Company says I cannot deliver despite communicating my tran
Discussion
Hi All,
I work in IT (Support).
(Title should be Company says "I cannot deliver despite communicating my training needs").
One project in particular, which was never finished, comes to me to fix. It's a complete pig, very complicated, etc. I work on it from the months of March to April and do well and get praise. They even renew their support contract. Things go well but due to the absolute lack of testing, the bugs go way over April.
Surely it is what the client thinks that matters not management? My manager did not disagree when I said I played a large part in the renewal.
Another dev we hired, much more experienced then me, also works on the project to do bug fixing. He has the same problems - implements fixes, spends ages bug fixing them, and ages generally just going round in circles bug fixing. A number of experienced devs have been on the project and have all failed to clear up the project, and the original (Experienced) dev left and said the company is crap at what it does (development/coding, though true) yet my manager's manager hires him again when there are plenty of good devs out there. LOL.
A friend of mine at work left just before a year was up for him and I thought to myself while there'd be a very good reason for this and it was very abrupt from him,
Anyway, I fell ill for 2 weeks about a month ago. I come back, the project has changed slightly, and despite having reduced the bug count, it increases (As there is no means to test fixes).
Now my employer says I have not delivered on the role he needs me/the team needs me to do (which is just bug fixing crap when the team should be doing a lot more). Yet I said to my manager's manager when I started last year where my skills stand in the technology in question were limited, how can we work together to develop that (I'm setting fair expectations here and reaching out to my employer and admitting my limitations). Of course my manager's manager gave the usual crap (Which I didn't know was the case as I barely knew him).
Whenever you do anything well and it is coding related my manager will say it is just doing your job as opposed to giving credit. Yet I solve problems on technical issues using skills that are not in the scope of a software developer and I get some credit, but it does not mean anything.
Today was a good day as I worked with someone a lot more experienced than me to resolve complex bugs on another (Crap) system and he praised my troubleshooting skills twice in front of my manager. That proves that when I am in the right environment (pairing up with someone more experienced than me), I can produce results on technologies I am a bit weak in.
If my manager/management neglect the professional needs I have clearly and maturely communicated, then what do they expect? Being an experienced professional, my training needs are not high.
With the system emntioned above, half the time my manager says don't fix this or that bug as it is not relevant to the original (But still serious etc), I have even offered to work after 6pm to work with someone else on a technical project (again not even in my skillset), and when I was sick, I had to stay for 1 hr to document something. Unfair, I think
1) I have mentioned my training needs
2) We are so far behind with a massive backlog (growing every 2mins) that the door gets shut on training
3) A guy in the dev team got training twice. My manager says it is because he has downtime. Well then we as a team must be so poorly organised that we can't get downtime (that team is also a mess).
4) Many people (inc my manager) have worked on that project and failed to get it commercially ready. I did enough to make the client renew their contract, yet I am the least experienced out of all those people.
5) I have worked on it for 3 months straight, obviously I will get bored (communicated this).
6) When I came in to meet my then manager (now manager's manager) to get the contract etc, I said "I am a beginner in x technology, how can we work together in a partnership to improve my skills. My then-manager then said this, that, this, that, etc, and only one of those things happened.
7) I expect everyone else to get in trouble too, as they worked on the project and failed. They also worked on another complete mess of a project, which does not/did not compile (that is like saying you are building a car and the parts do not fit each other), and my friend says she is not that good at dev (I've never worked with her and he sits opposite her) and is struggling/my manager does not look impressed, even if she was extremely talented, she would still struggle to get that system ready for production. Instead, we got the dev back who built the project I have been trying to fix and he goes on the biggest project. So much for the accountability my manager likes to harp on about..... Who on earth would hire an employee that we know is crap and has badmouthed the company (Which people at work know about)?
8) I am in support and though 3rd line, I fix so much crap like password resets (and I actually found the root cause in AD) and and spelling mistakes. Of course then, if I don't learn enough, I may struggle with harder tickets.
9) Our team is in another company's office (says it all).
