Not happy with job role categories - AIBU

[chubbyspice]

I work for a science company. There are lab staff, staff who register products, staff work in supply chain, finance and admin. It is a small company (50pax) but is growing rapidly. There was recently a management exercise to grade the roles so that they are comparable across the company.
The roles were divided into 3 categories - scientific/technical, professional and admin. Each grade was then categorised against years of experience, professional qualifications and what level of spend/project responsibility. My role is the senior admin in the company. I'm quite upset that admin was made separate from 'professional'. It was made clear in the grading that people working in professional didn't have to have a degree/qualification although the lack thereof meant that you wouldn't get a job at the top grade without this. Admin only required that you finish school and have 4 years experience. There was no ranking for an admin who was a graduate, doesn't look like it matters.
Also, whereas other roles were assessed against the project budget, admin was assessed against how big an error they could make - so, a grade 3 manages projects of 30k whereas a grade 2 (admin) has capacity to make mistakes up to value of 5k. The lowest admin grade had the wording 'low impact' against it. I appreciate that this refers more to the a comparison with the top grade, in terms of the top grade being able to grow the business/increase sales/profitability etc but in what world is it a good idea to send out a document to everyone in the company and have the words 'low impact' against someone's role.
Seriously thinking of leaving now.
AIBU?

I could look for a new job. The problem that I, and others, have there is that the pay is ok, the work is interesting, coworkers are great but managers aren't.
I work part time and it's really difficult to find a well paid, interesting part time job. However, the manager is so moody and I find that really difficult. The company keep telling us how great they are and how happy everyone is but they never actually ask - they just say that nobody has complained so all is fine. But there isn't really a forum for complaints. People just get fed up and leave.

It's not 2 of 9 though is it op? It's 2 out of 2 grades available in your category, with 2 other categories with their grades in them (if Ive understood correctly)

I still think your focusing on the wrong thing but wish you luck going forward. I find once someone is unhappy at work, unless it's purely to do with money or something tangible, there's generally no resolution apart from see what else if out there to either make you appreciate what you do have, or to take a punt and go where the grass is probably going to be greener, if for other reason other than it being a fresh start.

Chubby nowadays a lot of people are in your position and quite frankly are fed up with being in career limbo. Don't turn in on yourself or berate yourself for wanting to be recognised. I bet you're the glue that holds the place together but soak up a lot of tasks that don't naturally fit elsewhere so they say "give that to Chubby to sort out" and you don't get the amount of recognition you deserve.

Have you considered taking a qualification in project management such as PMP or PRINCE2. You could start with the Foundation and progress towards Practitioner. It will give you the formal qualification (and initials after your name!) to take on projects and run them from start to finish.

Then they'd have to recognise you as a Professional grade.

Then they'd have to recognise you as a Professional grade

No they wouldn’t. Not in the Office Manager role anyway. Grading is about the role, not the role-holder. If the position doesn’t require PM qualification, gaining it will not change the grade of the role.

I'm also embarassed that I assumed I held a position of higher ranking than I did.

This is the crux of it I think.

And perhaps you do. You could be a very very good office manager, that goes above and beyond your grade and is a fantastic team member. But, the next office manager might not. So they can't assign a higher grade to you as an employee, only to what's reasonable for the role. If there are no salary boundaries, this could work in your favour. You could theoretically negotiate a salary you feel you've earned because you work above your grade.

I see how you feel that the grades should be 1- entry level, 2 - standard admin and 3 - senior admin/office manager but realistically a new starter should easily be shifting from entry to standard in a couple of months. It takes everyone a while to bed in and learn but it's the same job at the same level. I would not expect standard admin to be paid more than a new starter.

All of the tasks you have outlined combined with non management of staff make me think you're graded appropriately. Unless of course by HR related you mean something like interviewing/shortlisting candidates, leading, developing policies (not simply typing them up), developing induction processes etc rather than say working out annual leave allowances and sick pay entitlements which are squarely admin.

Plus, for PMP certification, you need 3 years PM experience with 4,500 hours experience of leading projects.

