Help needed to politely tell boss that I am not happy!

[Rhubarb]

Briefly; I work for a charity as a fundraising admin assistant. My wage is £12k pro rata - I work 20 hours spread over 4 days to fit in with school hours.

My actual job consists of a little admin work, banking, recruiting volunteers, organising fundraising events, liaising with the media, producing leaflets/posters, a lot of the work I have to use my own initiative for. So basically I'm a fundraiser being paid as an admin asst (there is no admin officer, the next position up from me is Senior Fundraiser).

I'm not happy because I feel they are using me. Last week I had to travel to Newcastle for a training course, then to Sheffield the next day and there are other courses/meetings coming up that I will be expected to attend, even though that means working outside of my hours, often late into the evening (no overtime just time in lieu). I am not given enough guidance, I am taking on huge responsibilities and my deadlines according to my appraisal are fundraising deadlines, very rarely am I praised for the work that I do, yet my boss is very quick to criticise.

My predecessor used to take calls at home and she never said "no", she even cancelled a booked holiday last year because they didn't have enough volunteers to help with a fundraising event. I am not prepared to do this. Not on the wages they are paying me! Trouble is that most employees here DO just that!

I like my job, I like the flexible hours and the fact that it's 10mins away from my house. I like the people that I work with and I don't mind taking on certain responsibilities. But I resent that they push and push expecting more and more from me, that they are quick to criticise and slow to praise and I know that I will never get a fair pay rise in the future as the budgets are so tight. I just feel a bit used!

I am having a one to one with my boss tomorrow and I want to be able to put my argument forward eloquently and firmly but neither do I want to jeopardise my position or create bad feeling. I was going to tell her that I am actively looking for another job, which is true. Any tips?

Rhubarb, that's such a shame, when the job looked so promising before they took you on!

From what you say, I would have to say that I doubt that any issues you raise would be acted on in any meaningful way - after all, you are doing far more than the job entails and yet they still expect more from you!

I would say speak to the boss and voice your concerns more or less as you have stated them here - you are very clear on what you expect and are not getting. But be realistic, and don't expect the mountain to come to Mohammed.

I wouldn't mention that you are looking for another job unless you are specifically asked, but that's just me. They may just throw up their hands and refuse to help you out at all if they think they are going to lose you imminently.

HTH.

Go in positive with a focus on the things they can change - that you feel you need more guidance from them, that you appreciate that this is a job where you need to be flexible but can they help you manage that in a way that is more appropriate to your level in the organisation etc. That you value the courses but that your time may be better used in the office and you want to be sure that the 20 hours you have are used to best result.... use language that sounds like you have the business at heart.

TBH to the employer your family is your problem and they don't care whether they inconvenience them so don't use that card. You need to present this as a business issue not a personal one.

Also take a record of the time you've given for free and ask when you can take it in lieu - with a specific date in mind, ie I worked 40 hours that week so is it ok if i take the next 4 mondays in lieu - you have to state the precedent, if you wait to be given permission it won't come

TBH this is very media/fundraising behaviour. Its not a 9-5 job and you get into a mindset of never leaving work which is exhausting. On the plus side, very very transferable experience tho!

Thanks Miaou - I just thought if I mentioned I was looking for other work they might try and keep me here, after all I know that I'm good at what I do and so do they! I've recruited 5 new gardens for their open garden schemes, I've arranged radio interviews for them, I'm recruiting students help make their "collection week" in May into a celebration/festival, I've researched new ways into recruiting volunteers and presented them with my findings and I've only been here since the end of July.

Trust me, I don't receive any help. The Senior Fundraiser is also suffering as she was recruited on less experience than me, just after me and she hardly gets a free day at all, she is under unbearable pressure! So I usually work on my own without support. The boss is in Kendal and hard to get hold of.

I don't think I'll lose anything by telling them that I'm looking for other work. I am quite fed up with the high expectations and virtually no rewards - I ain't no volunteer!

This is a losing game, if you ask me.

You will ALWAYS be used and expected to do more for peanuts in this job. You have admitted this to yourself.

Be positive. How about some of these thoughts?

Say how the experience of taking responsibility is really helping your confidence in expanding what you can take on - particularly with the minimum day-to-day supervision and advice that's available. And that you hope that expanding your horizons allows your boss to take on additional things herself too.

Say you know that the pay is constrained by what the charity can raise, that on balance with the convenience of the job, you are happy to carry on doing it for XXX amount of time (say 6 months or whatever) and that then you will be actively looking for something that pays closer to the market rate - and could you quote your boss as a referee, and expect a really good reference?