10) We are a dumping ground (projects come to us which are not finished, my manager said that won't happen anymore but that hasn't been the case. I use to work solely with a close friend in support, who is now on site in support, and at least he didn't say he cannot stop that so I never expected it). I am honestly thinking that there is thus no point in my manager.
Is this fair? How would you cope?
I work in IT (Support).
(Title should be Company says "I cannot deliver despite communicating my training needs").
One project in particular, which was never finished, comes to me to fix. It's a complete pig, very complicated, etc. I work on it from the months of March to April and do well and get praise. They even renew their support contract. Things go well but due to the absolute lack of testing, the bugs go way over April.
Surely it is what the client thinks that matters not management? My manager did not disagree when I said I played a large part in the renewal.
Another dev we hired, much more experienced then me, also works on the project to do bug fixing. He has the same problems - implements fixes, spends ages bug fixing them, and ages generally just going round in circles bug fixing. A number of experienced devs have been on the project and have all failed to clear up the project, and the original (Experienced) dev left and said the company is crap at what it does (development/coding, though true) yet my manager's manager hires him again when there are plenty of good devs out there. LOL.
A friend of mine at work left just before a year was up for him and I thought to myself while there'd be a very good reason for this and it was very abrupt from him,
Anyway, I fell ill for 2 weeks about a month ago. I come back, the project has changed slightly, and despite having reduced the bug count, it increases (As there is no means to test fixes).
Now my employer says I have not delivered on the role he needs me/the team needs me to do (which is just bug fixing crap when the team should be doing a lot more). Yet I said to my manager's manager when I started last year where my skills stand in the technology in question were limited, how can we work together to develop that (I'm setting fair expectations here and reaching out to my employer and admitting my limitations). Of course my manager's manager gave the usual crap (Which I didn't know was the case as I barely knew him).
Whenever you do anything well and it is coding related my manager will say it is just doing your job as opposed to giving credit. Yet I solve problems on technical issues using skills that are not in the scope of a software developer and I get some credit, but it does not mean anything.
Today was a good day as I worked with someone a lot more experienced than me to resolve complex bugs on another (Crap) system and he praised my troubleshooting skills twice in front of my manager. That proves that when I am in the right environment (pairing up with someone more experienced than me), I can produce results on technologies I am a bit weak in.
If my manager/management neglect the professional needs I have clearly and maturely communicated, then what do they expect? Being an experienced professional, my training needs are not high.
With the system emntioned above, half the time my manager says don't fix this or that bug as it is not relevant to the original (But still serious etc), I have even offered to work after 6pm to work with someone else on a technical project (again not even in my skillset), and when I was sick, I had to stay for 1 hr to document something. Unfair, I think
1) I have mentioned my training needs
2) We are so far behind with a massive backlog (growing every 2mins) that the door gets shut on training
3) A guy in the dev team got training twice. My manager says it is because he has downtime. Well then we as a team must be so poorly organised that we can't get downtime (that team is also a mess).
4) Many people (inc my manager) have worked on that project and failed to get it commercially ready. I did enough to make the client renew their contract, yet I am the least experienced out of all those people.
5) I have worked on it for 3 months straight, obviously I will get bored (communicated this).
6) When I came in to meet my then manager (now manager's manager) to get the contract etc, I said "I am a beginner in x technology, how can we work together in a partnership to improve my skills. My then-manager then said this, that, this, that, etc, and only one of those things happened.
7) I expect everyone else to get in trouble too, as they worked on the project and failed. They also worked on another complete mess of a project, which does not/did not compile (that is like saying you are building a car and the parts do not fit each other), and my friend says she is not that good at dev (I've never worked with her and he sits opposite her) and is struggling/my manager does not look impressed, even if she was extremely talented, she would still struggle to get that system ready for production. Instead, we got the dev back who built the project I have been trying to fix and he goes on the biggest project. So much for the accountability my manager likes to harp on about..... Who on earth would hire an employee that we know is crap and has badmouthed the company (Which people at work know about)?
