Job is not what they said it would be
Lara
9 Posts
After another crappy day and a day coming home and crying I feel I am at my wits end and need some objective help please.
I recently commenced working for a Company (3 months) ago and am totally miserable there. There are numerous reasons for this :
1. I was told at the interview that the job would predominently involve Generalist HR with HRIS involvement. The HRIS system that we are using is highly complex in nature and it is something that I had mininmal exposure to in the past. At the interview I was told that there were numerous issues with the system that needed correcting. I was subsequently offered the job, and turned it down as I had reservations as to my ability to manage and "fix" the system. Having turned the job down, I was thereafter approached by this Company and was told that , the HRIS involvement I would have would be minimal and in fact I would not have to operate the system to a large degree and would rather have to look at and document processes. Again, i stressed that I did not think that I had the experience they were seeking, and they in turn stressed the involvement would be minimal and not for an operating perspective. On that basis I accepted the role as I was interested in the other responsibilities as outlined in my job description.
Since commencing work - my involvement in the HRIS has been 100% of my responsibilities and I have been responsible for managing the payroll guy who operates the system. I have had no exposure to the generalist HR work as outlined in my job description.
The payroll guy who knows the most about the system has resigned. I have now been told that I will be responsible for generating payroll and addressing the systems issues. I feel that I cannot do this on my own, and especially without the guy who has tendered his resignation.
My managers approach has been very critical to date of both payroll and the system. He is not interested in getting involved but rather has adopted a blame culure, in that if anything goes wrong he jumps down our throats.
I am so afraid that when it comes to managing this system on my own, and running payroll - I am going to fail at this.. and then will be blamed for it all.
I have noone I can get assistance from, as aside from the payroll guy who is leaving next week, noone else knows this system.
I do not know what to do.... should I simply resign and get out before I endeavour to do a task that I cannot nor do I want to do. For the past week I have sat with the payroll guy trying to learn as much as I can,,,, but when he goes I will have noone to turn to.
What to do>
I recently commenced working for a Company (3 months) ago and am totally miserable there. There are numerous reasons for this :
1. I was told at the interview that the job would predominently involve Generalist HR with HRIS involvement. The HRIS system that we are using is highly complex in nature and it is something that I had mininmal exposure to in the past. At the interview I was told that there were numerous issues with the system that needed correcting. I was subsequently offered the job, and turned it down as I had reservations as to my ability to manage and "fix" the system. Having turned the job down, I was thereafter approached by this Company and was told that , the HRIS involvement I would have would be minimal and in fact I would not have to operate the system to a large degree and would rather have to look at and document processes. Again, i stressed that I did not think that I had the experience they were seeking, and they in turn stressed the involvement would be minimal and not for an operating perspective. On that basis I accepted the role as I was interested in the other responsibilities as outlined in my job description.
Since commencing work - my involvement in the HRIS has been 100% of my responsibilities and I have been responsible for managing the payroll guy who operates the system. I have had no exposure to the generalist HR work as outlined in my job description.
The payroll guy who knows the most about the system has resigned. I have now been told that I will be responsible for generating payroll and addressing the systems issues. I feel that I cannot do this on my own, and especially without the guy who has tendered his resignation.
My managers approach has been very critical to date of both payroll and the system. He is not interested in getting involved but rather has adopted a blame culure, in that if anything goes wrong he jumps down our throats.
I am so afraid that when it comes to managing this system on my own, and running payroll - I am going to fail at this.. and then will be blamed for it all.
I have noone I can get assistance from, as aside from the payroll guy who is leaving next week, noone else knows this system.
I do not know what to do.... should I simply resign and get out before I endeavour to do a task that I cannot nor do I want to do. For the past week I have sat with the payroll guy trying to learn as much as I can,,,, but when he goes I will have noone to turn to.
What to do>
Comments
(1) Approach your manager and tell him just what you have told us. This is not what you "hired on" to do - that you made it perfectly clear that your experience did not include HRIS. Remind him that you initially did not accept the job, but you were recontacted by the company, and assured that your technical involvement in HRIS would be minimal. Based on these assurances you accepted the positon. Now you find that this is untrue and felt that you were mislead I would also advise him that there is no way that you can perform the functions of HRIS, especially with the payroll guy leaving. I would suggest to him that you be allowed hire someone immediately with HRIS background. I am not sure that this is going to help you in the short term between the time the payroll guy leaves and you are able to hire someone else.
(2) If you feel like your pleas are going to fall on deaf ears, you may just want to tender your resignation. This does not seem like a happy, supportive workplace and I sincerely doubt that you are going to get much sympathy from the guy that hired you.
I think all of us can relate to the situation where we have come into a job and it was not quite as what was presented. The last couple of HR jobs I have come into, the predecessors were either lazy or didn't have a clue as to what they were doing. There were major messes to clean up. I can remember thinking "What the hell have I done, AGAIN!" Your situation sounds like you were purposely mislead and now you are expected to try to do a job that you aren't qualified to do. Even with 20 years of HR experience, I KNOW I would not be qualified to run an HRIS system.
