Unhappy in a new role

LegacyUser

I will try keep this as short as I can, I have worked for my currerent company for 15 years in a management position and have always been seen as a good performer within my function of the company.

A few months ago I was offer a new role in a completely different function of the organisation which I have no experience, I was told that there would be plenty training and support and that this was a fantasic opertunity and could result in a bigger role in the company. I agreed to take the role a trial period of 6months to a year.

A few months in and I have yet to receive any training and I feel completely out of my depth, I'm really struggling and find myself feeling very stressed and I'm not sleeping properly. I raised a concern recently that I was unhappy and felt that this role was not for me, the person I went to got very angry at me and has told me that I would be letting everyone down and that not finnishing the job I have started for the company would be career suicide.

I know myself that I'm not performing that well in this new role and I know people are starting to comment about my performance. This is really starting to effect my confidence and I find I'm moody and tired all the time. In my new role I have moved from having a large team to having no direct reports meaning I work a lot of hours as even the most basic admin for the role has to be done by me.

I have considered leaving but I'm well rewarded for the role and would have to take a pay cut to do so and my family situation means I can't afford to take a pay cut.

Anyone any ideas on what i should do next ?

davo10

You got a promotion with more responcibility and you are unhappy about it? Makes a change from the threads where people are unhappy about being passed over for promotion.

ongarboy

OP, you say that you have no experience to fulfill the requirements of the new role but why would the more senior managers who interviewed or selected you for the role put you in that position if it was clear to them you weren't capable or hadn't demonstrated the necessary skill set in your previous role? Your 15 years in management is your experience rather than the granular subject matter expertise from your previous department. I would imagine that you are expected to apply your transferable skills to the new role. I may be off the mark here as I don't know your industry but typical management responsibilities and skills include crisis management, multi-tasking, meeting critical deadlines, effective prioritization, project management, critical thinking, self starter, thinking on your feet, researching,identifying and executing solutions by yourself, strategic thinking etc etc. I'd be surprised that you didn't employ some or all of these skills in your past job. The fact you aren't yet up to speed on the granular detail of the inner workings of your new function is less essential than your ability to manage. Otherwise, you would never have senior managers move from one company to another as every company's inner workings differ to varying degrees.

You say you are still waiting on training. Formal training is usually the preserve of procedural, repetitive or administrative type roles (ie more junior or entry level roles). I found when I moved from one managerial role to another, I rarely had the luxury of induction or training and certainly no hand holding. Managerial roles usually involve hitting the ground running and learning on the job utilizing the transferable skills you acquired to make you a manager in the first place. The first few months are always intimidating in any new role and people say you have to give it 6 months. I'd go so far as to say you need to give it a year for more senior or managerial type positions before you feel a degree of comfort. It's possible that because you were 15 years in the same role (that length of time is quite unusual by modern standards) that you built up a firm and possibly institutionalized comfort zone that makes it that bit harder now that you are outside that zone.

Are there peers or a trusting superior or mentor you can go to requesting assistance in building a strategy to overcome these concerns? It's unfortunate that someone has already reacted negatively when you tried to discuss your situation. Is it possible to rephrase your concerns in a more proactive way to your manager (what can I do to be better at this job?) rather than a defeatist way (I don't want to do this anymore) so that you will get more empathy and collaboration from them?

I note you say the role is well rewarded but to be well rewarded, you have to earn it.

audi12

ongarboy wrote: »

OP, you say that you have no experience to fulfill the requirements of the new role but why would the more senior managers who interviewed or selected you for the role put you in that position if it was clear to them you weren't capable or hadn't demonstrated the necessary skill set in your previous role? Your 15 years in management is your experience rather than the granular subject matter expertise from your previous department. I would imagine that you are expected to apply your transferable skills to the new role. I may be off the mark here as I don't know your industry but typical management responsibilities and skills include crisis management, multi-tasking, meeting critical deadlines, effective prioritization, project management, critical thinking, self starter, thinking on your feet, researching,identifying and executing solutions by yourself, strategic thinking etc etc. I'd be surprised that you didn't employ some or all of these skills in your past job. The fact you aren't yet up to speed on the granular detail of the inner workings of your new function is less essential than your ability to manage. Otherwise, you would never have senior managers move from one company to another as every company's inner workings differ to varying degrees.

You say you are still waiting on training. Formal training is usually the preserve of procedural, repetitive or administrative type roles (ie more junior or entry level roles). I found when I moved from one managerial role to another, I rarely had the luxury of induction or training and certainly no hand holding. Managerial roles usually involve hitting the ground running and learning on the job utilizing the transferable skills you acquired to make you a manager in the first place. The first few months are always intimidating in any new role and people say you have to give it 6 months. I'd go so far as to say you need to give it a year for more senior or managerial type positions before you feel a degree of comfort. It's possible that because you were 15 years in the same role (that length of time is quite unusual by modern standards) that you built up a firm and possibly institutionalized comfort zone that makes it that bit harder now that you are outside that zone.

Are there peers or a trusting superior or mentor you can go to requesting assistance in building a strategy to overcome these concerns? It's unfortunate that someone has already reacted negatively when you tried to discuss your situation. Is it possible to rephrase your concerns in a more proactive way to your manager (what can I do to be better at this job?) rather than a defeatist way (I don't want to do this anymore) so that you will get more empathy and collaboration from them?

I note you say the role is well rewarded but to be well rewarded, you have to earn it.

Every day there is people coming on here saying they hate their jobs and dont know what to do were worse off than 100 years ago loads of jobs but everyone seems to hate their lives because of them.