8) I am in support and though 3rd line, I fix so much crap like password resets (and I actually found the root cause in AD) and and spelling mistakes. Of course then, if I don't learn enough, I may struggle with harder tickets.
9) Our team is in another company's office (says it all).
10) We are a dumping ground (projects come to us which are not finished, my manager said that won't happen anymore but that hasn't been the case. I use to work solely with a close friend in support, who is now on site in support, and at least he didn't say he cannot stop that so I never expected it). I am honestly thinking that there is thus no point in my manager.
Is this fair? How would you cope?
Promised training is often forgotten about for various reasons. Are there any highly rated books you can buy and work through to increase your skill in the area you are lacking?
It sounds like you are still in over your head in this precise skillset, as you identified when you told your manager that you lacked in this area last year.
If you can make progress when working with other professionals, can you then contact those professionals for occasional advice to help you in your job? Or the person you worked with closely previously? Can you find some great Internet forums from which to source help?
There seems to be a natural skill of being able to develop your own skills very quickly on the job and using books, the Internet and other professionals. If you can not do that, and the company can not get around to sending your for training to develop your skills, then time to bugger off or transfer to a different better suited role internally if you can.
Just be extra careful choosing your next role, so that it is a logical next step in terms of what work you want to be doing in the next few years.
It sounds like you are still in over your head in this precise skillset, as you identified when you told your manager that you lacked in this area last year.
If you can make progress when working with other professionals, can you then contact those professionals for occasional advice to help you in your job? Or the person you worked with closely previously? Can you find some great Internet forums from which to source help?
There seems to be a natural skill of being able to develop your own skills very quickly on the job and using books, the Internet and other professionals. If you can not do that, and the company can not get around to sending your for training to develop your skills, then time to bugger off or transfer to a different better suited role internally if you can.
Just be extra careful choosing your next role, so that it is a logical next step in terms of what work you want to be doing in the next few years.
Hi,
I am "over my head" as I am very new to the specific tech. However, I believe aptitude is what matters - the ability to pick up the skill rapdily (like you mentioned I think) as opposed to outright experience.
I have done all of those things (buying books, spending my own money to get practical experience via stuff I do at home etc). All of that has contributed loads to my experience in this skill increasing, but if I do this in limited hrs then it won't help that much. I have taken time off for it and I have communicated my concern that my private stuff seems to be the driving force behind my learning and not what I am doing at work most of the time.
If I tell my manager that this is my weakness and we should come up with a plan to improve my skill and I just get promises that can nowhere near by kept or no plan at all due to "lack of time" then they reap what they sow.
I am "over my head" as I am very new to the specific tech. However, I believe aptitude is what matters - the ability to pick up the skill rapdily (like you mentioned I think) as opposed to outright experience.
I have done all of those things (buying books, spending my own money to get practical experience via stuff I do at home etc). All of that has contributed loads to my experience in this skill increasing, but if I do this in limited hrs then it won't help that much. I have taken time off for it and I have communicated my concern that my private stuff seems to be the driving force behind my learning and not what I am doing at work most of the time.
If I tell my manager that this is my weakness and we should come up with a plan to improve my skill and I just get promises that can nowhere near by kept or no plan at all due to "lack of time" then they reap what they sow.
Ahh so you are a self-starter/learner in a company that never delivers training.
A common position. And this position seems to go hand in hand with payrises that never materialise in line with your increases in experience and skill.
I can only say that you put up with the job while you work on passing whatever exam you can under your own steam - and then resolve to use that to get you into the next role for more money.
At least you will have no fear of owing the company for the training when you leave. Many employment contracts have clawback terms whereby if you leave you have to pay them back an amount towards your training - plenty of other threads on here about the downside of that!
A common position. And this position seems to go hand in hand with payrises that never materialise in line with your increases in experience and skill.
I can only say that you put up with the job while you work on passing whatever exam you can under your own steam - and then resolve to use that to get you into the next role for more money.
At least you will have no fear of owing the company for the training when you leave. Many employment contracts have clawback terms whereby if you leave you have to pay them back an amount towards your training - plenty of other threads on here about the downside of that!
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