Advice in standalone role

[cutie23 10]

I am in a standalone role; I have very little experience in the area of my field I have branched out. I am covering maternity leave; I was given 4 weeks of training and then was left on my own to do the job. I have a mentor from head office that sees me once a week. I am unhappy in my role as I am finding I am taking twice as long to do something because I am not sure how to do it, so need to spend time looking at policies and procedures as well reading in my own time at work. I find every day I am taking my work home, I feel depressed because I am giving up my social life. The training I have received is inadequate, I am hoping to save up some money and pay for my own training as I have no confidence in doing the job. Can my lack of confidence be partly due to lack of training or more my personality issue? Second of all what can I do to help myself?

 

Thanks

[Alien52 10]

Very few people on their death bed regret not spending more time at work.

[Maxtor 10]

I am in a standalone role; I have very little experience in the area of my field I have branched out. I am covering maternity leave; I was given 4 weeks of training and then was left on my own to do the job. I have a mentor from head office that sees me once a week. I am unhappy in my role as I am finding I am taking twice as long to do something because I am not sure how to do it, so need to spend time looking at policies and procedures as well reading in my own time at work. I find every day I am taking my work home, I feel depressed because I am giving up my social life. The training I have received is inadequate, I am hoping to save up some money and pay for my own training as I have no confidence in doing the job. Can my lack of confidence be partly due to lack of training or more my personality issue? Second of all what can I do to help myself?

 

Thanks

 

Speak to HR or get another job.

No job is worth stressing about.

[barleycorn 10]

Speed comes with experience and confidence. It is to be expected when that when progressing into a stand alone role it will take some time to adjust and get up to speed. It is however vital that you get the support that you need in order to progress.

I suggest the following:

1. You request the time out of your working day to do background reading

2. Request additional support. can you call your mentor at any given time to ask questions?

3. Write your own SOPs for each the tasks you have to complete.

 

jb

[999tigger 10]

More or less the approach that barleycorn has said. You need to talk to them, but be careful how you do so. Talking sooner is better than sticking your head in the sand.

 

Is there anyone you can trust?

You need to tell the guy who is your mentor that you are still getting up to speed and that you either need more support/ taining or they he needs to bear it in mind concerning the speed of your work. You can emphasise you want to make sure the work you do is of a high standard like you do in your other role and that it benefits the business. If someone comes to see you once a week, then thats the opportunity and it doesnt sound like they have cast you adrift. Get him to do his job, he wont know unless you tell him.

 

Setting aside time seems like a good idea.

 

Tell them you need more training as they should pay. Do it early so they know the problem is them and not you.

 

Not sure what sop is, but imagine its something to do with procedures? I'd agree to get all the info you need to do regular tasks, so that when it comes up again you know what to do and its less painful.

 

Be positive and remember they picked you because they trust you and think you can cope. The lack of confience can be to do with both the lack of training as its out of your comfort zone, but you also might not be dealing with stress very well. We dont know because we dont know the situation or workplace.

 

If it counts as a promotion or theres more money then part of the extra hours you will have to get on with it im afraid. Just be thoughtful in the way you ask for help and if you present it in a reasonable way i.e they need to assist rather than you being in a panic, then it should be soemthing you cna easily sort out. In any event keep a diary of whats going on.

 

Bear in mind we dont know the job , the employer or the environment.

[barleycorn 10]

SOP = Standard Operating Procedure. Just basically a written process for each task. The amount of information it contains can vary from brief bullet points to a full on description of every stage of a process such that someone who has never done the task to hand could pick it, follow it, and successfully perform the task. In the OPs case it is purely for her benifit so the amount of information it contains should be sufficient for her to perform the task.

They can be handy in a new role both as a means of cementing in your mind what each tasks involves (by writing out what a process involves you force your brain to understand the process) and to provide instructions on processes with which you are not overly familiar.

 

It can also be handy to write checklists for each task so you can monitor where you are up to and what needs doing next.

 

jb

[999tigger 10]

Oh ofc. We were thinking the same thing. The guidance should have been given in the training.

[tzijlstra 11]

Am I the only one that wonders why four weeks of training were not enough for the role? Unless it is a very difficult job that should have been plenty to at least get to grips with all the essential parts of the role. As you are covering a maternity the employer can't expect you to be superman/woman anyway..

[999tigger 10]

Tzil you dont know enough about the situation or role. For some it would seem enough but for other roles it would be inadequate. It could have been on the job, sporadic or the trainer could have been poor.

[tzijlstra 11]

Tzil you dont know enough about the situation or role. For some it would seem enough but for other roles it would be inadequate. It could have been on the job, sporadic or the trainer could have been poor.

 

Fair enough, some more information about the role would be useful for further advice