She knows that you wholeheartedly support the aims of (whatever-it-is) and that was a major part of the attraction of the job. You wish you could spend all your spare time on the cause, as well as the work you are paid for; you have decided that the family and home needs to be fitted in too, so you must stop neclecting your family for the job, and you just feel tired at the endof the week.

Say how tired she looks doing so much, and that it must be a strain not being able to take time to appreciate those working for her - that last bit is optional :-)

this is a difficult one.

i think i would go with the 'i'm happy to carry on like this for the next 6 months' idea.

it sounds like the whole set up needs re organising. do you have an actual job description or original job spec you applied for that you can refer back to when discussing matters?

i guess ultimately if you are actively looking for a new job then just make sure you will get a decent reference from them and keep on job hunting.

I know that I will be expected to do more than I am being paid for, I am prepared for that and tbh I realise that the experience is good. But there are limits to what I will do. For instance I know that in summer of next year, if I don't have enough volunteers in place to organise all the open gardens we have spread across Cumbria then I will be expected to go to every single one myself - all of them on a weekend. I am expected to go to 6 Team Meetings and a training course in Sheffield next year which is 3.5 hours away from me and I will have to spend a night in London for a training course - these are just the ones I know about!

And to get a little appreciation for the job I do would be nice.

I'm gonna print this off and take a few of these ideas to the meeting tomorrow! Giving her a time limit of 6 months is good!

how long ahve you been in this job?

was any of this explained when you took the job?

I'd echo what others have said - to focus on what you can realistically change. Sadly, so many jobs in charites / arts etc, especially outside big cities, are woefully badly paid. On the plus side, at least you are doing interesting work, and gaining transferrable skills.

If I were you, I'd try and set the money question aside, and concentrate on the other stuff - you don't feel praised / appreciated which is demotivating; you don't have enough guidance / support for complicated tasks; you are putting in extra hours for which you need to take time off in lieu etc. If it was me, I wouldn't mention looking for another job - maybe in a very 'businessy' environment this could be taken in a positive way, but from my experience in this sort of sector, it can also be taken as a 'stab in the back' and turn people against you.

When I went for the interview I was under the impression that it was £12k part time, I didn't find out that it was pro rata until they had offered me the job.

They told me that my duties would be supporting the fundraising team and that I would be expected to attend "one or two" training courses a year and a bit of travelling, but above all they told me how flexible and family friendly they were.

They justify my fundraising duties as the "and any other duties" in the job description. However my appraisal sets out my priorities for next year and they are fundraising priorities - hardly anything to do with admin!

Ah, well in that case you probably are justified in bringing up the money question then, as in "as you know, I was dissapointed to discover that the £12k was pro rata rather than for 20 hrs and this is making it difficult for me - I'd hate for that to make me look for another job" etc etc

So in other words, they lied to you and now they give you schtick all the time instead of praise.

I think I'd start job hunting big time.

gosh. then i'd be seriously job hunting. it's a shame when a job you actually could enjoy turns out like this. very frustrating.

Not blatantly lied but kind of withheld info and led me to believe certain things.

Trouble is most people they employ have been volunteers first and they are just so grateful to be paid that they don't question the work they are given. Plus everyone knows the pay is pants and they just accept that. People here are generally really nice and there is this acceptance of working long hours and doing things beyond your job description.

However for me family is priority and I'm not afraid to speak out and say no. I'm not a volunteer I'm a paid member of staff and I think it is derogatory to be labelled as admin assistant when the job I do is fundraising. When I apply for other jobs the first thing they will see is "admin assistant" which will hinder me if I'm applying for more senior roles.

Exactly, Rhubarb. So you must remind yourself, 'The longer I stay in this job a) the longer I am taken advantage of b) the longer period of time my CV is going to say 'admin assistant' c) the more time I spend away from my family just for the sake of being seen as 'nice' and go from there.

rhubarb, make sure you have your job description/spec with you and say i have been here now xxxx length of time i would like to just clarify your expectations of me and mine of you. go through the job description etc and your terms and comditions of employment. it sounds that they are taking a bit of a loan of people because it is a 'charity'. you set your priorities for next year it is your apprasial not the companies. although some things have to be for the good of the service they also have to benefit your personal/professional development. the question about money do you have the orignal advert/job offer?

it sounds like you're also really unhappy w/the title, and i don't blame you!

is the title different from the one they advertised the post under?

if so, i'd flag that up.

In other respects though it is a good job, local and very handy for the kids, good people that I get on well with.

The job title hasn't changed and if pushed they will say that my priorities are admin, but they cocked up on the appraisal which clearly states that my priorities are anything but admin!

