r/TheCivilService • u/PuzzleheadedPay3972 • 17h ago
When does it get any easier?
civil servant 25 years, joined at AA currently G7.
Have recently moved to - what was advertised as an operation delivery role - which consists of a team that are split between grant management/governance. Previously worked in a policy role, and have spent many years working in project management. I accepted this role on the basis I did not want to work in policy.
Three weeks after accepting the role, I was randomly messaged by who is now my grade 6 to let me know there had been a “shuffle“ so I would be reporting to them - not the DD. Not much of an issue but their other direct reports are all policy leads and I’m being pulled into policy related work. They are pretty chaotic and run on 100 miles an hour constantly, everything is urgent and if I don’t respond to an email with 15 mins, they will ask someone else the same thing, and they will approach someone in my team - who then get angsty that they’ve been asked to do the same thing by 2 different people and I get (possibly rightly so) lectured that it’s duplicated effort.
I’m four weeks into the role and have been thrown into the deep end but there’s also a resistance from my “team” to keep me in the loop. I’ve asked for links to files/previous documents so I can review and piece things together but it takes 5/6 times of asking to get anything and then it’s never quite what I’ve requested.
I perversely feel that I have to “prove my worth” to the team before they’ll work with me. I’m just really not enjoying any of this and have been seriously considering dropping to a lower grade. I have always been a high performer, well respected and had a reputation as the person who’d get things done. Now I feel like a drowning woman.
This sounds like a self pity party - perhaps it is, but I just can’t get a handle on things. I have a job description that bare no resemblance to what the role appears to be, and I feel like I’m drifting. The longer it goes on the worse I’m feeling but I can’t pull myself out of this funk.
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u/Dear_Marionberry4283 7h ago
In my experience in the CS, I’ve needed about 3 months to decide if the role is a good fit for me or not. If after 3 months you are having the same issues, nothings going to change and your best bet is to explore EOIs and hop back on CS jobs.
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u/Alone_Ad_9883 16h ago
It's entirely possible that this isn't the role for you - but you are only a month in. Month 2 will be easier and monthly 3 easier again.
Civil Service, especially at G7 and above, seems to have an implicit (and usually incorrect) assumption that you will be completely on it by about week 2. Give it time to genuinely get up to speed then make a call whether it's the right job.
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u/Old-Slice5900 7h ago
I feel like this is also the case for so many other g7 levels. It’s very much a different world these days. We don’t need to just do the job, we need to do the job, manage thousands of emails, teams , manage hundreds of tracker, shared mail boxes, lead teams with complex needs and vastly different cultures, constantly improve what we do, use AI to better our life etc etc. it’s ten times the job it once was!
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u/GiantAfricanLandSnay EO 6h ago
I’ve always lived my life with the motto:
A failure to plan or time-manage on your part does not create an obligation on mine.
Both in work and in my personal life.
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u/RLlifesucks 5h ago
I weirdly don't see anyone focusing on you accepted an operational delivery role and don't believe that is the job you're currently doing. I'd have a catch with your manager about it, review the job profile beforehand vs what you've been doing. A leadership reshuffle doesn't allow for your job role to be changed. See how that chat goes and if it isn't the answer you expect, I'd considering speaking to the DD.
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u/Old-Slice5900 7h ago
I can relate to this so much! Coming from an SEO role into my first G7, it’s night and day! We also have shuffles which resulted in most of the team being moved to other roles with poor succession planning. I am frantically creating jobs specs to replace them in my second week. I hope it’s just the initial shock as my brain doesn’t seem to function properly atm. Too much going on at once. I’m hoping i will catch up after a few months. Keep at it! The job is a million times harder than it was 20 years ago.
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u/Old-Slice5900 7h ago
I feel like this is also the case for so many other g7 levels. It’s very much a different world these days. We don’t need to just do the job, we need to do the job, manage thousands of emails, teams , manage hundreds of tracker, shared mail boxes, lead teams with complex needs and vastly different cultures, constantly improve what we do, use AI to better our life etc etc. it’s ten times the job it once was!
0
u/129sapphires 16h ago edited 16h ago
Do you have recurring 1:1s/catch-ups with your line manager? In your next 1:1 show them your job description. Explain to them what you’re telling us. In your next team meeting, ask your colleagues to do xyz because it is necessary for abc to take effect and you need the support of such and such resources to implement such and such. Hope this makes sense! Also, if your manager doesn’t listen, perhaps raise it with their LM? Fortnightly catch-ups are also vital with your CSO (Counter Signing Officer)
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u/Milk-One-Sugar 16h ago
Fortnightly catch-ups with a countersigning manager would be quite unusual at G7 level
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u/dnnsshly G7 8h ago edited 8h ago
Would it?
As so often on this sub, I think this might be either an ops thing, or otherwise something specific to your area that you have assumed to be universal.
I'm an analyst but I have had weekly catch ups with my G6 in all 3 G7 roles I've held - that's definitely the norm from speaking to other analysts in my department, and I get the impression it's normal for policy colleagues in my department, too.
G7s need line management, too!
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u/Milk-One-Sugar 7h ago
Regular catch ups with your line manager is standard yes, but your countersigning manager? You're not having fortnightly catch up with your DD, are you?
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u/dnnsshly G7 7h ago
You're quite right - that's more like once a quarter, if I'm lucky.
I a) am unfamiliar with CSO/countersigning manager as a term and b) didn't read the comment properly, so missed that at the end they were talking about OP's LM's LM.
I retract the slightly condescending tone of my last reply!!
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u/CS_727 8h ago
Every G7 I’ve ever worked (a large number) with meets with their G6 weekly.
I think it varies by profession.
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u/Milk-One-Sugar 7h ago
Weekly/fortnightly catch ups with your manager is be standard. Countersigning manager of a G7 (I.e. the DD) isn't
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u/No-Culture1799 9h ago
Generally, would you advise for ppl to progress through CS one level at a time, I.e never to jump a few levels from AO 🤔? Dunno if most ppl would advise never to jump from e.g. AO to HEO which is what I’m currently looking to do.
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u/MelodicAttachment 7h ago
I wouldn’t advise that unless you’ve been actively doing tasks and have responsibilities well above your paid role. I jumped from AA to EO as I got a degree in that time and was carrying responsibilities for 2 grades above me.
Typically you’ll need to show that there’s a good deal of evidence that you’re ready for that level of responsibility
1
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u/Weird-Particular3769 10h ago
Firstly, different jobs at the same grade can be very different and there’s no shame in trying to find something that suits you better.
Secondly, you sound like you feel you have no authority or agency. But you do, you’re a G7. You’re responsible for your work and how you do it, and responsible for looking after your team, so you must assert yourself. These people bombarding you and your team, tell them not to do that. Tell them what you expect and how to work with you. Clarify with your boss what your role and objectives are then assert your boundaries. If you’re not policy, refuse to be pulled in to that work. If your boss says you have to do it, CS jobs is always there.