During deeply troubled economic times, professionals fortunate enough to keep their jobs while others get laid off often find that they are expected to do more--much more. In a recent conversation with a client, he described the layoff scenarios at his firm expressing personal angst at his task. But, he went on to say it had been made even more difficult by the complaints from a few of his people.
Inevitably, in a layoff, work will be reshuffled and many are liable to end up with what they say is more than their fair share. As with that client, several complained about the lack of fairness. "Not too smart," I responded when I heard those tales. The director knew exactly what I meant.
FYI: Although many adults reason in terms of the fairness of decisions, sophisticated managers understand the notion of fairness to be simplistic. They recognize it as a form of immaturity--a clue that an employee may lack the wisdom needed for the nuances of decision making. As a result, when promotions or opportunities are considered by execs, they will often evaluate an employee's project readiness with a strategic put down: "This guy can't do nuance, and doesn't know how to deal with ambiguity. I don't want him on that project."
While affirming my attitude toward complaint, the director's comment put a still different slant on the issue. He emphasized that his people didn't understand hierarchy. The reason we have hierarchy with managers and subordinates is that tasks occur in higher and lower degrees of complexity. The director's job is to manage the team, while the subordinate's is to manage her project. My client I both believed the complaints were out of line because the responsibility for project resolution belonged to the complainers.
Here's why.
Professionals are hired to solve the issues they face--that's their responsibility. Admittedly, the staffing had become more lean as a result of the layoffs, and that does not mean that a subordinate has to accept every new project that he or she is handed. It does mean, however, that that subordinate needs to be open and creative in developing solutions that will satisfy both him and his boss. After all a professional is an individual who puts the clients' interests first, who has an obligation to do right and do well for that client, regardless of that professional's own self interest. And in a work setting, the clients are the professional's organization and boss.
In other words, the shoe is on the employee's foot. It's his responsibility to figure out some options, and then take those options to his boss to get buy-in to a resolution that will not stretch anyone too thin.
There's a reason that data input and assembly workers no longer receive a decent wage. Their work requires no expert thinking or complex communication skills--they are not professionals. Their work load issues will always be decided by their managers.
The writing is on the wall. Want a job with a decent salary that encourages you to demonstrate your talents, and rewards you for your problem solving and creative solutioning, and makes possible the career growth that will keep you employable the rest of your life? Then resolve your work problems as a professional, and when you believe that you're being overstretched, get creative with solutions. Then take your complaint, those solutions and your recommendations to your boss for final buy-in.
Never take a complaint to a manager without two or three possible resolutions for that manager's consideration. That's your responsibility--and that's also good street smarts.