Workplace Challenges
Not in my job descriptionEver given your boss a haircut or paid her rent? How about shooing trapped bats from your office? And surely you've stored cremation ashes in your desk at one time or another? |
|
 [ 2007-05-09 ] |
© 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation.
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're probably an office manager. A new study shows that more than half of office managers report performing at least 10 different jobs in a given week, including customer relations, computer support, human resources and accounting.
Nearly 75% of office managers consider themselves workplace housekeeping supervisors, while 71% lend an ear as office psychologist.
"They tend to be the glue that holds the office together," said John Giusti of Staples, which conducted the "My Real Job" study.
Other tasks falling safely under the "not in my job description" category were breaking up an office romance, cleaning pigeon poop off the sidewalk and unclogging the toilet while on the phone and signing for a delivery.
More than 8,000 office managers reported their job descriptions on the Staples website.
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Vacation time. You worked long and hard and now you have a couple of weeks to kick back and get away from it all. Too bad you went and made yourself too important to enjoy it.
More than half of workers fail to use all of their allotted vacation days, including 30% who say they take less than half, according to a recent survey. Many of the overworked are managers, under pressure to do more in less time with fewer employees, said Robert Morgan of professional staffing provider Hudson, which conducted the survey.
Of those who do escape for a few days of skiing, scuba diving or channel-surfing, nearly one quarter said their boss still expects them to be accessible by cellphone, e-mail or other methods.
"You can have 24-hour access if you want it," Morgan said.
But don't go blaming it all on the boss man, because the majority of workers rate their employers favorably in providing flexibility for time off, the report found. So suck it up, slather on some sunscreen and hit the beach.
The survey was based on a national poll of more than 2,000 workers conducted from March 30 to April 2.
Do you have you a bad boss?