So, a funny thing happened about a month and a half ago (Job-related) · 11:31pm Sep 19th, 2017
My boss made no secret of his intention of retiring at the end of July. I didn't really have much time to think about it - the backlogs keep getting worse, and the court dates keep piling up, and I was too busy sled-dogging it to lift my head to look past the ass end of the dogs in front of me.
His last day was as hectic as usual, The regular assortment of evidence from homicides, robberies, et cetera, plus his retirement party, plus some bigwigs from the Governor's office were going to visit. About an hour before the party, he said he wanted to see me for a minute. We walked into his office.
"Close the door."
My heart skipped a beat. "Okay, what did I do now?
He shook his head and smiled. "You're not in trouble."
I smiled back with a little bit of relief. "That's good to know. What's up?"
"After talking it over with the Sergeant and the Lieutenant, we're making you the Acting Supervisor of the unit, until Personnel hires the permanent Supervisor..."
So, I was in trouble. Just not the way I thought I was...
It's a caretaker position. I don't make any policy changes; I keep things running day-to-day, and put out the occasional fire. I didn't expect to get it - in fact, one of the reasons I did get the Acting Supe slot was that I wasn't considered to be particularly ambitious to be the bossman. But, I got to thinking about it, and put in my CV when Personnel opened the posting. Why not? A) I'm qualified; II) I can do the job at least as well as anyone there, and better than some; 3) when you come down to it, there are some things we can do to improve the way we're doing business, and I truly believe that I see the way to get us there.
I don't expect to get the job, not really. There are others with better resumes, and with better performance ratings. The front runner reminds me of the criticism in the Navy of nuclear submarine officers from the Rickover era: "Technically brilliant, operationally proficient... but, if they'd give just an inch on the human side, they'd be all-stars" I get along with him (mostly because I agree about what's needed, even if I'm not cool with his proposed methods), but he's clashed with just about everybody else in the unit except his protege. Most of the other guys are falling, or have fallen, into the Civil Service stereotype. (Anybody remember the sloth at the DMV from the Zootopia trailer? Still haven't seen the movie, but the trailer had me ROFLMAO). I might bruise some feelings if I get the top slot and have to really start cracking the whip, but there's a real possibility that he could inspire a mutiny of sorts.
Toxic work environment. I've been in toxic work environments. I never want to be in one again. And, I particularly don't want my lab unit to become one. That doesn't serve John and Jane Q. Citizen. And, at the end of the day, my paycheck comes from the taxes that John and Jane Q. send in. I owe them good value for their money.
Soooo... How's it going now?!
Happy fun times with herding cats, getting zingers from the evidence custodian (who is 78 years old, a kick-ass admin, a computer geek from back before Windows 95 (wrote the Access database for our Evidence Logs) - and a former Army Drill Sergeant who is utterly uninterested in the concept of learning curves), getting a handle on the job itself (sort of - I'm a babe in the woods on personnel management; Marine NCOs tell their troops to do something, and they fucking well do it, but Civil Service has different rules...)
If I win the top slot, it'll be interesting, you bet... I got a handle on the day-to-day, but the test is going to be SHTF, and how I deal with it. I can manage, I think...