Changes at work

there are several changes taking place at work. my unit is merging
with teesside, although the only IT person left over there is leaving
in about a month. this leaves myself and my line manager, there are 2
information staff in teesside that help as well but one is hoping to
get a job in a different role. the other doesn't appear to be sure yet
but has mentioned going part time or retiring.

i have known about the merger for some time now. i was told this week
that myself and my line manager have been given permission to go over
to teesside for 2 or 3 days a week. well i think one of us HAS to
spend 2 or 3 days a week over there. this is potentially good but i
also have some concerns. the worst thing will be the travelling, its
all well and good being paid mileage but its the time travelling that
worries me. from home to middlesbrough takes a long time especially at
peak times. i would be spending probably over 90 minutes travelling
each way. thats over 3 hours a day, i'm sure you worked that out. at
the moment it normally takes no more than 30 minutes to get to work.

i have other concerns, i'm not sure exactly what is expected if i go
there. am i there to learn how they do stuff or will i be told to do
this that and the other and end up feeling like i have 2 managers for
the next month at least?

hopefully these and other concerns will be addressed over the next few days.

potentially it could be very interesting and i was pleased to hear my
ACO mentioning some of the things i had been thinking about over the
last day when i spoke to her this afternoon. hopefully having some of
the Teesside processes moved to durham and a single access. there was
also several other things mentioned that i can't really mention on
here as they are only ideas and thoughts but it sounded like it was
hopefully going in the right direction.

one thing that i am sort of suprised about and disappointed about it
that no one has really asked for my views or EXPERIENCES on merging
with Teesside since i came back. as far as i aware i am the only
person who has been through the exact same thing before and seen what
can go wrong as well as advantages. When i worked for the red cross in
Durham they merged with Teesside and my unit was, as now the first to
merge. i was an IT assistant but based in finance. shortly afterwards
it all merged. then a year or so after that we then merged with
Northumbria, which is when i took redundancy because i didn't want to
travel to Newcastle, especially doing the job they wanted me to do.

if they aren't careful the same thing will happen here and they will
lose all of their experienced staff. at times it seams like the exact
same mistakes are being made. when at the red cross i think just about
every person from durham and teesside offices left and masses of
experience and knowledge was lost. of the few that stayed on i think
just about all have since left, could still be a couple remaining.

most staff appear to have some concerns over what there jobs will be
and whether someone is going to be employed over their heads rather
than existing staff being allowed to progress and having a career
path. there is also the job evaluation that has been going on,
hopefully the results of which will be revealed next month. although
they will soon be wrong as the roles change.

from my own point of view i have some things in my head and if they
don't happen, i feel i will have to leave or go insane. i guess we
will all find out just how much our knowledge and experience is valued
in the next few weeks.

i just hope they get it correct for more than my own sake!