View Full Version : This is why I hate taking time off (mild rant)
I've been with my current company 10 years. I get 4 weeks vacation. Other than a day or two here for recent scuba diving stuff, I've not taken any time off since 3 days in the spring. I was told I had to pick a week and take it. So I took it this week. I'm international shipping/customs brokerage and there can be things you only see very occasionally.
Got a text yesterday from manager, while I was at lunch with a friend, complaining they had gotten paperwork on a shipment and they didn't know what to do with it. Customer we might see once a month. I had a folder with instructions in my drawer, but I have no idea why they couldn't find it - or at the least look at previous shipments in the system.
Just got another text with manager griping there were storage charges they had to eat because they couldn't figure out what to do with another customer's shipments. Turns out they were mixing up the shipments of two customers who bring in very different goods. The only similarity is that both customers names began with the same letter. Again, a file with instructions was in my drawer.
One of my coworkers has recently handled the shipments for both of these customers my manager was complaining about. She's newer, and shows a lack of initiative that makes my teeth itch. Look in the freaking system and you will see how things are done. That seems to be the last thing that occurs to her, why, I have no freaking idea.
We were VERY short handed over the summer. 2 of us (plus manager who is shared with exports) were running the department for nearly a month until we got the 2 new folks. I had to spend a lot of extra time last week handling problem issues that I've not been able to get to. I've been complaining for weeks that I can't get to them. I was told to lean on my coworkers. Well, when they tell me they can't take something, have to go to manager and tell her. I'm the only one who knows how to handle a number of complicated Customs related things (Fish & Wildlife, ATF - guns AND tobacco related, etc.). When I've tried to train people on this stuff, they've said they have no time to learn it. And when they say they want to learn it, I had no shipments to train them on. It's very hands on stuff. You can't train someone on it if you don't have a shipment for it.
Monday is going to be a freaking bad day.
sweetana3
10-20-16, 6:28pm
I HATE managers who tell subordinates to "lean" on other coworkers who also are stretched thin. Unless you have the authority to move work around and tell coworkers exactly what to work on and when, it is an impossible situation to be in.
I wonder what would happen to them if you had an operation or went overseas and were totally unavailable for 4 or more weeks? It is nice to be needed but the company is at risk (which I already know you know).
ToomuchStuff
10-20-16, 6:35pm
I was told I had to pick a week and take it.
Got a text yesterday from manager, while I was at lunch with a friend, complaining they had gotten paperwork on a shipment and they didn't know what to do with it. Customer we might see once a month. I had a folder with instructions in my drawer......
I was told to take a week and left the instructions in my drawer. I can't help it if you lost them, and since I was told to take a week, should I send a bill for a consulting fee?
Nope, don't have that authority. Got a follow up text from manager just now. They found the one customer instruction file they couldn't find. The newer gal had it on her desk from when she had been handling a shipment or two for that customer last week.
So when this one customer came up, newer gal should have said, "I just handled their stuff last week." Why she didn't, no clue.
I still am scratching my head over how they were able to get the two customers mixed up. Manager should have know what each bring in, just from me talking about customer. There is no possible way you could get them mixed up. The only similarity is both company names begin with the same letter.
I was told to take a week and left the instructions in my drawer. I can't help it if you lost them, and since I was told to take a week, should I send a bill for a consulting fee?
Oh, believe me, there will be a talk on Monday!
You should have not answered the texts. You were on vacation. 😄
They knew I wasn't going anywhere. There would probably be heck to pay when I got back if I didn't answer them.
Zoe Girl
10-20-16, 10:15pm
Oh dear, I know this scenario very well. I am taking a few hours off tomorrow, I am sure that it will be something to clean up afterwards. My supervisor encourages me to take time off and yet it is really hard. I had to take the first Friday of summer camp, it was a very important retreat and so I was off my phone 100%. The day went so badly that a staff person ended up with a write-up. Geez,
Then it's not a real vacation. They are being ridiculous.
I just received this text from my manager: "I'm going to ask when you come in Monday to leave any anger of returning at the door. Please know we had the most challenging week ever. Your team did the best they could and that is what you must focus on. Enjoy your weekend and see you Monday."
Can you imagine sending that and then telling me to enjoy my weekend?! I've not had any other texts so I don't exactly what has gone on.
I actually came very close to cancelling my vacation. It's pretty obvious I should have done that, and just took Monday or today off.
iris lily
10-21-16, 2:20pm
I just received this text from my manager: "I'm going to ask when you come in Monday to leave any anger of returning at the door. Please know we had the most challenging week ever. Your team did the best they could and that is what you must focus on. Enjoy your weekend and see you Monday."
