Workplace worries

Whether or not Gordon Brown’s been slapping the legs of Number 10 staff, recent news events have highlighted the issue of misery in the workplace. If you have workload or colleague problems, how can you resolve your employment nightmare?

The shift from university to employment wasn’t an easy one for Natalie Grange from Birmingham. After finishing her Business degree, Natalie took on a job with a recruitment agency, but found it hard to keep pace with her fellow employees.

‘I knew that recruitment was a fast-paced industry, but wasn’t prepared for what I encountered. Everybody at work had more experience than me, and I felt I was drowning in deadlines and targets.’

 

Natalie bit the bullet and talked to her team leader. ‘We discussed my issues, which turned out to be much smaller than I thought. My managers were happy with my work and had taken into account that I was a new staff member.’

You may need to go higher to get a result, but HR adviser Jon Logan says that while discussing your issues with a line manager should be your first course of action, it may not always be appropriate. ‘You may feel that your manager has an agenda, or even that they’re the cause of the problem.

‘As an adviser, I might point workers to outside agencies or even to their trade union, but our department will also help to mediate between employer and employee if the need arises.’

If you’re unhappy in a new job, then you do have a number of choices, but however simplistic it may seem, sometimes patience is the key. ‘The work dynamic can be interrupted by the arrival of a new employee and sometimes things take time to settle down,’ says Jon, ‘but it’s still worth telling someone if you’re unhappy with the job.’

There’s no shame in admitting that now you have a job, there are a few problems to iron out. If you don’t feel that you can confront these issues on your own your employer is required to offer assistance. You don’t have to suffer in silence, and you shouldn’t.

Suggestions to editorial@prospects.ac.uk