Help! I need to be upgraded.

[DesperatelyWantingUpgrade]

Old timer with name change alert!

My job will is soon to be evaluated as our department is being restructured next year. I work in the public sector and feel I deserve an upgrade. For the past 18 months, I have had a bigger workload with greater responsibilitiy. This is recognised by many of my colleagues.

Without revealing too much about my work, what phrases in my JD will help secure me the points I need?

In my present JD, there are lots of phrases that say 'supporting the team's strategy in ' but few that say 'leading on /taking responsibility for /acting as consultant on/procuring /managing * etc. As I understand it, these are buzzwords that help secure promotion.

My manager is not being proactive in helping me. She's said she is not experienced in this (despite hre many years of public sector experience ) and suggested I take it up with the union. I will be doing this (along with another colleague who feels the same way).

My manager says that she takes overall responsibilty for anything our team produces, so by definition, the rest of us are playing a supporting role. I can see this, and agree that at a higher level and on a public facing level, this is her role.

But I often do large areas of work with no detailed supervision from her. She asks me to lead on a project, briefs me and then I get on with it. Some of the time I just give my manager reports - she isn't guiding me on how I do things. Some of my public facing work is uncheckable as my manager would simply not have the time to go through it, as she has a big workload herself. I feel there is a grey area between me 'supporting' and her 'taking responsibility'

Do you think I am right to feel like this and if so, how do I get this across in my revised job description?

[meowmix]

can you do supporting overall strategy but leading xxx and yy activity, setting targets is another good one, evaluating results also.

Also what about Assuming ownership for projects etc

[DesperatelyWantingUpgrade]

I set time deadlines when I project manage a piece of work. Deadlines for myself and also for other teams/individuals involved in my project. Then I get my manager's approval on this. Would that be classed as setting targets?

[DesperatelyWantingUpgrade]

I like 'assuming ownership for projects'

[DesperatelyWantingUpgrade]

bump!

[tigermoth]

bumping this thread

(I wonder who this old timer could be.....)

[flowerybeanbag]

desperately is your manager not keen for you to upgrade do you think? Will this bring you too close to her level? She sounds as though she may feel a bit threatened by the prospect, would that be fair to say?

You are right about a lot of the 'buzz' words and phrases you have identified, and if your jd is full of 'supporting' this and 'taking part in' that, you need to review it and alter it to reflect what you actually do.

It sounds as though you do lead on projects and take ownership for and responsibility for large areas of your work, particularly if you are setting targets and deadlines for other team members and then just running them by your manager, that means you are leading on projects and managing workload of yourself and the team on projects/areas of the team's work etc If your responsibility level has changed since your jd was last reviewed, you can request to update it.

I think you should look at your jd, think about what you do and update it to reflect your new responsibility levels, and then request a meeting with your manager to discuss it.

I don't work in the public sector but I can't imagine whatever sector you are in you are likely to get upgraded without the support of your line manager, so I think that's something you need to address.

[LittleB]

If you're going through the national job evaluation programme that the government is getting local authorities to go through your job description doesn't make alot of difference in my experience. We've just been through it and are awaiting the results. Our regrading is determined on a detailed questionnaire and an interview. It sounds like it would be useful for you to have your job description up to date though. Is it worth looking at similar jobs advertised and checking out the job descriptions for those, I know this is what our manager did when ours were last updated, ours are so general that they don't really reflect what we do very well though. But the job evaluation interview and questinnaire was very detailed. Our manager had an input into this too. Shouldn't your union be able to advise you? Ours have been very helpful during the whole process.