Can you imagine sending that and then telling me to enjoy my weekend?! I've not had any other texts so I don't exactly what has gone on.
I actually came very close to cancelling my vacation. It's pretty obvious I should have done that, and just took Monday or today off.
It would be interesting to see how the team DID utilize systems you left behnd for them. Maybe the two files they used improperly, or failed to use, were two errors out of a potential of, say, ten issues they dont normally handle and they did fine with 8 of the 10.
Yes, it will be interesting to see what exactly they DID do. A lot of the BS I deal with now is a result of now handling customers I got stuck with after previous people left/were fired. The one customer gripes about how X did things just the way they liked for 10 years. Well, we found out after X left that she had been coddling them and going above and beyond to a point you would NOT believe. She would even go into the office on Sundays and give them an update on all their shipments via email. They were told from day one after she left that I would not be doing that.
The only good thing about X is that she generally had very meticulous notes on paper about how to handle her customers' shipments. That has been a saving grace. The new gal in my department, who is backup on a lot of my customers, didn't seem to get that all she has to do is look in the notes for these customers. It's all there. Ask me AFTER you can't find what you're looking for.
I will not be taking more than 2-3 days off at a time until I leave for my dive trip to Little Cayman next August. It's simply not worth the trouble to be gone that long. Cayman trip will be about 10 days, including travel time. I'm already dreading the BS I'll have to deal with when I get back from that trip.
When I take a few days off, I know there is quite a few trouble left for me the day I return. No matter what I did, no matter how well I prepared my holiday, it is always the same. I even get trouble as work was not finished in time, although I was not even there to do it. But they don't care. It also does not matter if they call me during the holiday and I try to help or not. No thanks or appreciation.
As there will be trouble anyway, I turn my mobile from work off during my holiday. I don't let them bother me with their problems during my holiday anymore, it's not my fault they cut the personnel so all of us are overfilled with work.
The day after holiday, I will be in the office early to check my emails before anyone else is there, so nobody catches me off guard.
They won't thank you for working during your holiday, so don't do it...
JayPee, this is my personal mobile. Only managers have company-issued mobiles.
I will definitely be in the office early on Monday to get a handle on my email.
I am in international transportation. My workload gets spread out to other coworkers while I am gone. Shipments do not stop just because I'm on vacation. The newest gal was given a large number of my shipments to handle the last few weeks so she would be familiar with them while I was away.
I really have no choice but to answer the texts. My coworkers knew I was not out of town.
Miss Cellane
10-21-16, 2:55pm
You know, out of town or not, you were still on vacation.
You could have been in a theater, where you had to shut your phone off. You could have been with family or friends, where you wanted to shut your phone off. You could have been on a impulsive day trip to somewhere with limited/no cell coverage. You might have left home for the day and simply forgotten to take the phone with you.
Yes, you might still have had to answer the texts. But you certainly don't have to answer them right away. When you are on vacation--no matter where you are--you can let the texts sit for several hours. And when asked why you didn't answer sooner, your reply is that you were on vacation and not checking your phone very often. Because you were on vacation.
Tradd, I am working in the automobile industry logistics. We are building 950 cars per day at our plant. I am plannung the logistics chains and 50% of my workday I am troubleshooting so that we do not lose cars because of missing parts. Being the logistics product manager for one of our products, I feel of course responsible for the processes. I also coordinate a team of workers, and I feel also responsible for them. We have more than full of work, and every time someone is not available the others have trouble catching up. So I think I know how you feel, and it honours you that you do not want your coworkers do extra work for you.
BUT I bet your boss knows very well that you are this kind of type. Quite conveniant for him, as he knows you will work hard and harder to get everything done. As long as you don't break together, he does not have to worry about the amount of work. My boss gives a sh** about how we can keep up with the work. The pressure is there, nobody wants to lose cars and we skin ourselves to somehow get the work done. But there are limits. There must be limits, otherwise you will ruin your health. I was there, 75 to 80 hrs a week in an extremely stressful job, could not sleep anymore, lost 30 lbs in 3 months without eating less - never again.
It is not easy for me knowing that my team has to do my work when I'm on holday, too. But all of us have the same amout of holiday, so it es everybodies turn once in a while. I can be replaced at work, everybody can. And if they get you on the phone or not, the company will survive.
Of course it's up to you. But I decided for me, when I am at work I'm ripping my a** to get the work done. And I am good at it and quite successful. But when I'm on holiday, I'm on holiday. Same is for the rest of the team, I will never try to reach someone during his/her holiday. Actually, the team accepts this, just my boss has some trouble with it. But that is his problem, not mine.
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