You don’t get the certification and become a Project Manager, you typically move through the PMO career cycle, and then get certified once you have the required years/hours experience to gain the qualification.

Agree with justhere, having a professional qualification wouldn't necessarily jump you into the grade you want, you'd be an office manager, still at admin grade, but with a qualification. Could be worth seeing if they will sponsor you though so you can maybe move into a PM role there if one becomes available? (Although I recruit PM's without the quals if they have the right experience, so it might not benefit you at this company)

It's not 2 of 9 though is it op? It's 2 out of 2 grades available in your category, with 2 other categories with their grades in them

^also this.

I have done some interviewing. I've also worked on a new induction programme. Working on the office etiquette policy for the new HQ.
I am the glue. And I know that makes me sound like I don't have low self esteem but I do have awareness of how I've changed the culture in small ways. I receive & send more emails than anyone else - which isn't necessarily an achievement but is a reflection on workload, especially given that I'm part time.
I think that the issue is fairness. I read somewhere that societies that have equality are happier - if everyone is poor then they are poor but not envious/resentful of their peers; if some are poor and some are rich then the society is not equal and people aren't happy (although the rich probably are). My workplace doesn't seem fair - policies don't apply to everyone - working from home, flexitime etc and seem to be dependant on what your line manager is like.
So some teams complain that they don't have enough work while others are overloaded.
I need to decide if it's so bad that I need to leave

YABU. If you want a different grading, ask for your job description to be changed.

In my experience, though, your job is what good admin people do. And even though you think you are the glue, you’re not really driving the business side of things forward, are you? You are keeping everything ticking over behind the scenes, aka doing an admin job.

I remember being classed as “unproductive” when my company introduced a new system. Not very flattering, but realistic.

Unfortunately, this is why ‘admin. /PA / Exec. Assistant jobs are seen as non-careers and dead-end. You’ll get low grade tasks given to you until you cant cope but you wont be promoted unless you identify a career path and manage to get support & training to move into it (such as HR/Finance/Project Management/Marketing). Everyone telling you you’re invaluable/you run the place are just flattering/patronising you to cover the fact that you’re doing lots of work with no real end goal in mind (& they’d have to do the grunt work if you didnt).

Can you identify a role you’d like to move into? What’s your degree in? Maybe we can help you put a career plan in place.

Forgot to adk, which evaluation tool was used? The grades you quoted look like Croner.

In our company, they’re getting rid of the job grades as it makes everyone obsessed with it! To be fair you do get different benefits and bonuses with different grades but now we’re told it’s the job not the grade!
The salary band for each job grade is over 20k difference so you could be a band 2 and earn the same as a band 4 for example.

If you’re really feeling down, update your CV and have a look at other jobs. Especially ones that give you performance reviews, opportunities for career development AND have the decency to thank-you every now and again!

tbh, if my line manager had taken 20 minutes to do a review, tell me I'm wonderful, promise that the workload would ease up and generally bullshitting me it would have kept me happy for the next while. But the fact is that everyone else on her team got reviews but I didn't. It just felt like a real slap in the face, which is ironic as I hate doing reviews but it was the fact that I wasn't important enough to get one that bothered me.
I am under no illusion that I'm irreplaceable. I don't think that anyone takes a job in admin expecting to do anything other than the grunt work. It's partly the fact that 4 large projects happened together with no thought for how the workload was going to be managed, other than me doing lots of unpaid overtime. I guess that I'm just fed up. I think that I need to work for a company with a better culture. A lot of other employees are fed up and talking about leaving, which is never nice to hear and doesn't make sense when the company is doing well.

and yes, they really need a HR person and my leaning is towards that and I think that they would support me in training BUT, you wouldn't be given autonomy to make decisions so you'd only really be a puppet. Everyone would be coming to you with their grievances but you wouldn't be able to do much to resolve them. I'd consider HR but not for this company

Frankly if think I'm being decently paid and the job's OK they can call me a grade minus 20 janitor for all I care (no disrespect intended to janitors by the way).

It's sad but true that seeking recognition for anything in most workplaces is unlikely to end well unless you work in a very very rare place.

