Communication breakdown?

[karenmac60]

I work for the local council. On Friday an email was sent to all employees stating that all council buildings were to close at 3pm due to the weather. However, as we work at a counter with the public we are unable to be permanently logged onto our emails so no one got the message at our branch. Our supervisor was at a meeting in another branch and she was aware of the early closing and subsequently went home at 3 along with everyone else - failing to contact her own branch which remained opened till 5pm. I know in the grand scheme of things it's fairly petty, but should she not have contacted us to make sure we had seen the email? Conditions were horrendous for travelling at 5 (which was why the council had opted to close everything).

[bednobs]

she probably should have done, but by mistake overlooked it.
c'est la vie

[karenmac60]

I know, but it's just the latest in a long line of 'oversights'. She only supervises one branch, it wouldn't have been difficult to remember.

[wolf63]

I would be annoyed with her for her stupidity but it sounds like she wouldn't see what the problem was - totally inconsiderate person that she appears to be.

However I would make a point of ensuring that this will never happen again. Maybe write to her or use your union rep to get your point over. This time the result was a horrible journey home, but it could have been something more serious.

Perth is still covered in nasty white stuff - so unusual for it to last so long here.

[boxtops]

I would let your HR department know - staff were put at risk by her failure to communicate. Health & Safety risk for your team.

[boxtops]

^ BTW - who did the original instruction come from? It might be worth an email reply to them, stating (just for their information) that none of you got the message, and is there any back-up process they could think of, to stop this "oversight" recurring in future? I think I would.

[karenmac60]

hi Boxy and Wolf, the message came from the administrator as a global email - there are thousands of employees so I realise they cannot contact every single one personally. It's up to line managers and supervisors to ensure staff get important messages. The really annoying thing is that in the next few months her post and mine are being deleted with one new post between our 2 grades and I'll be going up against her for it, but chances are she'll just walk into it since she's been doing the supervisor's job for a few years - but she's so incompetent when it comes to communicating with the staff! Turns out her 'meeting' consisted of her taking a long lunch then turning up at the other branch to chat to her pal for a half hour before going home too!

[boxtops]

Hi Karen, I have this too, our Comms department send out emails to all the staff like this too. It must have been an HR operational decision though - I still think you ought to let someone know. Do you have a dedicated HR person you could email, cc to your boss? (BTW how did you find out in the end?!)
Some of my colleagues are going through this downsizing at the moment, I'm public sector too, 10 people applying for 7 jobs in one instance - I can only hope that it will be fair.

[jaydah]

".as a global email..." what planet are your council on ? Perhaps you were left to fulfil tax payers expectations of Council works, ie empty bins, repair & clean street lights, salt/grit roads so the rest of us can slave to keep you.

[Mosaic]

Karen - reminds of the time the council IT section knocked out email for 5 schools by accident. When someone finally got a message to the OT guys saying they had no email, they said they couldn't start in investigation till they got an official email to report the fault.....
Pay peanuts, get apes.

[Mosaic]

Jaydah, what are you talking about? I'm not being r-sey, I just don't follow you.

[karenmac60]

Jaydah, a 'global email' just means it goes to all employees. As for the rest of your drivel, get a grip. I don't empty bins or grit roads etc as part of my job and conditions were particularly dangerous for travelling as there had been a slight thaw and rain followed by a severe drop in temperatures resulting in black ice. I'm sure none of our customers would have wanted us risking our lives just so they could get a book out.
To everyone else who had something sensible to say - I brought it to the attention of the department head today and she is currently investigating She has apologised to all the staff who were affected and promised to ensure it never happens again, and she has spoken to the supervisor so hopefully that's that. Thanks for all your advice,

Karen x

[AlBags]

Nick her job Karen.
Councils are quite favourable to people with hearing deficiencies anyhow, so that shouldn't hold you back : )

[karenmac60]

They are an equal opportunities employer - and with this new legislation for positive discrimination I should be a shoo in. There's no representation for deaf people at all at the mo ;)

[AlBags]

OK .. I'm hearing you.

[karenmac60]

That makes one of us :) xx