Should This Be My Job?

Just remind yourself that “I was looking for a job when I found this one” ... and find another one more worthy of your talents and ambitions.

It sounds like they have low expectations of you at this place, and for that reason they aren’t going to value you as you (rightly, I think) value yourself. So find that next job, and pronto.

It seems like every job has a few things like this. A lot of people will tell you to never do anything outside your job description. From what I’ve seen, most of those people are miserable at their job. The problem is that some things just have to get done.

You know the office situation a lot better, so imagine it was your office, you’re in charge, who would say is responsible to stock the fridge and keep the kitchen clean?

I would think those tasks would be the office manager’s to either do or to delegate. Most people don’t care how something gets done, just that it gets done. Is there someone else who you feel should be doing those things? Talk about splitting it up with them, or take the initiative and get folks on board with cleaning and stocking as they go.

Even if it is your responsibility, that doesn’t mean you have to do it each time, you just have to ensure it gets done.

Sadly first line managers usually end up doing the work that nobody else does and there is not money to hire someone to do.

@funkdaddy Yes I have made arrangements for everyone to take turns cleaning the microwave, and reminding everyone to make sure they don’t have old food in the fridge. My boss specifically said it was “too bureaucratic.” As far as stocking the drinks goes… I don’t drink them and I already purchase them and carry them up 5 floors and stock the closet and initially stock the fridge. If someone wants more freaking diet coke then put a case in the refrigerator yourself don’t come tell me to stop entering bills to do it. That’s what bothers me. I can oversee everything gets done and I will certainly empty the dishwasher but I just don’t think I should be required to come scrub 15 dirty plates and forks that the entire office used for lunch- they should be responsible for their own.

Your skills are being misused and you are being taken advantage of. Get out as fast as you can find something else.

Unless, of course, these tasks are part of the job description that you agreed to when you signed on. In which case, you got what you were led to expect, but get out anyway.

If you were hired with those kitchen tasks enumerated you are probably stuck. I can’t tell from your comments whether you feel the load is too heavy or the kitchen tasks too menial. If the latter, I would suggest hunkering down and learning the business until you are too valuable to be wasted in the kitchen. When it’s true, you need merely announce it logically to your employer, and if he lacks the wit to appreciate it, transport your acquired skills down the road to someone who will.

You could hire a teenager below minimum wage to do the jobs that are beneath you. On a side note you can ask for a vending machine to be put upstairs and have it stocked with diet coke. Also you can have coke fill it weekly. Or you could charge $2 per can and make a profit. They are going to have to pay for your time.

@jeruba They were NOT mentioned in my job description!

Reading your reply, it appears you’ve been put in charge of managing kitchen matters. If this is indeed the case, then I think you should really consider your position, and act to mediate those apects you find repugnant. Personally, if I were collecting wages substantially higher than those typical of a dishwasher, I would clean the kitchen GLADLY to avoid the “thrills” of paperwork. But that’s me. In any event, you should set out to rule that kitchen with an iron fist. Wrap it in velvet, but demonstrate that you mean business. The married men in your office will quickly come to heel as should most of those single guys with memories of trembling at their mothers’ wrath. Of the tasks listed, hauling those sodas up 5 flights of stairs is the one in most urgent need of delegation, and you should announce that you expect the “big strong men” to participate in the endeavor.

This is why, when I was writing job descriptions, the last task, no matter what the job, was:

“Performs other duties as assigned”.

Generally no, I think that falls under janitor and kitchen stocker – the job title is misleading (if you’re managing the office, presumably there are other staff to manage, and you could assign (or even hire) someone appropriate to do those tasks). The job description should have made that clear, and/or you should have asked for the full list of tasks when applying.

It is common (though abusive) for office jobs to expand to include excessive tasks, especially when people have been willing to do them in the past, though that tends to also cause burnout and resignations, not to mention impossible expectations for whoever replaces the people that burn out int that roll.

I disagree with @funkdaddy that every job has a few things like that.

I don’t think that should be your job. If it were me, I would have a heart to heart in a tactful way with the boss and say you did not think these jobs were part of yours. Then suggest an alternative such as each employee being assigned kitchen duty on a daily or weekly alternative. If he/she does not agree, it might be time to look for a new job. But be tactful enough so that you do not lose your job in the meantime.

In one place I worked, the office/accounting manager did those jobs but then acted like a martyr about it. You don’t have to be the weakest link but think about putting your job in jeopardy.

If your boss does agree, try for an office meeting to institute the new regime.

How big of a company are we talking? I’m envisioning a 20–50 person company, probably with some folks at the office and others spread between job sites and their cars. I guess I’m assuming they don’t have a dedicated kitchen team, janitor, or kitchen stocker. I’m guessing there’s maybe 5–10 people that truly work out of the office all day, every day. Is that about right?

If there’s 800 people, then great, hire someone to stock cokes. You can probably sign up for Coca-Cola to bring them to you, stock them, and they’ll probably give you a fridge to store them in. But it sounds like we’re talking about 1–2 hours a week total for these tasks. Can someone explain why these particular tasks are beneath anyone?

In any company I’ve ever worked for under 50 employees it’s generally understood that you’re going to serve multiple roles. Any startup of any size is the same way. I’ve done kitchen cleanup duty as a customer support rep, made the office supply runs as a QA engineer, worked in the warehouse for months as a programmer and ran trash as a manager in a professional environment. None of it was even out of the norm. Flexibility is part of the job.

The only places that haven’t been that way are extremely large companies (or the public sector) where the norm seems to be everyone fiercely defending their role and the importance of it. Personally, I’ll do just about anything to avoid that environment, so will go out of my way to make sure I at least maintain flexibility on my side. It really comes in handy when you need someone else to step outside their role as well. It helps get things done, and that’s really what the job description is for everyone in the building.

That approach is what I’m recommending more than any particular task or method of getting this done. Be kind. Be flexible. Be creative. Find something that works rather than defending your role.

Working well with others is a skill just like entering bills, or programming, or communication and it is valuable in any profession.

There are 20 employees who work out of the office consistently. We have a cleaning crew. I’m not saying these tasks are beneath me by any means. I think that some of the staff thinks it is below them to do their own dishes and that I don’t have more important tasks to do for the company.