Boss gives me too much responsibility

[SpiralOut]

This has never happened to me before. I work at a small company where we are all encouraged to take care of problems ourselves or report them to someone who can fix them. Any ideas we have to improve the company are welcomed, and it's fairly easy to introduce new rules or make whatever changes we think we need in order to make our jobs easier and more efficient.

 

This is normally a good thing but lately my boss has been a little too casual about it. For example yesterday he made a rule change that affects nearly everyone in the company. It does not affect the office upstairs, where he normally works. It is something that more than 10 people need to know about - people in my department, as well as people from the other department who come in occasionally. It changes the way we do things.

 

He told ME to make sure that everyone knows about this rule change. Which puts me in the position of informing the data entry people, labellers, and lab people and explaining to them all how this affects them, since it has a different effect on each type of person.

 

I am not a supervisor. I don't have the authority to make up memos to distribute (otherwise that is what I would just do). I am feeling overwhelmed by this task that he gave to me. I pointed out to him how many people will be affected by this rule change and he told me, yeah make sure those people know about it too. What?? Thanks a lot!!

 

I wouldn't mind doing stuff like this if I was in a supervisory position or if I had time to do this. But I'm not. I haven't even been here for a year yet. Furthermore, I have so much work on my plate already that I don't appreciate this added responsibility being thrown at me. I feel that it goes a little too far and if he wants me to do stuff like this, I should be given a raise or a title change or something of that sort.

 

Just so you know, this company is small and can be cheap. They don't like to give extra hours to people or give raises if they don't need to, which is why I am unsure of how to confront my boss about this. I am also technically on a 1 year contract position. They will most likely keep me on, but if I piss them off then they have a convenient way of getting rid of me without needing to technically fire me. This place has a high turnover rate. I can't afford to be let go.

 

Advice please??

[green_tea]

He's your boss - just do it - and it doesn't sound like he's asking you to do something completely unreasonable to me. In fact it sounds like a good thing to me - if you do a good job of this, then you can bring it up when your contract is to be renewed as justification for asking for a raise.

 

Just make it clear to your boss that with the extra work, you will have to prioritise with your normal work and is that ok - this way he is aware that you have a lot on your plate. Also ask him if it's ok to make up memos, send out emails etc to let people know.

[SpiralOut]

Ugh I suppose you are right. I am just not used to this. Not very much was expected out of me at my other jobs and whatever out of the ordinary thing needed to be done was assigned to a supervisor.

 

I also feel somewhat uncomfortable with telling people who have been working there WAY longer than me, how to do things. It's weird.

 

Anyway I've decided to go in 10 minutes early on Monday so I can prepare something that will make the rule change easier on everyone. I suppose this is a good thing that he trusts me enough to leave this all up to me.

[Bittersweetie]

Maybe there is a way to spin the memo to say that if people have questions or concerns, to speak directly with your boss. Then everyone knows that you are just the messenger, and your boss will receive feedback if the change creates additional challenges for the people it affects.

[Lucky_One]

I think you are missing a huge opportunity here to really impress your boss. You are up for a contract renewal, and he has asked you to do a relatively simple task. If you really need some sort of authority to send a memo, then prepare a detailed email and forward it to him, and ask him if it is ok to send that out to the affected employees.

 

Employers look for people who are willing, cheerful, and will step up to the plate when they need them to. They don't want employees have the attitude of "not much was expected out of me at my other jobs". Be pro-active, be dynamic, be someone who can roll with punches and be efficient, if you want to a chance to be promoted.

 

If I were up for renewal and if I could not afford to not be re-hired, then I would rent a monkey suit and deliver a paper memo in person to each employee, if I thought it would help my employment chances.

[SpiralOut]

Yes all good points. Not sure if I mentioned that I have hardly any time to do what I'm supposed to be doing as it stands. This past week I have been standing in for someone who is away on vacation and I'm not very efficient at her job; I guess I got stressed out and felt like I just couldn't do anymore!! I feel so exhausted at the end of the day and I don't even get paid that much, sometimes it all feels so pointless.

 

I am trying to improve my attitude. I actually have a few ideas that will help my department to run more smoothly, so in my spare time (ie outside of work!) I'll try and put together a little something.

 

I already figured out a way to put the rule change into place by only telling a couple of people. I think I was overreacting.