Life's too short- if you boss won't compromise, cut your losses and move on- no job is worth going home crying over
Good luck and let us know what happens.
Sounds like this type of HR position is a dumping ground. I had one like that before where anything that didn't "fit" anywhere else, fit in HR - that's where they make up the term "generalist." You are right -eventually you will become the "fall guy."
I agree with Rockie. First approach your supervisor with the same issues you put on the Forum, and suggest that you begin to recruit for someone with the HRIS expertise. If that meeting is fruitless, find a firm that really appreciates their HR people.
"Sam"
Hang in there and the best of luck to you! Don't forget to look us up here on the forum at your next job. x:D
It is SO against my nature, and I think against yours too, to just up and quit. (Not to imply any of you out there are quitters either!) I tend to think that everything can be fixed if I can just find the right approach.
I am finally learning that "people are gonna do what people are gonna do" and the opposite is just as true. I still maintain my "it can be repaired" attitude in general but am more realistic now about attempting to change what is ingrained in others.
If it were ME, I would still have that long talk with my boss about being hired for one job and being expected to perform another, just to salve my conscience once and for all. Then, in oh... a week or two when nothing changes I would resign professionally, knowing I gave it every chance and it was THEY who were the problem, not me.
I wish you luck! Let us know how this turns out.
I would either tell them you will only do the job you were told you would be doing, or demand a severance and quit. I was in a similar situation where I applied for an HR Generalist job. Although about 50% was HR Generalist, I was made to do tasks that were never mentioned in the interview or listed in the job description such as take over for the receptionist for two hours a day and other similar items. I stuck it out and let it be known that I was not happy. It took a lot of time, effort and undue stress to finally do the job I was hired to do, but if the economy had not been so bad, I would have quit on the spot. Life is too short to go every day to a job that makes you miserable.
If the software is very popular, you might also want to join a user support group on the web where users discuss how to fix problems and troubleshoot. (Usually free)
In the end, you would be able to add the knowledge to your resume that you gain by sticking it out.
Nrdgrrl
But I'd still be floating those resumes. Sounds like the kind of boss who will keep finding things for you to do outside the realm of the job description because of the old thought process many HR folks fight: HR doesn't produce anything, it justs costs money. May as well get them to do something useful, like payroll!
Pick that phone up and call the software company, and tell them (and I stress the word TELL (MAYBE strongly request) they get a representative out there - for a week or too.
Go to your boss and submit to him a WRITTEN MEMO reviewing what you were hired to do, what the situation has turned into, and what you are doing to try to remedy their (THEIR) situation. Ask for a 'budget enhancement' to cover the necessary costs to remedy the Payroll Dept.'s software problem, AND hire a
competant Payroll/software person to take over. I'd also (should you decide to take this 'mission impossible') discuss the need for an immediate increase in pay to work this problem. Then get on the phone, and email - post a message out here with the name of the software. Maybe there's somebody else using the same software and has it somewhat figured out. Let me know - I've been sharing all sorts of info with fellow HR types across the country.
The software company will 'usually' be happy to send out a rep. to get you through this. And who knows, maybe this will turn out not to be the nightmare it seems to be, and you'll be wiser for having gone through the fire.
But, if you are set in not wanting to see what can be done (nothing negative intended here) - I'm not in your shoes, so I am certainly not making any judgment. If you're really stressed from this, and don't wish to deal with it/them anymore - post your resume out there and say 'ta-ta'.
This is not good management by the company or your boss. Sounds like they are the ones that need to look elsewhere for jobs. They clearly are not problem solvers, just finger pointers and snipers.
I'm here with a shoulder to lean on, if needed. Like I said, let me know what the software is, and I'll see if some of my HR friends are familiar with it.
Go home, sit down with a cold drink (soda or otherwise) and don't worry about it. All the time you spend worrying about it on your personal time is not fixing it.
Be tough, make your decision, then act on it!
We're here for you kid.
cotterwood
[email]cwood@tcpud.org[/email]
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all your support.
I have requested going on courses and getting external help but the answer has been a big no!. I am also tired off all the nastiness and back stapping that goes on in this organisation. I am also tired of all the unhappiness.
I know it is time to move on, and hopefully I can explain this in my resume but it is so hard to do. I wake up each morning totally depressed and am anxious as to what the day holds in store for me. I know that I am in control of how I react and only I can get myself out of this situation - but it all so hard.
Thanks for all your advice -
Take care
Lara
This being the case, I would submit my resignation today. You are fighting a losing battle with someone who doesn't give a rip about you or the company. He is running things like a sweat shop. The unhappiness you are experiencing is not worth the effort. This environment will not change.
As far as explaining things on your resume, I would just be honest with your prospective employers as you have with us. I think most HR people, like the ones of us who posted, have had similar situations occur and would certainly understand and not hold this against you.
Good luck and keep in touch!
Quit your job, but don't quit the Forum!
I wish you luck!
After 3 months, I told them I was jeopardizing their organization and resigned. As I said I didn't have to deal with the ugliness - they appreciated my honesty. They found the right person for the job.
