Work wants our job roles

Seems like a Manager problem to me!

They should know what the people they manage are employed to do.

There's a difference between outlining your duties and explaining how to carry them out. Unless it's so bloody easy/obvious that a monkey could do it.

On the positive side - decent chance of some redundancy money coming your way.

Pad it right out, with loads of jargon. Managers love that.

This is bread and butter stuff for any department, your manager or HR should be working this, i.e. what does your team do, and who does what with that team, otherwise how do you know everything required is being done effectively.

It's basic Terms of Reference and Job Specifications for each post and an overarching process for what the team does and processes it follows, they should have some type of workplace resilience plan from this, to stop people coming in and having to 'learn it all themselves', on the job training should be captured in any induction pack for that team as well.

Sounds like your area is basically just get folk in and do the job, without knowing what the resource requirement is, or how they will meet it, also sounds like they may be looking at a team of 10 going down to a team of 8 or whatever!

Our team got an email from our manager today asking us to document our roles (in great detail)

Turn it into a Hay evaluation for additional pay, it's amazing how these things are quickly forgotten https://uwaterloo.ca/human-resources/support-managers/compensation/hay-evaluation-method

Offer to run comprehensive training courses for your colleagues from your newly established consultancy How To Do My Job Ltd.

Thanks for the replies. I think its our manager getting 'round trying to understanding exactly what we all do. I'm the only one in the team that produces work flows and processes. They go out for comment and that's the last I hear about it! I often spend time showing colleagues how to do some basic stuff in Excel, Outlook, sharing stuff on Teams. We've been given until the end of January to draft something up!!

I often spend time showing colleagues how to do some basic stuff in Excel, Outlook, sharing stuff on Teams

It never ceases to amaze me how unbelievably bad most people are with IT and how they manage to either cover it up or pass it off as a jokey "ooh, I'm terrible with computers, haha!"

I mean, I'm far from perfect with IT but at least I use my downtime to run through training programmes, self-learn stuff and so on because I know that at some point it'll come in really handy.

Sadly I don't use Excel as much as I used to, I did get quite good at it - at least good enough to know where my knowledge stopped!

Although I'm not sure I'd put that in a job description package, it sort of highlights how poor their existing training is and no-one wants to hear that....

Call me odd but I always thought they were meant to know what your job is. Being that they employed you to do it.

I ran it through ChatGPT - I would recommend this approach.
Here's a sample -

Dear [Manager's Name],

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to provide you with a detailed overview of my daily responsibilities in my role within the local government, emphasizing how my contributions are indispensable to our team's success.

A significant portion of my daily tasks revolves around Excel spreadsheets. I meticulously analyze, manage, and manipulate data using advanced Excel functions and macros, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in decision-making processes. My ability to translate complex data into actionable insights equips our team with a valuable resource for informed policymaking and resource allocation.

In addition to Excel, I play a pivotal role in crafting impactful presentations through PowerPoint. I create visually engaging slideshows that distill complex information into clear, concise, and persuasive messages. My expertise in design, data visualization, and storytelling transforms our ideas into compelling narratives that resonate with stakeholders, making our proposals and reports stand out.

Furthermore, I actively contribute to project management, coordinating tasks, timelines, and resources to keep our initiatives on track. My organizational skills and attention to detail are vital in ensuring the success of these projects.

In summary, my daily activities are foundational to the local government's operations. My proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint, along with my project management skills, make me an indispensable asset to the team, enabling us to excel in data-driven decision-making and communication.

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this impactful work.

That sounds like a really shit CV!  It's bullshi. Bingo time...

I mean, I’m far from perfect with IT but at least I use my downtime to run through training programmes, self-learn stuff and so on because I know that at some point it’ll come in really handy.

What is this downtime you speak of?

Excellent replies. Thanks all. Iv'e not used ChatGPT. Should be a laugh.

Got to lol at the idea of an employer asking their employees what it is they are employed to do.

No wonder the organisation's in trouble.

1. Write the theme tune,
2. Sing the theme tune,
...

Describe yourself writing the report they requested, down to individual keystrokes.

Start job hunting. You're being managed by cretins and nothing good will come of this.

1. refer them back to the job description you are employed against 

2. engage with your local HR and TU reps to ascertain how a job reevaluation process, identifying all the additional duties you complete, over and above your current JD, should lead to an increase in job banding, and pay,  backdated to when you started providing the additional duties. 

What do you actually do?

I've mostly worked in jobs where my role was "figuring stuff out". Problem solving, research, consultancy. It isn't necessarily a bad thing teaching someone the stuff you know as it means you move onto something else - often a new unsolved problem. It isn't about knowing the answers but knowing how to find them.

I'd have no trouble with explaining that I spend most of my time on google and wikipedia - occasionally mixing some stuff together in the lab.

I’d exercise care not to make my job role description too unique though. After all, in a redundancy situation it’s the role that goes, and not the person. But if you’re the only person in the role, and they decide that don’t need a role with quite that combination of Excel-wrangler and widget-fiddler…

Changed many things, really. In a global sense, streamlining, the whole ongoing enterprise of it.

- David Brent.

I feel that this kind if thing is 'Local Government Life' right now and it is going to continue to be a bit stressful.

There's good advice to obfuscate and throw up justifications to shine the spotlight of scrutiny away from yourself, which is good to keep the job security rolling.

But the posts saying to keep yourself skilled and employable, and actively looking elsewhere - yes, 100% that, if you can.

