Hello all – I know I just posted yesterday, I appreciate everyone's feedback! I just had a question about if this is a scare tactic.
For context, my job/department handles more intensive facility work than other departments, and a majority of our tickets rely on communication with the client/vendor. If we have a vendor telling us it's more involved than how it was originally presented, we have to bring it to the client's attention for direction. This is also vice versa- if the client is presenting a more involved project or ticket than originally submitted, then we need to ask the vendor about the next steps and how to proceed. Sometimes tickets can freeze up and standstill if the client or vendor goes unresponsive, if we submit pricing to a client and they don't respond, or if a vendor is waiting for more info or they're working on pricing/scheduling on their end. Sometimes, material lead time, quote information, and other info for the vendors take time to be received.
Lately, my company has not been giving me a significant amount of work. I have never been informed or spoken to about my work ethic being poor, nor informed of any significant issues where this would trigger a reduction in work. The only significant shift in any of my 'normal' work routines has been having my manager now review my quotes before it goes to my supervisor. Upon reflection, I do not recall any major issues or callouts about how I was performing, or many major concerns- sure, when my manager reviews my quotes she'll email me feedback and I'd adjust them as per her instruction or answer questions, but i wouldn't view this feedback as 'issues'. More or less just where to improve the quote I'm working on.
As a result, the work I have is at a standstill because either the client has placed the ticket on hold, waiting for the customer to approve costs, or the vendor is pending information and can't answer my questions until they're answered. Since this is the case, most of my day is slow since I can't push any progress since almost all my tickers are at a standstill or waiting for a follow-up. I can call, email or text only so much before it annoys people.
I constantly ask my manager if she wants help, and sometimes she'll give me a few things to work on, but not much. This leaves a lot of room for me to sit and do nothing. In turn, I'm not as productive as I once was. I have made my manager aware of this and she claims that the supervisor will dilute work where needed but I honestly haven't seen it, and this has been a trend since March. I basically beg for work and get minimal work back. Since this is the case, I usually don't ask as often because 1) I don't want to be annoying and 2) they don't seem receptive to me asking for more to do.
Today when I came in, my manager told me that they are apparently now starting to do these 'KPI Reports' which essentially track how many notes people put in during a day, and how often they do this. She claimed that this is being applied in every department because they have noticed people in another department slacking off, being distracted and not being productive. She only told me because she claimed she spoke with the supervisor last night after work to talk about another ticket, and the supervisor made a remark about this system being implemented.
I honestly am perceiving it as a subtle way of them telling me they're going to use this to fire me if I'm not productive enough. I tried mentioning to my manager again that alot of my own work is at a standstill because im waiting to either a) hear back from a client, b) materials are being fabricated and wont be done till the end of the month or c) the vendor is waiting for more information on their end and can't give me a proper update.
She sorta just blew me off and downplayed it. I think im overthinking it, but idk…