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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
What should I do if my duties don't match my job description? Ask HR
Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your workplace questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the world's largest human resources professional society and author of "Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval.' Have a question? Submit it here. Question: Soon after being hired, I found my duties slightly out of line with my job description. After eight months on the job, my day-to-day responsibilities are much different from when I started. Should I be concerned enough to address the situation in my annual review next month? – Joshua Answer: Absolutely, you should bring this up during your annual review. An annual review is the ideal time and place for career conversations. Job changes such as this are more common than people think. Typically, you accept a job, get into the groove, and before long, your role starts to shift. Sometimes, it's gradual; other times, it's abrupt. But eight months in, if your current responsibilities don't resemble what you signed up for, it's worth a conversation. Don't look at this as sounding the alarm; instead, think of it as seeking clarity. Roles naturally evolve, especially in workplaces where people are stretched or when the business needs to shift quickly. The real questions are: Were those changes communicated to you? Do they align with your skills and interests? And do your compensation and title reflect the work you're doing? Come to the conversation prepared. Take note of the major differences between your original job description and your current daily responsibilities. What specific new things are you doing? When did they start? What have you stopped doing? Are you now working at a higher level than originally outlined in your job description? Be ready to discuss this factually, not emotionally, and give examples. Your goal is to align expectations, not to air complaints. Many managers would appreciate your initiative and welcome the discussion. When employees speak up about role clarity, it enables better staffing, development, and compensation decisions. You're not just advocating for yourself; you're contributing to a healthier and smarter organization. So, yes, bring it up and do so with confidence and professionalism. If your conversation with your manager doesn't go as planned, consider reaching out to your Human Resources department. They can often help in these difficult situations and provide helpful coaching opportunities for your manager if needed. My job is switching from 100% remote to hybrid. I have the option to move near our headquarters in Washington, D.C., or one of our six regional offices. Pay for each is based on the local job market. I'm concerned that I will have less organizational visibility at a regional office. What else should I consider when offered a job relocation? – Chelsea Co-worker stealing your ideas? Co-worker stealing your ideas? How to keep a collaborative spirit: Ask HR There's always a lot to consider when making any big change. It's smart to take some time to weigh your options. Let's talk about compensation and benefits first. Sure, salary is a big deal, but it's worth digging deeper. How will the pay affect your standard of living or taxes in the new location? Don't forget to check if there are any changes to benefits such as health care, paid leave, holidays, or other perks. For example, if you're moving somewhere new, will your current health providers still be available, or will you need to switch? Some states even have unique benefits, like paid family leave or sick leave, so that's something else to keep in mind. Now, let's talk about visibility and career growth. Sometimes, working in a regional office can make it harder to stay on the radar, but there are ways to work around that. Volunteer for big projects or join cross-functional teams to stay involved. Show up for virtual meetings, and, if you can, attend in-person events at headquarters when the chance arises. Building relationships is key, so don't be shy about using email, texts, or even good old-fashioned phone calls to connect with colleagues. Technology is another thing to think about. Consider whether any of the regional or HQ locations use the same tools and systems and whether they're up to date. Outdated tools and systems could make your work more challenging. On the flip side, if a location features more advanced technology, it could be a great opportunity to grow your skills and boost your value to the organization. Finally, assess each site's growth potential. Does it offer strong mentoring, training, or advancement opportunities? While working at headquarters is often seen as the best option for career growth, some satellite locations might surprise you with unique learning opportunities or a different focus that could help you thrive. Taking a step back to look at the broader picture ‒ salary, benefits, cost of living, visibility, tech, and growth ‒ can ultimately help you determine what's best for your next career move. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Layoffs looming? How to be prepared? Ask HR This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to do if your duties don't match your job description
