagine this is unlikely, but could you call in sick now, do that other work (on the existing projects) in the background, while ‘sick’, and hand it in when you resign in a couple of days?

I get the feeling that such a scheme would not go down well!

Would never fly, I can however pack my calendar with meetings for a few days.

This might sound stupid, but stick with me. I applied for a job with a multinational I.T. company that has an office in Sydney. All well and good. I just received a call from a phone number in New Zealand. I reasonably assumed that, given most bogus calls are from overseas, that it was just another one of those and didn’t pick it up. Then I got an e-mail 5-10 minutes later saying I was knocked back.

Now some people might just say pick up the phone, but why is this company not calling at least from Australia for an Australian-based job? Really really strange, at least to me. I suppose the real question is, is this a common thing?

Why do you assume the call was from them? More likely a coincidence.

I suppose it is a big assumption for me to make.

Not that any SFCU patron would ever be rejected for a job for any reason other than overqualification.

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Update on the problem staff member at my partners work. She resigned yesterday!!

9 shifts in and she’s resigned haha. According to her contract the notice period is 8 weeks, but they are going to try agree on an immediate end or a few weeks, so they can finally get the advert out and hire the person they badly need.

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I have a second job interview last thing today, first one seemed to go really well and they rejected all candidates except for me.

It’s a Client Services Director role, which is basically what I do now, however I will be managing a team of 6 people. I have managed people before in my current role, but during Covid, the head office made the 4 people I managed redundant and I currently work in an office by myself. When I did manage those people, they all basically didn’t need much management as some of them had been with the company 10+ years, so everyone knew what they were doing and worked well.

The main feedback from the first interview was they think I’m a really good fit, but want to get a better idea of my management style. I’ve tried to create a bit of a persona of how I would like to manage people and come up with a few different scenarios from when I was, but if anyone has any additional tips of how to portray this, it will be much appreciated!