S/o Careers- helping out an old department

[tealblue]

I'm at a loss and I'll try to keep it simple. I've been at the same company for many years. Department A- small department, worked there for 2.5 years. Manager didn't know how to do the analyst job. She was a micromanager. Moved to Department B. Manager from position A couldn't train the new staff (my counterpart also transferred at the same time). Jobs are a vital daily part to keep the company running. We both trained the new staff. I helped out most as I was physically closer in the building to the new staff and my new department still works closely with my old dept.

One of the replacement people put in their 2 week notice. The head (above micromanager) of dept A reached out to my boss a few levels up in dept B and asked if I could help fill in while they hire and train someone new. I assume me and the other newer person in the dept would train and I would do a few hours of daily work to help her out.

I don't see any benefit of me helping out other than me doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I can not imagine I would get paid more. During my transition from A to B, I worked in A much longer than originally approved. I wasn't able to be fully in my new job. I don't think dept A would have much incentive to get someone in and up to speed quickly if they are no longer paying for a staff person. I would still have all my current responsibilities. My current department is starting our busy season and I have my hand in most things that my coworkers do- either by training, helping with software issues, reviewing work. Former micromanager never acknowledged me training her staff. I did get several shitty emails from her accusing me of not training her staff as much as she expected (as I was not sitting with them 24 hours a day) and was blamed for any mistakes they made. I never received an apology or a thank you.

I'm pretty sure my boss will pull me in tomorrow to discuss. I don't want to do this unless it's beneficial for me in my career or monetarily. I'll likely have to put in extra time at home after DS goes to bed to keep up with my current job.


Sorry so long- any idea of what to say/ how to approach this with my boss to see how this aligns with any raises or promotions? Dept A is not somewhere I want to go back to as they have high turnover, a micromanager and that MM and her boss will both likely retire in the next 6-9 months. So no one except one person will be around to care that I helped.

[y4m]

I get why you would be frustrated about this, and you do have a right to ask these questions.

That said, you say that this role is a vital part of keeping the business running, and you seem to imply you are pretty much the only one who can do it. So they may have no choice and I would recommend you spend your efforts on structuring it well (e.g. negotiating an clear cap on hours and an end date) rather than avoiding it altogether.

[ddi741]

I agree with the PP. They may be in a bind and know you are the only one who can help. You should also make sure there are aware that there are things in your current role that may not get done due to the time you will be spending on the other job.

[tealblue]

Thanks guys for the responses. I was frustrated last night but have been able to discuss with a few coworkers today, including my boss.

[steph96]

I'm glad that you spoke to your boss about it today. What did they say?

[tealblue]

Oh I agree that it looks bad if I say no but i will have a learning curve to get back up to speed. And they are 2 separate departments. Department A runs through analysts every 2-3 years. Some transfer internally but no one has ever been asked to help out as I have. And the micromanager has never learned how to do some of the work even though she goes through analysts regularly (not that a manager should do the work but someone should be cross trained).

My boss was supportive of whatever decision I make. I have a meeting with big boss of Dept A today, assuming he accepts my meeting request. There are a few other options open- bringing back a former intern in a permanent role, utilizing their current intern to take the load off the remaining employee, etc.

I honestly don't know what to do still and I hope they can utilize some other ways to cover the gap. I feel like doing this is not "leaning in". Besides being a team player, I'm not personally gaining anything. Leaning in would be taking a leadership role in my current department and this is taking a step back and in a different department. The people who would be appreciative will be retiring soon. I feel like it's a woman thing to do this to help out and I don't feel like my company only has their best interests in mind. People always say "look out for yourself because no one else will" and I'm struggling with that because it doesn't make me grow at all if I do this. But of course, I want to stay at this company long term and feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.

[Deleted]

I would offer to mentor the new hire, say you're happy to help them get up to speed if Dept A manager is unable to do so but your current department's job responsibilities and the timing mean you cannot step away during the day or in the evenings to actually do the work.

I'd also ask big boss if there is anything you can do/prepare to ensure that in the future this situation doesn't come up again. Is there something you could provide Dept A manager to help her with onboarding/training/mentoring new staff members? Because while you understand the importance of the role, the truth is as you move and progress through the company you won't always be able to drop everything to step back in and in the future may not have time to properly mentor people either.

There's ground between you become the it person again and not helping at all. And really, mentoring is what a lot of companies look for in their leaders/senior people. There's even room to start discussions on forming a formal mentoring program (should you have an interest in that)

[ddi741]

Could you offer to train Dept A mgr also? For example setting up 2 hours sessions in a conference room where you can show them both how to do the job.
Is there training documentation? If not, can you create that as you are doing the training of the new employee?

[tealblue]

That's really well put @randomcdn. I'll jot those down for my hopeful meeting with big boss!

[tealblue]

Apr 22, 2015 10:15:26 GMT -5 ddi741 said:

Could you offer to train Dept A mgr also? For example setting up 2 hours sessions in a conference room where you can show them both how to do the job.
Is there training documentation? If not, can you create that as you are doing the training of the new employee?

There is training and I tried training manger while I was in the department. She just didn't care to learn. I have a feeling she's going to retire once her boss (the big boss in dept A) retires later this summer. But it's worth offering.

I put together a lot of training documentation as I went out on maternity leave while in dept A and then to transition to the new staff. I'm not sure if the current staff has updated that since I left the department.

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions and advice! I really appreciate getting some outside perspective on this!

[DefenseAgainstTheDarkArts22]

If you do decide to help train the new person would you be able to record it so they can reference that in the future instead of coming back to you?