Some thoughts on why I'm leaving this place...

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce) 05/17/2018 at 12:21 • Filed to: None

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I accepted the new job at the new place. But I was feeling kinda down about having to say goodbye to everyone here and I felt like I was abandoning people. I was looking for a reminder as to why I wanted to leave and, well, I got one yesterday.

I called in sick due to a heavy cough and lots of nasty gunk coming out of me. Pretty nasty stuff. Boss asked me to come in for a few hours. Why? Not for a meeting, not for a technical question, not for some formula help, but to ship packages through our UPS program because my company has decided that the laboratory handles all small packages and I am the only one who can be assed to work the program correctly.

I have no problems with helping out my department and with taking on some responsibilities. But lately that happened again and again and I am doing a wide variety of non-R&D tasks. None of which are in my job description and my year end review is only based on the R&D stuff. I asked not too long ago about the timetable to get some of these responsibilities put back onto other positions that we filled and got told “Ummmm......no. We’re not doing that.” I asked to have my job description expanded to include goals for these responsibilities and got told “Ummm.....no. Your description is fine as is”.

I feel for whoever has to wrap up any R&D I was working on, but I don’t feel bad that these extras are going back to the technicians and other employees. I get that I do them well, but that was why I was frustrated - being told that this was my job, but it would never be used to judge how well I do my job.

E90M3 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 12:32

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So did you go in?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > E90M3 05/17/2018 at 12:36

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I did. I don’t want to burn bridges here. And I just didn’t have the energy to get in an argument at 8am while coughing out my lungs.

E90M3 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 12:39

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I can understand that. Thought I would have been like you should have either put it in my job description or hired someone else for it. I didn’t burn bridges when I left my old company, but sometimes when you were the one going above and beyond and you’re leaving you should let them know subtly.

WilliamsSW > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 12:40

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Given the conversation you had with the owner (president?) of your new company, plus this, it sounds like you made a great choice.

Did you give notice yet? Some companies will dump crap on people who are leaving - I’ve never really understand why, but some do it.

Chariotoflove > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 12:51

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I bet they consider those as chores that you should just do as part of being on the team...or something like that. This points to a fundamental disagreement on what constitutes “the job”, and illustrates why it is best to move on, whether or not anyone is at fault.

I had an issue last week where an employee was grumbling to me about having to do a certain menial task that she felt was cleaning up after others. I had to sit down and show her where that task was specifically in her job description list of duties. In fact it was #1 on that list. Now, that said, I then took steps to get the others to share around their contributions to that task so that she could do more of the interesting part of her job that she does so well and makes her happy. I did this because I think a manager should listen to his/her employees and be a little flexible, especially when they are saying they want to be more productive.

Translating that to your situation, I would have told you that I would get others to learn from you how to ship their own packages so that you can do more of what you are good at, thereby working to keep you and all your training in the company.

LOREM IPSUM > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 12:54

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My first job was at a local fast food chain. Fries, hot dogs, cash register, etc.

One day, the place began stinking of feces as someone had apparently overflowed the mens room toilet. Raw sewage all over the floor. The manager on duty told me to go mop it up and I refused, stating that cleaning up shit was not in my job description. The managers response? “Your job description is whatever I tell you to do. Clean it up or clock out and go home.”

...and that was the last day at my first job. Keep your $4.27/hr.

A couple of years later, I had a much better job and was making comparatively better money. Dressed for work, shirt and tie, driving moms new Acura Legend. Stopped for gas, and guess who the minimum wage employee at the full service station was.... You guessed it, my former manager.

“Fill it with Super, and don’t get any gas on the paint. While you’re at it, wash the windows, check the oil and tire pressures, and be quick about it.”

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > WilliamsSW 05/17/2018 at 13:34

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I give notice tomorrow

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 13:35

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At the end of the day there’s an important thing to remember. It’s business. If they found someone they felt was drastically better for your position, they would fire you and hire that person. If they wouldn’t do that, then they aren’t great at running a business.

Hopefully you have an exit interview and have a chance to explain some of the reasons that pushed you out the door to HR. It’s pretty silly of them to assign work not on your job description then not give credit.

I would’ve made a move too.

deekster_caddy > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 13:40

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You should make sure to leave these notes with someone in HR when you leave. They can make adjustments to management training in the future. Might not affect the existing management structure or managers but sometimes knowing is half the battle. Especially when they discover how hard it is to replace someone like you. Not everybody will agree to those tasks and conditions (doing work outside their job description etc). At my company we changed my title to be something more generic and my job description to include ‘unspecified extras’.

Good luck in the new position!

TheRealBicycleBuck > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 14:32

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And this is why most employment contracts have “and additional duties as required” somewhere in there.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 14:56

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I’m about to sit down and have a conversation with my boss Monday because I’m facing similar issues. Its a joke around here that no one has a job description and we just get it done. Now some things are changing and if I’m not careful I will be expected to do the work of 2 people. My raise got denied so I’m not putting up with that.

I also had a phone interview Tuesday and another follow up one tomorrow. I’m hoping it works out so I can work somewhere with some organizational structure, and also get paid what I’m worth. Leaving might put some people in the grease, but at this point I’m okay with that.

shop-teacher > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/17/2018 at 22:21

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Sounds like you made the right call.