 

Thank you for the wake up call. I need to suck it up. (I also need a vacation soon I think)

[SpiralOut]

Actually, I think it is time for me to find a new job. They've been dangling this better position in front of my nose for four months now and nothing whatsoever is happening to make it happen. I have done the best I can to train other people on what I do so I will be easier to replace but it's not working. People don't want to learn my job unless they are forced to by management (and they're not forcing them to even though I have asked them several times to let me train someone).

 

It feels like I'm going nowhere and in all honest I feel resentful. Especially since two people who were hired AFTER I was have already moved into better positions while I am still stuck where I am. It makes me feel I am being punished for doing a good job; as a "reward" I get to just keep doing it instead of learning new skills and moving forward. Oh just to clarify, one of them was moved because he was too slow at his job so they put him into a different position that they were hoping he would be better at. This isn't something that management kept a secret from anybody. So it's like okay in order to go into a better department I should just suck at my job, too??

 

I have made it clear on several occasions to my boss that I am eager to learn something new at the company and I am willing to train people on my job. I've even made suggestions of what would work.

 

Anyway I don't know. Just feeling underappreciated I guess. But I will make sure to do a good job until I am finished working there.

Edited January 11, 2012 by SpiralOut

[ja123]

Though Lucky_One makes some good points, he doesn't say that you should not jump through all these hoops for any and every boss or company.

 

It's important to be discerning about corporate cultures/environments/politics and choose what suits you. My first reaction when I read your OP was that there's a lack of boundaries and clarity at this company, and that can lead to a lot of stress. It's unfair of your boss to put you in the position of telling other people who've been there longer than you about the new rule change. That's bad management on his part, and it's ultimately disrespectful to you and to them. This may seem like a small thing, but if you look at the management style (or lack of), then it doesn't bode well for the health of the company in many other aspects and/or departments, so it's not to be minimized.

 

It's a good idea to keep job hunting while you're there: so you won't feel trapped and that your survival is hanging in the balance.

 

In the meantime, do your job but keep a really low-profile so that you won't be selected for extra tasks. Remain diplomatic and professional.

 

Good luck!

[SpiralOut]

Though Lucky_One makes some good points, he doesn't say that you should not jump through all these hoops for any and every boss or company.

 

It's important to be discerning about corporate cultures/environments/politics and choose what suits you. My first reaction when I read your OP was that there's a lack of boundaries and clarity at this company, and that can lead to a lot of stress. It's unfair of your boss to put you in the position of telling other people who've been there longer than you about the new rule change. That's bad management on his part, and it's ultimately disrespectful to you and to them. This may seem like a small thing, but if you look at the management style (or lack of), then it doesn't bode well for the health of the company in many other aspects and/or departments, so it's not to be minimized.

 

It's a good idea to keep job hunting while you're there: so you won't feel trapped and that your survival is hanging in the balance.

 

In the meantime, do your job but keep a really low-profile so that you won't be selected for extra tasks. Remain diplomatic and professional.

 

Good luck!

 

THANK YOU! I was starting to think that I was just overreacting. I really can't work in an environment like this. I can do the work if people actually know what they are doing and the break times actually stay the same each day instead of us arguing for 5 minutes everyday about when to take our lunch. It is getting ridiculous.

 

I'm wondering if I should go try to explain to my boss that our department needs a supervisor, or if by doing that I would turn into his little sidekick. Or maybe he would just fire me LOLOL okay maybe not fire but get super pissed off. Oh yeah there is also a culture of fear at the company. When people get fired there's not usually any clear indication of why exactly, usually just a build up of various things that person did to piss them off. I don't know if anyone gets letters of warning or warning talks.

 

This week one woman was threatened, being told to not bother coming in the next day if she goes for her doctor's appointment (I guess he didn'twant to give her the day off). She went anyway, came back into work, and nobody said anything to her. She's still here.

 

Someone else was told the same thing and instead of coming into work anyway, he called to ask if he should come back or not. He was told not to come back, so now he's gone.

 

I'm guessing that if he had just come into work anyway, he would have kept his job. It seems like almost a "test" to see how badly someone wanted to keep their job or not.

 

Wow as I write this out I realize how bad things are. The only reason I can deal with it is because the people I work with are amazing.

 

I'm actually fearing for my job right now. He told me the other day I did a good job but I don't know if I can even believe him. I don't trust him.

[whichwayisup]

Get your resume together and start looking for something else. It's obvious they don't care much about their employees, and they use a lot of empty threats to try to keep people in line and scare them, but it doesn't work.

 

Your wellness and mental health are important, so if this job isn't working for you, make the change.. Anything else would be better than what you have now.

[CopingGal]

Your boss sounds like a real bombaclot rolling around in the dirt.