If I was treated by my boss with a little more respect and my job title changed to reflect what I actually do then I wouldn't be too bothered. But to expect what they do on my pay - they can get knotted!

Hi Rhubarb,

I'm afraid I have only advised people in the private sector before, where the "rules" are slightly different, but you may be able to apply some of them to your situation.

I second everything said here regarding looking at the things you can change rather than those you can't.

Looking at your situation the things you can change seem to be as follows:

1. The fact you are working much longer than your contracted hours
2. The fact you have been given no training / guidance for the extra duties you're being asked to perform

You won't be able to change the company culture (i.e. the lack of praise) and although you may have been under the impression that the salary was higher than it was, at the end of the day, unfortunatly you did accept the job on the £12k pro-rata.

Firstly I would go to your meeting with an agenda of what you want to discuss. Make sure you stay on message and don't get into a slanging match.

You may even want to give your manager a copy of the agenda. Personally I think the two (extra hours / lack of training) may be linked:

You were employed on the basis that you would work 20 hours a week. It was not mentioned in your contract that you would be required to work additional hours as and when requested; you have a family and accepted the job on the basis of working those 20 hours.

However due to the constraints of the role, you have found yourself working additional hours to complete tasks (I would ensure you have written down the extra hours you have worked, and each fundraising task / additional task you have been asked to complete, with deadlines).

As this is unacceptable, you are here in your meeting to find out what can be done.

Does your Manager have any suggestions as to how to fit the amount of work you've been given into the twenty hours you have?

Some suggestions you have include:

1. Being given additional training on the fundraising side to enable you to complete the tasks at a faster work-rate, as you have had no training on this.
2. Being given additional help from either your manager or another member of staff on producing a weekly work-plan to ensure your work is completed with your contraced hours
3. Being given time management training (I'm not saying you need this of course! Just that it's a great way to make your manager sit up and listen).

If you and your manager are unable to come up with a solution, you have wondered if the amount of work you have been given is do-able within your contracted hours. If it is not, you either need your workload relaxing, or to have your working hours reassessed. If your working hours are reassessed your salary needs to be recaculated accordingly.

I hope this helps...! Best of luck! Oh and I would never say that you're looking for a new job.

i hope someone with some employment law knowledge or HR knowledge comes along.

i count my travelling time if its not to my core office.

so i can go to a meeting in ashford n kent and if it takes me 2 hours there and 2 hours back and the meeting was from 1-5 - i have 1/2 hour toil banked.

i think you need to write these issues down in a list so you dont forget.

i see know reason why - if you wanted to you couldnt work a couple of longer days and condense your hours.

we have this system in operation where you can work longer days bank your hours and have every second friday off.

with existing holiday entitle ments for FULL TIME workers. this means many staff often work only 4 days a week.

only they get paid twice what you are and get the full time benefits of holidays etc.

you may as well be working a full time job at this rate.

you need an employment law person.

join a union. after a month they will take stuff up for you.

just cos its a charity it doesnt give thet he right to take the piss.

Don't say you are looking for another job. That won't help.
What would you really want to come out of this meetign? What are your priorities?
ie
Work fewer hours
Be paid more money (how much do you want?)
Have a new job title/promotion
Be paid for overtime
???
Put them in order as to which would be the best outcome from the meeting to establish your own priorities. Would you be happy with a new job title and a couple of grand more a year? What do you want, basically.
THen think about how to ask for those things while also making your boss feel they are getting something back.
What are the job grades between senior fundraiser and admin assistant? Can you find out and see what they get paid and ask for a promotion to another grade with the new job title? Point out how your job has changed and how much you love the new opportunities and with all the training you are now even better suited to the job of X...blah blah.
Don't sound pissed off and ready to leave. Sound keen to get on.

Don't say you are looking for another job. That won't help.
What would you really want to come out of this meetign? What are your priorities?
ie
Work fewer hours
Be paid more money (how much do you want?)
Have a new job title/promotion
Be paid for overtime
???
Put them in order as to which would be the best outcome from the meeting to establish your own priorities. Would you be happy with a new job title and a couple of grand more a year? What do you want, basically.
THen think about how to ask for those things while also making your boss feel they are getting something back.
What are the job grades between senior fundraiser and admin assistant? Can you find out and see what they get paid and ask for a promotion to another grade with the new job title? Point out how your job has changed and how much you love the new opportunities and with all the training you are now even better suited to the job of X...blah blah.
Don't sound pissed off and ready to leave. Sound keen to get on.

boss on phone to me now - she's crying!

Nothing to do with me I'm glad to say!