Comments on: How to Say It: Ouch! No more work!

By: Nick Corcodilos

Nick Corcodilos — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:38:00 +0000

@Anonymous: I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again. DO NOT disclose to your employer that you are looking. Posting on job boards is like writing your name and tel# on a bathroom wall. Somebody’s gonna call you, and somebody else is gonna form an opinion. Sorry to be so blunt, but the fact is, you have no way to control people at your company. At this point, I don’t think you have much to lose if you ask your boss to schedule a meeting for you, him, the other manager with the new position, and your “HR girl.” Tell them all what you told your boss to start with – you’re interested in better work, and if they can provide it, you’d like to do it at your company.

Just be ready to make a commitment, or they’re not gonna believe you. The question is, do you want to make such a commitment?

I don’t see that HR crossed any lines here, but I’m not a lawyer or an HR ethics expert. They took the signal from you literally and acted to protect the company.

When you post on a board, you’re exposed. (I won’t even get into the identity theft issues.)

By: Annonymous

Annonymous — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:06:43 +0000

I have a question regarding HR guidelines. My HR girl recently confronted me about knowing that I posted my resume online on job board sites. I told her that I’m finishing my MBA in 2 months and I already approached my boss about moving me into a better position and he said he didn’t have anything at that time, then I told him I would be opening myself up to other opportunities which he said he was fine with and 100% supportive. So I posted my resume on all the job boards after that. My HR girl told me she knew and she then told another manager who was about to use me for a project pilot to see if they could move me into the psotion permanently if I did good. Since my HR girl told her my resume was posted an recently updated with new skills of this pilot project they pulled the project from me. They said they didn’t want to invest the time and money on it if I was looking to leave the company. I expalined the situation to my boss stating I let you know I was being open to new opps when you said you had nothng for me, but they still pulled it. I need to know if my HR girl crossed any HR guidelines by telling my boss and this manager that my resume was posted and updated and showed them this?

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:36:27 +0000

The only way to do this without being seen as a whiner (going to HR is a definite no-no if you’d like to stay for any length of time) is to offer choices to your boss at the time of new assignment. “Hmmm… well, you told me last week that Project Pork was to be complete by Friday, and this new assignment will jeopardize that commitment. Which should I do first? I’ll re-arrange accordingly.” This allows you to be agreeable and willing, but it shows that there are limits.

By: Karsten

Karsten — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:02:06 +0000

r4i kort,

Do you imply that all people who complain about the amount of work are lazy?

It’s not a question of laziness, but of employers demanding employees to handle an ever increasing workload, often without paying them for the extra time needed, and with bad work as the result.

If your contract says 40 hours work a week on average, that should be honored. If the employer wants you to work more the contract should be re-negotiated and you should be paid for the extra time. That’s not about laziness, but about fairness.

Lazy people should be fired, but that is another matter.

By: r4i kort

r4i kort — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:16:42 +0000

Thats not a big deal to do it. Everybody knows this fact one who works hard will get he reward of it for sure but who doesn’t will be rewarded for the same. Now one who don’t want to work can just wait for time to get over and let not disturb other who are working.There is no escape where you can run from work and find a way out of it. You will never be paid for doing nothing.

By: Karsten

Karsten — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:57:06 +0000

Haven’t got the newsletter yet(??), but the big problem is how to deal with a boss who do not listen when told that the workload is too high. If you can vote with your feet and go to another job, that’s fine, but what if not (in this labour market environment)? How to avoid that a bad boss uses the threat of firing you to load you with even more work? Unionizing is one way, but that may be a threat to the boss in itself, and doesn’t solve the problem of the workload right now.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:19:38 +0000

Oh boy, is this timely. I hit my breaking point on Tuesday when my boss added to my overflowing plate. It got me so upset, I called in sick on Wednesday. Caught my breath and called my HR rep. Thankfully, she is willing to work with me on this.

The problem? I have a boss who talks like Don (tell me when you’re overloaded) but does very little to allow that conversation to happen. I literally have to fight to get on his calendar and 9/10 times, it’s cut short by a phone call that he just has to take.

95% of the time, he gives absolutely no guidance. Then, he swoops in to either micromanage or dump a bunch of tasks on me with little idea of what I’m all ready dealing with. My husband came up with a great term – he’s a yo-yo leader.

My HR rep called my conversation a catalyst. I can only hope in a good way!

By: Marsha Keeffer

Marsha Keeffer — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:26:40 +0000

Key here, as Nick says, is to tell the truth. Update meetings can include % of capacity or @Lorraine’s PYE. Projects continue to be assigned if the boss thinks there is still availability.

By: Another Steve

Another Steve — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:11:32 +0000

I was there just a month ago. A colleague gave notice, the boss panicked, and immediately came to me to pick up the slack on one big project.

This would have been my fourth major project at one time, with the standard being two in our area. I calmly pointed out that I was already a bit overloaded, and this extra project would do me in, especially given what we have coming after the first of the year. I suggested we scrap the lowest-priority project already on my plate. It’s really a loss-leader, and has minimal ROI, as far as I can tell.

My manager quickly found someone less overloaded to take the extra project, and is working every angle possible to get her cheapskate manager to approve a replacement for the departed colleague. In the meantime, she’s already begging for people to take on more work in January.

By: Nick Corcodilos

Nick Corcodilos — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:49:30 +0000

@Don Harkness: I hope everyone reads your comments carefully. Most bosses have no interest in burning their staff out. But it’s up to each staffer to talk to the boss, to discuss the sched and the workload. I wrote a little ditty about this a long time ago: http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/crocs5firstthetruth.htm A big part of what you get paid for is to tell your boss the truth.