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I am in my dept. that assists with radio communication for public safety. Each of the technicians are certified or have taken some type of class. I am an administrative assistant. The person in my role dabbled in her duties and some of the technical aspects. I am not comfortable with this because it involves public safety officials and their equipment not working could be a matter of life and death. I am leery about this because in the past I did something because I was asked. (in another department of course). The task was not correct, and I ended up being the one getting burned.
I also need advice on another situation. I am new to a dept. and prior to this there was no oversight. The dept. operated and kind of did their own thing. One example is there is a process for disposing of antiquated equipment. Someone should have been completing an asset transfer sheet and sending the equipment to a warehouse, instead they just threw it in a garage. This has been going on for many many many years prior to me being hired and there is a HUGE accumulation of junk.
I have no knowledge of the process and person B. should have been doing this years ago. but did not. I am fearful that I will be asked to take on this huge task that is not in my description and something I have not been trained for. What is the best way to handle this situation?
Should I go to HR if asked? What is the best course of action in a situation such as this?
I do not understand your first paragraph. Are you saying that they are asking you to work on communication equipment? If yes, you are not qualified to do that, so it is an unreasonable request.
Is person B still there? It sounds like an administrative process, so I don't know why an admin assistant couldn't be assigned the task under "other duties as assigned." If they expect you to do it, you should be trained how to do it.
I do not understand your first paragraph. Are you saying that they are asking you to work on communication equipment? If yes, you are not qualified to do that, so it is an unreasonable request.
Is person B still there? It sounds like an administrative process, so I don't know why an admin assistant couldn't be assigned the task under "other duties as assigned." If they expect you to do it, you should be trained how to do it.
They were trying to push me into programming radio equipment that the police and fire department use. This is very serious, because if one of their devices do not work in a situation, I will be at fault. The other administrative assistant did this and her admin duties. I guess the thinking is that if she did it, then I should.
The admin who promoted to a tech is still here. Prior to my employment, they had her doing admin duties, asset disposal as well as creating invoices for other municipalities when that is a coordinator job. No one has asked me, BUT we have a new manager who is taking a more active role in how the dept. is being managed.
There have been YEARS of mismanagement. They never really followed up with her or did not care so everything was just thrown into a garage. We are talking heavy equipment, not just radio devices.
Is this something you would need years of experience as a comms equipment technician to do? Or something you could learn to do by taking an 8hr training course?
For me that would make a big difference in how I respond to the situation. Also there is the matter of bandwidth. Can you even take on this job and still get your other work done?
IMO - there isn't a time where you CAN'T say no. You just have to deal with the consequences. So it comes down to HOW you communicate that.
The key here what is the real issue? You're fine doing it, but feel uncomfortable because you don't know how? Then ask to be trained. You feel this isn't part of your job and don't really want to? Yea... that's something many of us run into. You'll need to figure out how to navigate that as each environment is different.
I personally would avoid going to HR...for now. You may want to work this out before going to HR unless you can clearly pinpoint where a policy has been breached.
If it's not in your job description, then bring that up to HR.
If you're tasked with anything you aren't qualified/trained to do, the liability would be on you AND them.
Do you have a written job description?
I do have a written job description, but and it includes the dreaded "performs other duties as assigned." Pretty much every job descriptions says this. I do NOT want to do this. The other admin willingly took on this role. At this time, I am in a position where I cannot move up and I will never get a pay raise for taking on additional work. At best, I will have that task along with others. This request is literally way over my paygrade. It is like asking a nurse to do doctor's work. The technicians who do this have certificates and have to get very specific training. I am not interested in promoting because of the requirements.
IMO - there isn't a time where you CAN'T say no. You just have to deal with the consequences. So it comes down to HOW you communicate that.
The key here what is the real issue? You're fine doing it, but feel uncomfortable because you don't know how? Then ask to be trained. You feel this isn't part of your job and don't really want to? Yea... that's something many of us run into. You'll need to figure out how to navigate that as each environment is different.
I personally would avoid going to HR...for now. You may want to work this out before going to HR unless you can clearly pinpoint where a policy has been breached.
In all honesty, I do NOT want to do it. I have no reason to do it. It will not benefit me in any way. I have no desire to be a technician. I have no desire to go down this path. I am not interested in the burden of having my job and doing things that are over my head. It would be different if I had somewhere else to promote to, but the only path is as a technician.
Is this something you would need years of experience as a comms equipment technician to do? Or something you could learn to do by taking an 8hr training course?
For me that would make a big difference in how I respond to the situation. Also there is the matter of bandwidth. Can you even take on this job and still get your other work done?
It would require quite a bit of work. It involves programming radios. This is a very niche field, unlike other technology skills. I could probably take on the task, but there is no reason for me to do it. I won't get a raise, I won't get a promotion, it would be for nothing.
I've always preferred jobs with well-defined responsibilities and lots of work to do (even to the point of slight understaffing). One reason being that it gives the security to say "not my job" to other tasks because it's obvious what my job is, and that I'm needed doing it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tigergirl87
In all honesty, I do NOT want to do it. I have no reason to do it. It will not benefit me in any way. I have no desire to be a technician. I have no desire to go down this path. I am not interested in the burden of having my job and doing things that are over my head. It would be different if I had somewhere else to promote to, but the only path is as a technician.
So, do you plan to stay in your current role until you retire? Do you have a lot of other work to do?
If you aren't qualified to program communications equipment, then you shouldn't do it without the proper training. On the other hand, your attitude could be better. The purpose of your tasks at work is not to benefit you. The purpose is to benefit the organization. That's why they pay you. If you don't like the job, find another one.
I'm not sure I understand the second situation... Are you being asked to inventory the stuff and do the proper paperwork? Or do they want you to physically dispose of it all? Or arrange for its disposal (with funds to do so?)
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