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Trendy workplace benefit is too good to be true: ‘It's not all it's cracked up to be'
This time-off policy is not making employees any happier. These days, when people are applying for jobs — they look for an employer that pays well and offers generous paid time off. However, if you see a job listing that offers 'unlimited' PTO, it might be a scam — here's why. Advertisement 'People hear you have it and are like 'Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, you have unlimited PTO.' But from my experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' a disgruntled employee told Travel & Leisure in an interview. The outlet revealed that employers offer the time off benefit as a 'recruitment tool' as more job hunters are looking to work for companies that allow their employees to have a healthy work-life balance. 'People hear you have it and are like 'Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, you have unlimited PTO.' But from my experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' a disgruntled employee told Travel & Leisure in an interview. Sergei Fedulov – Advertisement Supposedly, one in five Americans won't even give a job the right time of day if the employer isn't generous with employees' time off, according to a survey from Empower. 'There's a very powerful message when an organization adopts unlimited PTO,' Julie Schweber, senior advisor at SHRM, told the outlet. 'It says 'We value you. We trust you. We trust you'll get your work done.' I can't think of a better retention tool or motivator for employees.' Yet people are quickly learning that there's a catch when it comes to working for a place that offers this — like not having unused vacation days roll over or be paid out when an employee leaves the company — something that's often done at places with more limited time off policies. Advertisement 'I view the concept of unlimited PTO as more of a PR gimmick and a way for a firm to get out of providing a quantifiable benefit,' an unnamed Detroit-area senior systems engineer told T&L. Many employees who work for companies that offer unlimited PTO are not actually happy about it. Kirsten Davis/ – Employees who are offered unlimited PTO also notice that even when they do take a long vacation — they tend to feel the need to check in on work while away or feel guilty if they were to take another long trip later in the year. And since many people work at places that don't offer this 'gimmicky' policy — they have to get creative with how they use their limited amount of PTO. Advertisement The PTO hack that went viral earlier this year is to schedule vacations around holidays that land at the start of the week, like Memorial or President's Day. 'Federal holidays and long weekends are your best friend here,' Jesse Neugarten, CEO and founder of Dollar Flight Club, told Forbes. Doing this allows people to have an extra-long weekend without using up all their PTO.
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Travel + Leisure
19-05-2025
- Business
- Travel + Leisure
Unlimited PTO Is Often Touted as a Workplace Perk—but Is It a Scam?
The vacation policy was an enticing incentive. Jennifer, an Atlanta-based media specialist, had 28 days off in her first year on the job. 'Our managers were pushing for a good work-life balance,' she explained. Eventually, in a move the company said would better compensate employees, it pivoted to unlimited paid time off. Jennifer, an avid traveler, was thrilled at first. But what was supposed to be a perk soon proved otherwise. Time off hoarding and snitching ensued. 'It got to the point where people were counting other people's paid time off," Jennifer, who preferred not to be named, told Travel + Leisure , "and saying 'So and so took 67 days off, I've only taken 35, how is that fair?'' Jennifer's company is in the process of rescinding the policy for her department. 'People hear you have it and are like 'Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, you have unlimited PTO.' But from my experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be.' Is unlimited PTO the workplace policy well-heeled travelers dream of, or a matter of being careful what you wish for? During the past decade, unlimited PTO has been touted as the ultimate recruiting tool as employers seek to put work-life balance into practice. While still rare—data from the Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM indicates just 7 percent of American employers offer it—the policy is very much in demand. A recent survey from Empower showed one in five American employees wouldn't consider a new job at a firm that didn't extend endless off days. 'There's a very powerful message when an organization adopts unlimited PTO,' Julie Schweber, senior advisor at SHRM, told T+L. 