Read the texts from Ginny below, and answer the questions below. Your Friend Gin
ID: 413131 • Letter: R
Question
Read the texts from Ginny below, and answer the questions below.
Your Friend Ginny: Hey, I need your advice! Did I tell you that Superior Products Company hired me as their new HR assistant a few months ago? That BA in HR Management really paid off, right?!
You: Great news, congrats! Do you like it?
Ginny: Thanks! It’s good and bad. Mrs. Mills, the HR Director, said she was really glad to find someone who had a background in HRM because she was basically the entire HR department until I got there. She said I would be her second in command and that I’d primarily do recruiting, some interviewing and be responsible for maintaining employee records. Because Superior has ~300 employees, Mrs. Mills was too busy to give me an up-to-date job description (I think she just rewrote her own old job description). First warning sign!
You: Oh no! TGTBT?
Ginny: Well, it gets worse! Everything was great the first two weeks. Then about a month ago, Mrs. Mills tells me that there was another “minor” duty that she forgot about. She said that to get approval to hire me she had to agree that the new HR assistant would cover for the receptionist from 11:30 to 12:30 every day when the receptionist takes lunch. I wasn’t thrilled about that being sprung on me, but I agreed I’d try it for a while. That whole “other duties as assigned…” thing!
You: So is it working out? Why do you need my advice?
Ginny: (sigh) I am hating working the switchboard and front desk every day! Plus, the receptionist often comes back late, and I can’t leave the desk until she relieves me. Then I found out I’m also expected to cover when she’s sick or takes personal time (which already happened FOUR TIMES)! I’m considering quitting.
You: No way! Do you really hate it that badly?
Ginny: I don’t know…I really like the HR parts of the job and I know I’m doing well, but being a relief receptionist is taking up way too much of my time – and it’s definitely not what I spent 4 years in school to do! I mean, Mrs. Mills basically misrepresented the job to me, right? She never said anything about the receptionist duties until after I was hired. If she had, I probably wouldn’t have taken the job! What should I do?
Answer the following questions:
1. As Ginny’s friend, what would you advise her to do instead of quitting? Think strategically and offer solutions (Note: “Suck it up, girlfriend!” is not a solution).
2. What should Mrs. Mills have done to more accurately portray the position responsibilities? Was it enough that the job description included a “miscellaneous clause” (other duties as assigned)? Why or why not? What could Mrs. Mills do to alleviate some of Ginny’s stress (and better motivate her new employee)?
Explanation / Answer
1. As Ginny's friend I would advise her to take course of the current situation. I will suggest her to be calm and carry her job responsibilities tactfully. She cannot ignore the reponsibilities given to her because that will effect her job performance and evaluation. Hence handling the jobs given to her and finding a solution to her problem along with it is the correct way. She should explain the problem she has with taking up the responsibilities of the front desk job like it hampers her main duties as the HR assistant as it takes time, she is over qualified for the job and she feels uninterested in the work she does as a receptionist which lowers her morale to do the other jobs.
Along with handling the situation in the current job, she can start looking for new opportunities of job as per her satisfaction and switch over when she finds a suitable job.
2. As the position of HR assistant is complicated and holds a lot of responsibilities, the job description should be clear and descriptive about all the duties that were to be taken up. Mrs. Mills should have been more clear in describing the job duties to Ginny and even explain the duty of the receptionist that she would have to share well in advance. It should have been the choice of Ginny whether she would take this extra duty willingly or not. The most important factor that matters in doing a job is the money part connected to it. So Mrs. Mills could have given Ginny this extra job responsibility with a perk or overtime amount to motivate her to do the job willingly.
To alleviate the stress that Ginny is going through Mrs. Mills can even now make the extra job duty she has given to Ginny attractive by adding up a monetary perk to it. She can explain her the urgency of sharing this duty with the receptionist in a more friendly manner which will make Ginny feel more easy and interested in the work even if it is not of her field. She should motivate Ginny by giving her monetary advantage as well as emotional support in taking up this extra job that she has been assigned with.
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