To speak up at work

[spanieleyes22]

Am so fed up of goody goody people at work. Am getting very worked up about it and I know I need to chill and just let it all flow🤣back story we are having a restructure and were told in a teams chat by manager that there was now a rota for covering reception. I just hate doing it. Just because I'm really busy I have so much to do and the thing is 99.9%of the queries are nothing to do with my role and I don't know the answer. I said this to my manager and she said if you don't know the answer just stick it in the big teams chat and someone will reply. It's really inefficient. I have someone sitting in front of me or standing and they ask me a question and I say sorry I don't know hold on. Then I type the query in the chat and wait for a response which can take a few minutes. Then that person usually has to check something and I'm sat there with the person staring at me and wondering why I'm not doing anything. Other members of my team have all said privately that they don't like doing it but they won't say anything to the managers. Even today a girl on my team volunteered to cover someone and I was like Wtaf. So when an email came round just now outlining the rota for the next 6 weeks I put up a msg saying nobody had told us this was to be a oermanent arrangement and I honestly felt it wasn't the best use of my time. Nobody even gave my comment a thumbs up. They are like little sheep or mice they won't say boo to anyone. I shouldn't have said anything should I. I wish I was meek and mild and didn't care but I do care about doing a good job - and I just feel I'm worth more than a receptionist.

Yes this is what I was trying to explain. Come on can we be real a receptionist post whilst a valuable part of a team would
Be advertised at about 18-20 thousand a year if lucky. Ok probably should
Be paid more. But I'm on a lot bigger salary because of my knowledge and training. I'm not being snobby or looking down or reception but it's a fact of ljfe . Ah well I'm not very good at explaining it tbh I think people know what I mean tho

If you don’t know the answers on the reception then maybe you’ll learn something new as times goes on.
or get another job. They won’t change how they do things.

I suggest you suck this up while you concentrate on updating your CV and looking for another job.

Your attitude is awful!
I'd hate to work with you!

Look I've worked my way up I don't see what the problem is. Different jobs require different skills and quals surely and attract different salary scales? An extreme example would be asking the doctor to cover reception and then saying his attitude is awful because he looks down on receptionists???!!!

Maybe we should live in a society where bin men are paid the same as surgeons . I wouldn't be against that actually in some ways. But saying I have a bad attitude because I've gained experience and quals and training that for a specific role but am expected to work as a receptionist is unfair I feel!

I know doctors that own practices and vets that own practices and have no problem sharing the phones without thinking they are better than everyone else earning less than them!

Suck it up! Maybe teach you a thing or two! Tho I'd hate to get you on the phone.

But you're still getting paid your much bigger salary and this is now part of the work that your employer wants you to do. So what's the issue?

You can think that they're wasting their money by paying you to do the reception work, but that's their problem. You can decide that you no longer enjoy your job and look for another one. You can make constructive suggestions to management about how to improve things.

What you can't do is stamp your feet and say that you're not doing what is now a part of your job because you think you're "worth more than a receptionist".

I just don't like it. It's not that it's beneath me but honestly it does not require any quals or experience like what I have and would

So you shouldn't find it too difficult then?

Hi OP it Could just then be the way you worded your OP that came across as it did re receptionist role - I totally understand if you just don’t like it, fair enough!

I think a constructive way to approach this (seeing as it’s clear this company doesn’t seem to “do” consulting or even communicating well and they’ve already issued what they want) is to focus any discussion with management on the impact of your regular role on the business. To be honest, I think it’s fair on your employer to communicate that, and can be presented perhaps as being a business concern, even if you didn’t mind covering, as some of your colleagues seem not to!

Definitely also feels like your colleagues might simply be worried about their jobs with the changes so keeping their heads down, for that reason I wouldn’t be too critical of them right now.

Whether someone is willing to muck in when needed tells you a lot about a person.
You aren't being asked to be the full time receptionist and it's being shared equally amongst the team.
It sounds like something you just need to get on with.

If you are not happy then find another job. But for god's sake don't moan about having to cover reception or talk about goody goodys when asked why you are leaving. You sound like a child.

The point is, when the company did the restructure, they will have known what salaries people are on and what salaries they would previously have paid for a receptionist etc. They will be aware that it costs more to have more expensive staff covering this role, but for whatever reason, they have decided that it is in the best interests of their business to organise things like this. And that is their prerogative.

They might have made some ridiculous decisions, but if they did, that's on them and they will need to deal with the consequences of those decisions. They might have communicated things badly too, and they will have to deal with the consequences of that poor communication. Which might include staff being pissed off and/or not fully understanding the rationale that sits behind the decision making.

