This is a Test

I swear, I'm being tested.  I feel like I'm dodging roadside bombs.

No worries, the baby is great.  Ultrasound yesterday at 18 weeks 1 day and all looked perfect!!  And as I have been feeling for the last week or so, this little one is a mover.  Like all over the place.  Kicking and punching.  No wonder I'm feeling K20 so much!!

So, my test.  Work.

It's been stressful to begin with.  I won't get into everything as it would take 8 posts I think.  A high level of some of it - lots of heavy duty projects that I'm managing, with tight almost unattainable deadlines.  One project with an external customer has resulted in me feeling like I'm in high school again because they are acting very juvenile and using me as a scapegoat.  I'm not too worried because my director as well as the VP that is the overall head managing the project believe that I haven't said/done what is being passed along (and I really haven't.)  It's so bad that every contact I have with these 2 people I now include my director on- emails, telephone calls, etc.  Luckily, he can back me up when I am laughing at the absolute insanity they are trying to say.

So, that's bad enough without any more detail, right?

Well.  Staffing.  This is where it gets bad.  I came into the department with 9 FTE (full time employees) and 1 PTE.  Of these, 5 of the FTE's are Reps and the 1 PTE is a rep (they spend all their time negotiating contracts and keeping our customers happy and in line with their contracts).  The others are coordinators (they handle all of our administrative type duties).  The department had been a mess; mismanaged beyond belief.  So they weren't a happy group of people.  A couple of them have been in the position for a LONG time, and the job has changed a LOT, and their prior manager took NO time to help ensure that they changed with it.  So they didn't.  It was bad.  One of them I even had little hope for to be honest, but I chipped away and worked on him.  Then he retired mid April, and with all the slimming down with the economy, I agreed to do my best at not replacing him.

Then my EVP's secretary went on disability, and he stole one of my coordinators as an interim replacement until he could get approval (read 90 days) to replace the secretary on disability.  Well, it's been more than 90 days, and no one knows if the secretary is coming back, so my staff member is still on loan.

During this time, my director took a new position within the company and a new one was hired (I posted about that a bit back).  Then, two Representatives (the only 2 we had) that handle a different segment of customers and report directly to my boss (the director) resigned and moved onto new opportunities (not with competitors).  Needless to say, my director being so new had NO IDEA how to do their jobs while hiring, so I did.  While already dealing with regular duties, 2 huge projects, and 2 short staff issues of my own.

Can you even sense where I'm going with this?  Here is a good time to say that any hiring must be approved by our HR Committee; which includes our CEO, EVP of HR, and about 5 other EVP's.  They only meet ONE TIME A MONTH.  Until you take a job to them and get it approved, you can't even post to fill the position.

So, my director finally hires his 2 replacements, and one of them is a promotion of one of my reps.  So now I'm down 3 people; 2 reps and 1 coordinator.  She started her new job on 8/1 and is being GREAT about helping to handle her old duties while trying to learn her new duties.  Needless to say, she accepted the promotion the DAY that the HR Committee met, AFTER they met in July.  So I can't even take her job to be filled until the end of August.

Yesterday, another one of the long term reps that has struggled with all the changes to the job (but was doing  really good!!) turned in her resignation.  So now, I'm down 4 people; 3 reps and 1 coordinator.  My staff of 10 is suddenly only 6.  I'm starting to stress and sweat a little bit.  Because out of the 2 1/2 remaining reps, 2 of them just started at the beginning of the year.

Today, one of the reps brings me her orders.  She's being called up to active duty.  Effective Friday.  Her last day for a YEAR is Friday.

So yeah, now I'm down 5 people; 4 reps and 1 coordinator.  Half of my staff is gone.  I have 1 full time (newer) rep and 1 part time rep to deal with ALL of our contracts.  It's absolutely impossible.

I presented to my director and EVP that we need to pull resources from other territories.  They are calling the EVP of HR first thing in the morning to try to work around waiting another 2 weeks to even post a job.  By the time I post the job, collect resumes, interview, hire, get onboarded and TRAINED, I will be leaving on maternity leave!!  My department is falling apart at the seams.

I was made to feel good by a counterpart in another part of the state when she informed me that the best thing my company did was bring me in to take over the department, that if anyone can handle it and make it all work out it's me.  It made me feel really good, but right now, I am a little stressed.  Right now, I'd kill for a glass of wine.  I know some people are OK doing it, but K and I agree that it's not right for us and our situation.  So instead, I will sit and enjoy my water while pretending it's a glass of white wine, even though I prefer red.

This is only a test.