That’s Not My Job – But Maybe It Can Be

Have you or your coworkers been asked to do something and the response is “that’s not my job?” It’s understandable as people tend to be overly busy at work these days. This is especially true when management makes staff cuts and expects the existing team members to do more.

It may be in your best interest to make those requests a part of your job, as long as it doesn’t cut into your personal or family time. We are in one of the most competitive job environments that we have ever been in. This means that jobs are hard to come by and people to fill spots are plentiful.

One of the challenges I hear from employees during training is “I have to take up some things that are not in my job description or skill set”.

My next question to them is “What’s great about this problem?"

You may learn new skills that you probably would not have, had you turned away the work.

I find most organizations want the best for their employees, and some managers have choices to make when it comes to lean budgets or creating efficiencies. Their intent is not to over-work you, it’s to make their clients/customers happy while having a great workforce.

Not only are you creating some capability within yourself, you are also setting up an environment of good will towards your coworkers by helping take some of their workloads.

One word of caution is to not take on more than you can handle. There are only so many hours in a workday, and you don’t want torun yourself ragged that you won’t be able to perform any of your tasks.

Therefore, next time when you’re asked to help out in an area that may not be part of your daily routine, ask yourself, “What am I going to learn that will increase my skill set?”

Here are some skill sets I had to pick up because of our wellness business:

• Registered massage therapist (I still have to take courses to fill up 20 credits every 2 years).
• Reflexologist (I have regular clients I see on Fridays at our wellness centre)
• Organic facials – we sell organic skin care and therefore, clients want to try before they buy.

Learning the above modalities has not only taught me a lot about myself, but it has opened up my mind to how the body works – which I never knew before.