The important point for you to focus on, though, is that they are not going to change things just because you don't like them. It is in your best interests now to either accept the changes and get on board with them (offering genuinely constructive and helpful feedback about how to make the new model more effective) or if you can't accept them, look to move on to another role in a different company. There is no point in bleating on about how things were better before... they're not going to go back to how things were.

I agree with you for what it's worth, whilst a receptionist role is a perfectly good job if it's not what you have trained to do or want to do then I can understand why you wouldn't want to do it, especially if your actual job will suffer as a consequence. I'm a PA and have been asked to cover reception before on rare occasions and it's relentless, the phone is always ringing or there is someone at the desk you cannot concentrate on your own job for the interruptions. I personally don't like being interrupted non stop and would never apply to work on reception, not because I think it's beneath me, it's not, but because I don't enjoy the job. It's not an easy role to cover either, receptionists have to know so much. I don't know what the point of my post is but wanted to say I get it completely!

Thanks @ARealFake I actually left my last role for the exact same reason. They restructured and wanted everyone to do everything incl reception phones etc etc. it's just not me I prefer to focus on a task and that's how I like to work. Anyway thanks for the advice am gonna close my gob and just do what I'm told like all the rest of the team. Grates on me though not gonna lie

Who does know the answer?
And is their job so important that they can't do reception?
Is it corporate knowledge that needs to be in a big FAQ so you can refer to it?
Are the questions often the same?

If you're new to a business you might not know the nuances of processes, but is it easier to ring someone up rather than team chat?

Produce a FAQ even if only for your own reference.

Just had some more work dumped on me from guy who has left and no replacement. The other full time member of the team and me are sharing the task and he was worrying how will we get it done by tomorrow. I'm on reception today and he's on tomorrow so he said he was going to stay late and get it done tonight. The managers need it by 5 tomorrow. I can't do mine outside work hours though I have commitments. This guy is young living at home so he doesn't have a lot of responsibility only for himself: mite have to bring laptop home and make a start on my half tonight as well as I won't get anything done today. Am stressed and cross.

It will show me up if he finishes and I don't

I think I have seen you mention that you lecture at a university. Would you be happy to be told that once a week you now need to look after reception as part of your job, as well as keep your current workload/research/lecturing as it is? Really?

I simply don’t believe people when they say this. Everybody’s role is important in an organisation. But other than in an emergency, it is not right to make people take on another very different job which takes them away from their current workload, without proper discussion and planning.

And I also argue that each job is a skilled role. Being in charge of reception or admin requires a certain skill set that not everybody has. I think it requires proper training and preparation and some special person skills. It should not be assumed that just anyone can do it.

Whilst I don’t totally agree with the way the OP is talking about the reception role, I understand why she does not want to take on the additional duties.

@spanieleyes22 Go to your line manager now and ask them to prioritise what you should be doing.

I know what she will say - that I should
See how I get on and if needed she will ask someone else to pick up my work tomorrow if I'm not going to be finished. Last time this happened she got angry with me for telling her and said that she would come in at 8am to do my work. Needless to say I got it finished by working late on my laptop and going in early the next day.

I think I have seen you mention that you lecture at a university. Would you be happy to be told that once a week you now need to look after reception as part of your job, as well as keep your current workload/research/lecturing as it is? Really?

This sort of thing happens at universities all the time! I might not get asked to look after reception but I'm certainly doing lots of admin tasks that were previously done by a dedicated admin team.
I regularly do tasks that are not part of my role or job description that would usually be done by staff on lower pay grades than me.
Sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done.
But ultimately the OPs job description has been changed and she's obviously agreed to it. She needs to have a mature conversation with her employer rather than slag off her colleagues.

Ask by email.

And start looking for a new job.

For me, it would depend why I was being asked.

A lot of pp have assumed that your employer is taking the piss but is there a genuine business need? If they are experiencing a downturn and this is a way of keeping afloat then I'd expect everyone to pull together.

I think you should ask why, and for how long.

If you are not happy with their answer, look elsewhere.

I don't think you are being fair on your colleagues though. I think you put it in your chat to garner support and are embarrassed that you didn't get it.

Some people genuinely won't mind.

Some people might agree with you privately but not care enough to rock the boat. Don't assume that someone nodding along agrees with you as sometimes that's just the easiest thing to do with someone who is angry or agitating.

Hmm.
You feel your'e worth more than a receptionist.... but cant actually do a receptionists job.
Interesting view....