h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today was a training day at work. Initially we thought it was a meeting about some of the work we do (which wouldn't have included me) but after being told we were all expected to attend we did. It was a pretty good workshop, utterly ruined by the low morale in staff.
I can understand why those people think like they do (the prison have changed half their job description for starters). But what they don't seem to understand is that if they don't do it, the prison will fail its inspection, and also fail the men who they are supposed to be helping. When a prison is faced with that, it will plan changes, and you are going to have to make them. No questions, no room for complaint.

It was also frustrating that the managers felt like they could disappear half way through, rather than hearing the frustrations of the staff. On the plus side, it looks like the lady giving the workshop will take that feedback to them. If nothing else, they need to know that at times the staff actually laughed out loud at some of the suggestions, on the grounds that they didn't think they would ever be allowed to do them.

At the moment, we're going to fail inspection, which is a kick in the teeth for all of us that are working so hard to try and change, to make things better and to sort stuff out.

I really wish the managers had stuck around to explain some of the decisions they have made so that staff understood why they are being asked to change, and how it will help.
Then they could also possibly explain how the staff are going to find time to do it - are they going to provide additional members of staff? Scheduled paperwork sessions? Take away responsibilities? Or are they just expected to suck it up? It would be good to know, whatever the plan is. Only then can you expect them to plan their course of action. At the moment it's all orders, no support.

Sometimes one starts to think that management have no plan at all. But that can't be true, can it?

The top of the chain - right at the top - have a plan. The trouble is implementing that plan across a diverse set of prisons that all have different needs and problems means that the managers stuck in the middle have a thankless task.
I don't envy them. They have a clue, but each prison has its own problems that they have to solve, and the plan makes no contingency for this. There are so many things they have to address that they end up focussing on the big things, leaving the small things to the winds - leaving us to pick up the pieces.

Ah well.

Oh, it'll be alright. It just wound me up today. It's not going to be a problem for me, I just may have to watch a battle get fought around me. I'll survive.

I hope your job hunting goes well. Ever thought of working in a prison?

Know any openings? Shrewsbury would be a bit of a commute mind.

Not personally, but what I'd do is try to find out what companies operate inside your local prison. Quite a few services, like Education, Advice and Guidance, and Healthcare, are run by external agencies that compete every few years for the contract. At Leeds, the sorts of agencies I'm talking about are these: http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=1526,15,2,15,499,0 although some will me prison jobs and some external - I can make some enquiries but I don't know as all prisons are different.

The Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/jobs.htm has jobs across the whole system, and there are a couple of posts in the courts at the moment up your way.

I got in by being a temp - once you're there it's easier to get in because a lot of jobs are posted internally on employer's websites, not on the wider internet. You'll only know about them if you know which employers are recruiting and where their website is!

I hope this helps.

Kind of, though I wasn't really after suggestions.

Ooops, sorry. Got the wrong end of the stick there.

I am.

*snags a copy of Vips web links*

Just shout if you need any more info, Clive, and I'll see what I can drege up.

Much as I complain about certin things in prisons, there is an awful lot of good work being done too, and I like being a part of that.

Don't worry Vip, a new source of vacancies is a good thing, but I've seen the court stuff advertised in the Jobcentre.