Not getting enough guidance in work

LegacyUser

Want to go anonymous for this post, in case anyone identifies me.

I've been working in my current job for a year now. Previously to this I was in a different company, in a somewhat different role. Now I have more responsibility and things seem to be run very differently.

I'm kind of concerned about the work I'm producing. Not that I'm unqualified for my role, but more that I am getting little support from my managers. I obviously have less experience than upper management (4 years compared with 20+), so they would have much more knowledge than me.

The problem is that I am producing work that is not checked until the very last minute, or in some cases not at all. Then if something is wrong it's panic stations and I ultimately feel like I've let everyone down and feel I shouldn't even be in the job I'm in.

On occasion I would ask managers questions to make sure I'm doing certain things correctly, but there are times where I think something is right and due to lack of experience it's turns out to be wrong. Or else it's something I've never encountered before and completely slips by me.

I thought checking of work output is a normal enough thing in any career. Everyone makes mistakes, and senior staff members clearly know more than me to advise on whether something is right or wrong.

How do I approach management to address this problem? If I say something like "I think my work should be checked regularly" it seems like I'm incapable of doing my job. If I approach them every time I complete a big task, again, they'll think I'm incompetent and wasting their time. It feels they're more about quantity of output, not quality, and any interruption to this is seen as a weakness.

I'm really in a bind because I'm very stressed out because of this. Am I in the wrong company? Should I look elsewhere to someone that cares more about their employees and their work about?

dudara

Moved to Work Problems - OP you can continue to post anonymously here.

dudara

livedadream

workedtothebone wrote: »

Want to go anonymous for this post, in case anyone identifies me.

I've been working in my current job for a year now. Previously to this I was in a different company, in a somewhat different role. Now I have more responsibility and things seem to be run very differently.

I'm kind of concerned about the work I'm producing. Not that I'm unqualified for my role, but more that I am getting little support from my managers. I obviously have less experience than upper management (4 years compared with 20+), so they would have much more knowledge than me.

The problem is that I am producing work that is not checked until the very last minute, or in some cases not at all. Then if something is wrong it's panic stations and I ultimately feel like I've let everyone down and feel I shouldn't even be in the job I'm in.

On occasion I would ask managers questions to make sure I'm doing certain things correctly, but there are times where I think something is right and due to lack of experience it's turns out to be wrong. Or else it's something I've never encountered before and completely slips by me.

I thought checking of work output is a normal enough thing in any career. Everyone makes mistakes, and senior staff members clearly know more than me to advise on whether something is right or wrong.

How do I approach management to address this problem? If I say something like "I think my work should be checked regularly" it seems like I'm incapable of doing my job. If I approach them every time I complete a big task, again, they'll think I'm incompetent and wasting their time. It feels they're more about quantity of output, not quality, and any interruption to this is seen as a weakness.

I'm really in a bind because I'm very stressed out because of this. Am I in the wrong company? Should I look elsewhere to someone that cares more about their employees and their work about?

if you want more help ask for it. approach your manager and say look i ve made a few mistakes and im wondering what i can do to prevent it, things were dont differently in my last place.

if you are making mistakes because you feel you lack experience or training then maybe the role isnt for you.

it all depends on the company to be honest, some companies might just go with the flow others have strong compliance.

Mrs OBumble

Partly this relates to what job you are in. Some professions have concepts of professional independence or professional autonomy: roughly speaking, they think that you are responsible for your own practise, meaning that once you are qualified / registered, then if you need input from anyone else it's your responsibility to ask for it, not your manager's to provide it without you asking, or your colleagues to routinely provide it.

Even if you're not in a profession which practices this approach, it may be that your manager comes from that background. Or that they've picked up the idea as part of their preferred management approach.

Personally, I hate it, and believe that organisations should routinely put in processes which ensure collective input and organisational accountability. But not everyone thinks that way.

Depending on your job, you may be better off moving to a company that operates differently.