Week 1 as “the boss”

Yep, this week, first week as the boss of 75 people! Well 4 direct reports and about 70 indirect reports… Oh and all of them are men – but that comes as no surprise to me 🙂

So far, I’ve loved it.  I’ve done an extra four hours of work, just to keep notes, and thin out all the rubbish and stuff in my space (rolodex anyone? floppy discs?).

This week I’ve touched on

  • the merits and short comings of crib and satellite stores
  • store (like pallet racks!) cleanliness
  • data clean up (that’s something that hasn’t changed since my last role, and never will I expect)
  • found out about a number of personal issues of staff – some I’ve not met yet, and perhaps might never!
  • reviewed timesheets, travel time applications, overtime applications – so far no leave application at least?
  • future plans that have stalled, like
    • granting staff voluntary redundancies who’ve applied
    • moving assets to a new location (away from where I work)
    • moving the people associated with working with the above assets, or not?

So far, I don’t feel too out of my depth.  There’s been many questions I can’t answer, but I have a strong network of people from my north area that I’m comfortable calling on for help.  And many of my equals I’ve worked with previously, and they have decades more experience than me, and only too happy to help.  I hope I don’t wear out my welcome with them.

The best bit, that I’m loathed to admit, is that I get a car.  The commute isn’t short, at about 40 minutes. But it’s ‘easy’.  I’m not hot and sweaty when I get to work.  The rain this evening didn’t worry me.  And I drive through the area that is ‘my’ poles and wires, so I can see issues.  This is both a blessing, but a curse too!  At this stage, the vehicle option I chose is only for home to work, and work travel.  I can look into a leased vehicle and the tax advantages in the new financial year.  The new FY will also mean others have done their tax returns and tell me if it really turns out well for their financial position.  I’ll be the first to admit that the cost of cars is a HUGE reason I’ve never owned a car.

All in all, I feel much better for the new role. How’s your work treating you this week?

9 Replies to “Week 1 as “the boss””

  1. That's a huge number of people to be managing! So glad you seem to be relishing the challenge. It must be very difficult to start such a job and NOT feel out of your depth. But you've put the work in with mentors etc. to build up to it. Well done!

    It must be so much more convenient to have the car – at 40 minutes by car it would be a long public transport trip. That's quite an achievement to hold out on getting a car till you reach enough seniority to have a work one! Enjoy!!!

    1. It certainly is – I'm sure it'll become a juggling act, but so far so good!

      The fact that I've gone from office side of the field work, to a more managerial role for field work means I'm not changing the content very much, just my 'cut' of the pie and what I'm meant to do. The benefits are extensive though, cause I've come across from the other side and have skills and insights that didn't previously come from the people who were recruited into rolls like mine.

      Interestingly, it's a 20 min train trip, but they aren't frequent which means the first day, I was 20 mins early for the train, which makes it seem longer.

  2. Glad you're enjoying the job and the perks! A colleague and I were just talking about rolodexes the other day – she wants to go back to one rather than relying on her email contact list! 🙂

  3. You go girl. Though I think the news this week bodes not too well for you and getting all the services done with fewer staff. Time for more redundancies?

    1. Yeah the latest determination is not positive at all. There's still a number of 'unprocessed' requests to take a voluntary redundancy and all are keen for those to just happen! Having people at work who are just waiting to be paid out and leave isn't helpful. Only then, will there be a truer idea of staff costs (IMO) and what work there is for them to do. If i am made redundant, I'll seek another job, I'm hopeful that my age is an advantage currently. So I'm just going with 'wait and see'.

  4. For what it’s worth, I’d rather have service than a [temporary] price cut. Everyone with an ounce of brain cell matter knows th price will rise soon anyway. And, we vice is better than a little saving. But as I’m obviously left leaning, my views can be discounted.

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