Shift work will hamper social life. Management really do not give two hoots about your wellbeing and will constantly remind you that 'you're paid a good wage on the 25th of each month' like you owe them something. You are reminded constantly, that 'if you don't like it, you can stack shelves at Tesco' as if manual labour is beneath them or not a worthy job. Supervisors and other staff are constantly either keeping tabs on you or reporting you for the most minor of things resulting in 'little chats' or full blown, recorded conversations, Near constant policy changes keep staff confused and overwhelmed. Staff rotation/wastage is like a revolving door policy and no one feels valued. Staff are now having to do peer reviews on other staff members work to find problems for the QA boffins for some unknown reason. The place is run like a labour camp where supervisors and 'chosen' staff walk about the room asking what you are doing, why is something taking so long? what is the problem? why were you talking to the person next to you? why were you on a toilet break for 7 mins? Some supervisors talk negatively about other staff in front of other staff and supervisors, they mock staff when they call in sick, they make disparaging comments on staff who are genuinely struggling. Newer staff are coming in under equipped and under prepared for the oppressive environment and are put on enhanced probation reviews, attendance plans and unofficial performance reviews. Stress levels are high and nearly everything in the room is monitored, intrusive and oppressive. The levels of senior management oversight is ridiculous. good performance has come at the cost of wellbeing and it seems that supervisors who care about the staff are treated like pariahs in the work place, and are forced out or put on performance plans to adjust their ways to be either more callous or more intrusive. Micromanagement is a genuine problem. Some leaders have been in the role for too long and cling on to power and status and hold outdated 'boomer' principles about work and life balances. Multiple leaders have built tiny little empires of lackies and toadies to further step on the heads of the people below them. Anyone will figuratively throw you under a bus to get ahead. Getting out of the department is nearly impossible in the first two years, and after then, most roles in the police are not shift paid, so you will lose money if you leave, so you feel trapped. Promotion is hard to come by and supervisors appear to have it the hardest in the role, managing staff, performance, the room and their own sanity has a cost. Anyone who doesn't put in 100%, 100% of the time is basically put on a never ending performance plan and if you go off sick, be ready for an attendance plan, that is equally never ending.