Stop working unpaid overtime and seek fulfilment outside work.

Surely decent pay and an ok job are only part of the trade off for your time and expertise?
I need to decide if I'd be happier elsewhere - even if it was less pay. I'm being taken advantage of where I am and obviously I shouldn't have allowed that but they're not the kind of employer to care.
And yes, I can find fulfilment outside work but can I not have it in work?

HR is a very fulfilling and rewarding career. There’s a lot of elements- HR management, Employee Relations, Industrial Relations (my field!), Compensation & Benefits, Learning & Development etc. but if you’re starting out, you need to do so in a company with a strong HR department where you’ll get experience and guidance.

Part-time inexperienced HR as a stand-alone role would be a disaster in a company that has issues, and is expanding.

It’s one thing to say you won’t be able to do anything about people’s grievances, but it’s another when you have to because there’s legislation that you have to know, interpret, and follow. Even following it to the letter, you’re still likely to spend time defending your decision/the company’s in labour courts. It can be tough going.

In my experience, the best places to get proper HR experience is in large companies that have solid policies and procedures, centres of excellence for the likes of ER/L&D etc., and who will support you in gaining CIPD certification.

For HR admins who wish to progress, I hire people with a degree (business-related but not always specifically HR if they’ve done/are doing a HR-specific course that will give them a minimum of Graduate CIPD).

...but you wont be promoted unless you identify a career path and manage to get support & training to move into it (such as HR/Finance/Project Management/Marketing).

In fact this is what I'd said upthread, but brevity of Information, I should have stated that it would be part of a career progression, not to stay standing still in the current role.

OP don't let the neysayers stop you from moving forward in your career if you believe you want to break free from being someone who does the graft, the unglamorous tasky stuff leaving all the 'sexy' stuff to the Professionals. Everyone had to start somewhere, you're no less worthy than them.

Unobtainable - I agree. Admin is dead end. I know of quite a few PAs who moved into HR/project management/finance/health and safety. Admin doesn’t lead anywhere, jobs that need you to be qualified to do them have more potential. Most people can do admin roles as you don’t need any qualifications.

Op you are massively confusing a poor performance management process at your employer with an objective, role-based assessment of your job role for grading purposes.

I'm also slightly losing sympathy when you mention stuff like sending the most emails (noise does not equal value or impact; how many emails does your senior director send? Or the CEO? Usually it's minimal). And you've not addressed pertinent points from other posters who have given good advice on potential specialisms - drafting an office etiquette guide is NOT akin to e.g. HR policy or talent management roles where professional best practices are understood, studied, qualified in which there's a large risk to the company (example: leading on, creating and being responsible for removing unconscious bias against minority candidates in, say, an engineering company).

You're not talking like a senior member of staff at all, and your approach, examples are all similar to what I hear from our vocal, entitled new grads who have no real commercial understanding and yet all seem to think they're undervalued and underappreciated if they aren't getting a pat on the head simply for showing up! They're not all like that but it's a common problem.

I'm stepping away from this thread now but I suggest you listen to those telling you that your frustration to the grading is misplaced; there are alternative options to consider for progression or to raise the matter constructively and professionally with your line manager; I suggest you pursue them.

BUT, you wouldn't be given autonomy to make decisions so you'd only really be a puppet

Hmm OP please don't be under any illusion that (a) being expected to make decisions doesn't come with a huuuge weight of responsibility. It moves you from having a degree of protection shielded by your manager to one of great exposure where you'd be expected to get it right first time no excuses. If you make an almighty FU the impact is likely to be far less severe compared to a manager with budgetary implications / being answerable to senior directors etc AKA it's a poisoned chalice in reality! and (b) people with decision making powers are most certainly answerable to others and just get a much harder 'shoe-ing if they make a ballsup.

examples are all similar to what I hear from our vocal, entitled new grads who have no real commercial understanding and yet all seem to think they're undervalued and underappreciated if they aren't getting a pat on the head simply for showing up! I agree with your comment Eila! Having a Degree should teach people how little they know and not how much. Any qualification just exposes us to potential for more learning by experience and in reality only scratches the surface