Training replacement at work

[mrsboj]

Hi all,

Quick low down on my situation at work, any advice welcome.

I know I'm a bit hormonal and grumpy at the moment, this is why at work I just try and stay as quiet as possible because I'm generally not happy to be at work currently.

My replacement for my maternity cover (starting in June) has recently been hired. My managers have explained that because it is ME who is going on maternity leave, it should be ME who fully trains the new person (internal, but no current understanding of this job role whatsoever).

I can accept this, however my work load alone is pretty full on, especially in comparison to my colleagues in my team. This means that for the last 3 months of working before I go on mat leave I am going to have my normal work load, which takes me my usual working hours to complete, PLUS training a replacement from scratch. Asking for a smaller workload whilst I train them isn't really a possibility for other reasons.

Is this acceptable of them to ask me this? I would have though it would be a line manager's job to train a new person.

I guess I will just have to do it and then explain if my work load is too heavy that they need to change something. Either give me a smaller workload or somebody else train them. I just hate how they haven't even asked me to do it, they have just told me to do it.

Like I said I am really grumpy at the moment, I've got other stuff going on outside of work which is just as hectic. I just feel really sad and emotional and really don't want to be in my last trimester.

Thanks

 

[Mel32]

Hey, I feel for you, that sounds rubbish but to be honest I would have welcomed that opportunity with open arms... I was replaced about 6 days before I left. Nobody knows all the ins and outs of my job because I've changed a lot since I've been doing it, the closest person being a part time who was barely speaking to me before I left. My last few days were filled with trying to tidy up whilst doing the day to day, attending midwife/antenatal appointments & training.

It might sound good because I got to leave it all behind? But it was actually horrible, I felt like people would complain I'd left things in a mess and felt like it would ruin my reputation although it wasn't my fault, there was nobody there for me to train!

I told my boss I was pregnant in July last year too!!

Just chin up, train the new person and if it's at the expense of your day to day your boss will have to make other arrangements, or wait for you to complete tasks.

 

[Tigger87]

Will the new person be with you full time before you go off? So you'll effectively be able to offload bits and pieces to this new person as you go along - relieving your workload?

At the end of the day, if it's not doable, management will have to do something. It makes total sense to me that you train the new person because you know the role best. You can only do what you can do though!

 

[Phoenix85]

Erm, I would expect your replacement to be able to be given instructions for a specific task, and then be given some work to get on with, in theory reducing your work load as they will be doing some of it, but just coming to you if they need help with anything? Isn't that the case?

What you lose in time spent showing them what to do, ought to be compensated for by having someone else you can give a pile of work to (or list of tasks that need doing) and then you can both get on with it at the same time.

I can understand the irritability though, I'm 23 weeks today and for the last few weeks I've been increasingly short tempered and easily annoyed lol.

 

[Brooksy]

I'm with the others, I think you are the right person to do the training, your line manager won't know the role as well as you do. If it's any consolation I am in the same boat, and I actually had to sort out and interview the replacement for my role! What I intend to do is give my line manager a plan of action as to what is and isn't achievable in the time period I have left and then it's up to them to make decisions about if they want to change any of my priorities. I figure by going to them proactively and highlighting areas that will be undelivered as a result, they can do something about it and not criticise for it not being done.

 

[El1en]

I wanted to be the one to train my replacement. I had a big workload but I didn't want to come back to a mess so wanted to make sure the person knew exactly what they were doing and to my standard.

 

[scn]

One of my senior staff nurses will have to act up when I go off and it's up to me to make sure she knows the full extent of what I do and how to do it, I think it's pretty standard for that to happen and don't see an issue x