I would use my approach in future interviews. I told prospective employers that I didn't have the expertise they needed and felt it was in their & my best interest to resign and allow them to find the right person. Put the positive spin on the negative information.
Good Luck!
Lara,
It's been a few days since we've heard from you. Are you okay? Please update us. We want to know how you're doing.
Also, tell us where you are in California. Some other Forumite may have an opening or may know of a job for you.
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
I am sorry I have not been providing any feedback but I had been trying my best to turn the situation that I was as a postive.
I decided to learn as much as I could from the payroll guy (who is also leaving due this awful environment) - well the other day I was sitting with him learning the process, and when I got back to my desk their was an email from a colleague of mine asking me to please review and advertisement.
Well guess what: The advertisement is for a combination of the tasks that I am currently performing and the tasks that the payroll guy has been performing which lead me to wonder if they were intending to replace me or provide me with assistance. I was exceptionally disappointed about the manner in which this advert had been communicated with me as it has a direct impact on my role and I am a manager of this area. Anyway I reviewed the advert and provided feedback to the colleague who had placed it (also a direct report to my general manager.
In the interim I had also underaken HRIS system and came up with a lot of valubale courses. I also did a lot of knowledge reading and felt a lot better in terms of what I could or could not do. I developed an action plan as to what I would be able to achieve in the short term and what assistance I would require to process payroll. Thereafter I developed a proposal which I took to my manager and discussed. This was met with a flat out refusual to attend any training classes, and no support at all. At this meeting, I also asked what the plan was in terms of the advert. I was told that it was it was none of my business to ask such a question and that I was therefore not going to receive an answer. Remember - I am directly responsible for managing this area!.
As this was the negative response I received, I thereafter tendered my weeks resignation and have left. At the exact same time as the payroll guy did. I feel incredibly quilty in that, they are in the lurch in that noone else can operate this system and potentially people will not be paid. I am also concerned that I have ruined my career.!!!
Any thoughts - did I make a hasty decision, I know that there is no turning back, but am curious as to how you would have handled this situation.
Thanks for reading such a long post and your support - I guess I have placed myself in another stressful situation - leaving a job without another one to go to!
GOOD FOR YOU - GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!
If I knew of a company out here looking for a star - I'd recommend you in a heartbeat! You performed in an entirely professional mannger, tried to make the best of an intolerable situation. Took it upon yourself to learn as much as fast as possible without the upper management's support.
Those folks are stupid as a tree stump! They don't know what they just lost!
But, God willing, they are beginning to get the picture!
There will be a wonderful job out there for you! Just take your time.
And I wouldn't even bother to put them down as a past employer. I'd just say you took some off to 'learn more things' or just took some time off before 'hitting the pavement'. There's a passage in the Bible - I won't qote the exact wording, but it generally states that if the people you were trying to help don't see your value, leave and shake their dirt off your feet as you walk out the gate.
There are great things waiting for you!
Have a good day!
[email]cwood@tcpud.org[/email]
Consider yourself lucky that you got out when you did. Things could have been worse, they could have fired you and then you would feel even worse. As it stands now, all you need to put on your application when asked why you left is "better opportunity" and leave it at that. Personally, I wouldn't even bother listing them as an employer since your time there was so short and they wouldn't give you a good reference anyway even though you gave notice.
Good luck to you and don't feel guilty. If they supported you and did the right thing, it would have worked out. Everything happens for a reason so give your friend (who e-mailed you the ad) a big thank you and move on.
Be happy x:-) you now get the enjoy the end of the summer!
LFernandes
You did the right thing! You handled things in a very professional manner by researching solutions to the problem and presenting them to your boss. When met with the proverbial "immovable object", you wisely cut your losses and moved on. And, you did it in short order!
I spent almost three years in a similar situation - was hired into a position which I thought was perfect, but then the family business was turned over from father to son, and the situation became untenable. However, I gritted it out, but spent many a day in tears of frustration - my birthday was even ruined one year by a nasty discussion with my boss over whether our welders (who wore leathers) should have a jug of ice water or Gatorade in their work area (as did all other work areas) during a spell of 100+ degree weather. His argument - they've been working here for 20 years, they've never needed it before, they don't know what hot is, I'll just move them to another work area that's even hotter, blah, blah, blah.
Unfortunately, I guess, I'm prone to keep chewing on an impossible situation (I was married for 20 years the first time around) - when the company hired a new VP, he seemed to have his head screwed on right, and I stuck around to see if he could make any headway. However, a few months later, he had taken on the same characteristics as the boss. I was never so glad to get out of a job situation!
Keep the faith - you'll find the right situation for yourself and feel much better about yourself and your abilities in the long run! Congratulations on recognizing the impossibility of this situation early on!
Good job! Move on. Call up the people you have met throughout your careers. Visit with a professional placement agency. Tone up that resume and get a better job - one that has good bosses and a supportive staff. You will live longer.
And when those second thoughts steal in on your evening after a long and tiring day - tell them that you have done the right thing by taking action instead of waiting for the ax to fall. That shows courage, initiative, and good survival skills.
Zanne