Thanks to Carol for your comments and I think you have some valid points. I also think there are some other things going on that are not as transparent. Perhaps management does not think the employee is pulling his or her weight, there is a gap in production, so the employee is called on to fill the gap. This can be a slippery slope in that IF the employee has time to pick up a substantial amount of additional work than perhaps he or she is NOT pulling their weight. IF the employee tries but cannot pick up a substantial amount of additional work than management will find out that he or she IS pulling their weight - theoretically.
If what I described above is driving the downgrading of the writer’s job responsibilities, then to management I say shame on you for not having an understanding of what your employees are doing, the amount of time their tasks take, and the value of the work being done! To the employee I say shame on you for allowing yourself to be devalued. I am not saying don't do the work requested but in addition you need to start informing management of your skills, workplace accomplishments, and value you bring to the organization. Don't assume that anyone else is singing your praises. Find ways or avenues to let a variety of people, especially managers know about what you are accomplishing; always in a professional manner. Some ways to do that include adding more information in the monthly report, mentioning an event or successes to managers in passing or at meetings, write an article for the newsletter about a client that you assisted, forward complimentary emails or volunteer for tasks and let people know you are volunteering based on past success with a similar project.
Managers can not just manage tasks and projects but the people performing and implementing them as well. Employees, if you feel devalued, ignored or underutilized then you need to look first at what you are doing to counter that treatment rather than simply rolling over and blaming management.
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