I've had to do this a few years ago...I'm in a similar position to you in that there isn't another person among our thousands of employees that does what I do. I told them, then I got left well alone.
Back in July we had a proposed restructure ... ahem ... "Business case for significant change".
I wrote a strongly worded recommendation about a number of things they hadn't considered. A month or so later I was told that they are going to reconsider due to the feedback received. We're all still waiting for the revision.

Anyway, a good manager would take the time to talk to you individually to find out what you do, and make notes themselves.

It would have been interesting trying to describe in exacting detail how I applied vinyl decals to school of motoring cars. It’s actually quite easy to describe: you wash the car, dry it, spray the appropriate panel with isopropyl alcohol and wipe clean, and spray with soapy water. Then take the appropriate decal, carefully peel back the backing sheet, spraying with soapy water, then once the backing sheet is removed, and the decal fully wetted, apply to the car panel and squeegee the water out while heating with a hot air gun.

See, piece of piss, any idiot could do it. 🤣

After a year, I was fairly confident I was doing it properly.

I’m the only one in the team that produces work flows and processes. They go out for comment and that’s the last I hear about it!

then I think you are overthinking it.  Just bundle up your flow charts and processes perhaps with one overarching doc that identifies where/when.  Job done.

probably nobody ever looks at it and it’s box ticking for someone to say it’s documented.  It could be to identify the useless - if nobody else is already doing this you’ll stand out as being in control and a keeper whilst they will be a PITA who can’t tell anyone what they do.

(we do this for regulatory reasons but often have a battle with some auditor who wants a doc to tell someone exactly which buttons to click or things to type - depending who the user is and the process involved, we make a point of saying “competent professionals are require to execute these instructions and understand and act on error messages”.  Partly it’s true, partly it stops anyone replacing skilled roles with people following a flow chart which 9/10 is probably fine but the value comes from knowing where / when to problem solve.).

in reality unlike all the people saying “surely managers should know this” actually I don’t just employ drones - I employ people for their intellectual ability to solve problems and manage/develop processes so documenting what they do makes perfect sense.  Realistically nobody except those people knows if what the write is right or wrong… the ultimate test is usually when someone else has to follow it, and something unexpected happens!

Just reading through the posts. I work for a district council on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. I think I'll follow some of the advice and produce some process flows and a doc. Agree that the manager should have a decent idea of my role, but makes no difference to the request. I'm not getting the impression it's about redundancies (I'm on a 1 year FTC),more identifying who does what (and making sure they understand their roles). Going to brush up my GIS skills and consolidate with the data stuff I've been doing the past year.

CougarFull Member
Start job hunting. You’re being managed by cretins and nothing good will come of this.

Don’t disagree but I’d say be careful of that as a great deal of middle managers are mediocre as and it could just as easily be a frying pan fire thing etc

I might be a million miles off but my first impression of that after over 25 years working for the government........

That sounds more like a jegs excercise to me. Job evaluation grading. Making sure you are not acting out of grade.

Back in the mid 2000s there was a landmark case where dinner ladies demonstrated that they were the same grade as refuge collectors who were mainly men. Then there was a further case where retired workers got back pay etc. I think this is the correct link.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/birmingham-city-council-workers-win-263289

Since then there's been loads of cases taken out against employers. The mainly female tesco cashiers vs mainly male factory workers.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/07/tesco-equal-pay-claim-could-cost-supermarket-up-to-4bn

Ever since then government departments routinely make sure the grades of staff are correct but as your team is so new they probably don't have the data so are asking you to provide it.

The good news is it must have been jegged prior to advertising so it probably won't go down. If it does I think your pay is protected for 3 years.

Chances are the role has developed from what it was first envisaged so with a bit of imagination and over egging the pudding you might get a regrade.

Personally, I'd speak to my local union rep and then speak to a HR representative to clarify the situation before I completed anything. Just to understand the request properly.

If it is a jegs excercise I would be pretty upset with the poor communication from your manager and asking why he isn't completing it in conjunction with you.

Thanks Damascus for that info. That would make sense given the 3 month deadline to complete the task, and that my manager wouldn't drop something that 'weighty' on us for no reason.

Is this something every team is beings asked to do across the organisation? If so there must be some information on why they are doing it and what is planned. Or is it something your boss is trying to do as a one off pet idea they have thought up?  Either way, if you are a member, chat with union rep may be worth it if you feel there is something significant/sinister behind the request. 

I recognised the request format.Sounds like they've brought someone in with a PGCE/MA Education (Leadership and Management)  who's going to run through textbook procedures to "make a good organisation better".

They justify it for the staff as becoming more self-aware of what they do, and to strive for better.

If the worst happens, you can write a better CV.

I use my self toughy skill to open the company's locked down word templates and unlock them to make them usable from a formatting perspective.

I wrestle in-house developed spreadsheets that have been "designed" to do things other software can do... but can't.

I do CAD work I should be able to hand over to experienced technicians OR I spend more time holding junior technicians hands do tasks that should be coming from experienced but non existent technicians.

I show people with more experience and qualifications and significantly higher paid how to do things I taught myself to do.

I come up with macros and workflows that save hours and hours of work which everyone ignores... So I just use them to do less and get paid the same.

Insert a detailed coffee and tea ritual here.

I don't do my timesheet.

I pretty much put this in every review and still seem to get promotions and payrises.