All is not well at work... in The start of something?

November 2013 I applied for a job in another department within my company. I was successful. Coming from my previous role I thought I was in heaven! I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the support the management gave their workers.
We work with vulnerable members of out society so the role itself can have it challenges. Some of the stories you hear affect you personally… But we also were able to offer real solutions and help a lot of people get back on track.

Sadly, February 2014, the manager of that department passed away. She had been suffering from a terminal illness for some time. A new manager took over her role. We didn’t start to see changes until July 2014. That, being the start of the financial year, meant she had KPI’s she had to fulfill as her role as manager and we, her staff, had to make it happen.
I won’t go into all the changes she brought in but suffice to say that by July 2015, it felt more like a call centre than a “help” centre. The role was no longer about the customer.

We also grew as a department. When I started we were two small teams with two team leaders. Now, we are three large teams, four team leaders and project assistant. We have triple the amount of calls coming in but not triple the amount of staff. Prior to the new manager, no-one ever left this department because although it was mentally taxing, it was such a rewarding role, however now, there have been lots of job movements and resignations and more people looking for new work. Three people (including me) have gone part time with at least four more applying for part time, because it’s just too depressing to be at work. The expectations are unrealistic and the new manager refuses to acknowledge this.

I’m one of the lucky few who sit at the “privileged” pod. There are eight of us there and three of them are team leaders or management. The new manager wanted positive people who worked hard and were emotionally mature around her.
While I felt lucky to be there, it also means I’m privy to a lot of conversations I really don’t want to overhear… The manager will often look at the call software and ask why that person hasn’t taken a call for 20 minutes, or what that person is doing, or this or that… and it’s just stressful knowing that every minute is being watched.

In September they brought a new team leader in from another department and she became my teams team leader. For some reason we clash. I have always, and continue to meet every kpi. I work well yet for every “one on one” we have had (it’s a requirement to have one a month), she has me in tears. She will tell me I’ve met all my kpi’s then will focus on something that will make me upset and talk to me like I’m some delinquent child that needs to be told off. For example, I’m a case manager. That role has more demands on it, and I’m the highest performer of all the case managers however my TL asked me last week if I thought this role was for me. I said, “yes of course!” and she said because I’d gone part time, there is a concern that I won’t be able to keep up with my case load. I was so flabbergasted by this. If you look at my stats, I do more than all the other case managers even though I’m only part time!!! So where is this coming from? unfortunately I was so shocked I didn’t speak.. and I felt that lump growing in my throat again and did not want to cry in front of her. I have never had anyone make me feel so small in this company. She’s a short fat nasty piece of work and no matter how nice I have been to her, will continue to shoot me down.

So then she asked me how I was going with my campaign and I said I’d finished it (no one else had done so yet) and she said “well how is that possible? Are you not making yourself available enough for the phones”
Again I was dumb founded… on the one hand she’s saying this role can’t be for me as I’m part time and won’t be able to keep up, the next sentence she’s saying I’ve done too much work and the others think I may not be making myself available enough.

There was another incident when I was supposed to go to lunch at 11am. My computer clock and phone clock have been out of sync. This is not anything I can fix as it’s a network/profile issue. I didn’t know I had it at the time.. I took a call at 10.55am and at 11.15 I was still on that call as it was a complicated issue I was working through with a financial counselor. My TL communicated me via messenger and asked why I hadn’t gone to lunch. I said I was still on a call.. she said I’d taken it after 11 on purpose, to avoid going to an early lunch..
A little while later I realised the computer and phone time were out so I went to explain to her why it had happened. She didn’t apologise or even nod to understand why it happened, she went into the same spiel about how I have to be conscious as it will affect my co workers and again made me feel like I was a school kid getting a tell off…

My best friend there at the moment is AK who has said she thinks I’m being persecuted and can’t understand why this is happening. I’ve been in tears since Tuesday. Every time I think about it I get a lump in my throat… on Friday one of the TL’s I was friendly with asked if I was ok and I told her briefly what happened. The TL is encouraging me to talk to the manager about it. I’m not sure I can do so without getting emotional.

My TL sits next to someone who I was close friends with… this person, NH was someone who would always say to me “slow down” when doing cases because she can barely keep up the work load and always has an excuse. I wondering if she’s been bitching about me to the TL and maybe that’s where it’s coming from? For the life of me I don’t know but I’m looking for new work as I don’t want to be there anymore. It’s such a shame as I really love the actual work, but it’s turned into something ugly.

I know this is long and I haven’t really explained myself properly… I don’t know what to do.
The TL I was friendly with, the one who wanted to bring this to the manager said she would, with my permission, tell the manager.... at least then, when I speak to the manager myself, she will have a lot of the information so if I get emotional, she will already know the story.

This whole thing has just made me so sad and depressed and I don’t want to go to work anymore.