'It says 'We value you. We trust you. We trust you'll get your work done.' I can't think of a better retention tool or motivator for employees.' But that retention tool can quickly go sideways, as experienced by one Detroit-area senior systems engineer, who requested to be unnamed. His firm's unlimited PTO policy hasn't been the benefit he'd hoped for. "I have been subtly told by my manager that the 'perception is you're taking too much time off,'' he said. 'How do you plan to travel with that hanging over your head?" What's more: his unlimited days can't be banked or paid out at the end of employment. He's soured on the idea altogether. "I view the concept of unlimited PTO as more of a PR gimmick and a way for a firm to get out of providing a quantifiable benefit," he said. A couple relaxing on a quiet beach.A.J. Stackawitz, a senior executive assistant and office manager at a small development business in Denver, is a fan of her team's unlimited PTO policy. Her husband is a pilot and travel is a top priority for her family. She says the flexibility is indeed a perk, even if it means completely unplugging isn't always possible. Her company policy is clear: she stays on top of critical assignments, and may be required to respond to emails, calls or texts while taking time off. 'We're supposed to tend to things that we need to tend to,' she said. 'So that might mean I'm with my family in Hawaii for two weeks, but on one of those days I have to book someone's airfare or check email.' Sick leave is separate, so there is no mixing or confusing the two. Stackawitz clears decks before she leaves town and doesn't mind an occasional check-in. She says the policy works well for her. 'It would be hard to go back to the other way now,' she said. 'Just knowing you have the option is a morale booster. It's a tradeoff that I appreciate, and the bottom line is that it's worth it.' Unlimited PTO won't work for every company. Employers should consider the following before putting it into place: A culture of trust and respect is crucial. Workload and performance should be effectively managed. This might mean caps on unlimited PTO during certain times of year, or that advance approval is necessary. The policy must be fair, clear, and well-communicated. 'Otherwise, you've got this guilt creep, the shaming of someone for taking PTO,' Schweber said. That creep is pervasive. A recent Harris Poll showed nearly half of American workers (47 percent) report feeling guilty taking time away, and about the same amount (49 percent) get nervous requesting time off. Limitless time off won't fix the inability to fully disconnect from the workplace if people are already afraid to do it. That said, when a company implements it well and fairly, it can free employees up to travel extensively and unplug. However, a lack of guardrails or clarity could transform what's perceived as a top perk into a real pain. Jennifer learned that first-hand. 'If I heard 'unlimited PTO' now, it wouldn't have the same appeal,' she said.
Associated Press
12-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
UAGC Associate Faculty Member Nina E. Woodard Recognized with SHRM Legacy of Giving Award
'Nina's dedication to education and professional service exemplifies the values we strive to uphold at UAGC.'— Blake Naughton, vice provost for Global Campus Academic Affairs CHANDLER, AZ, UNITED STATES, May 12, 2025 / / -- The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) associate faculty member Nina E. Woodard was recently honored with the Nina E. Woodard Legacy of Giving Award by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) California State Council during National Volunteer Recognition Week. The award acknowledges Woodard's nearly five decades of dedicated volunteer service to SHRM and the human resources profession, both across the United States and internationally. A valued educator in UAGC human resources programs, Woodard has significantly impacted her students and the HR field through her mentorship, leadership, and commitment to professional development. She played a pivotal role in SHRM's global initiatives, including the establishment of its office in India. 'This honor is especially meaningful as it reflects the values I have tried to live by throughout my career—serving others and supporting the development of people and organizations,' said Woodard. 'To have an award that bears my name is both humbling and deeply fulfilling.' The Nina E. Woodard Legacy of Giving Award was established by the SHRM California State Council to recognize her lifelong contributions to the HR profession and her generous service to students, colleagues, and SHRM chapters since 1978. 'Nina's dedication to education and professional service exemplifies the values we strive to uphold at UAGC,' said Blake Naughton, vice provost for Global Campus Academic Affairs. 'Her influence within the university and the broader HR community is deeply respected, and this recognition is well deserved.' UAGC commends Nina E. Woodard for her outstanding contributions and ongoing commitment to the success of learners and professionals in the human resources field. ### The University of Arizona Global Campus is proud to offer over 50 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs with accelerated online classes designed to help you gain the skills you need. At UAGC, you will be part of the University of Arizona community of students and alumni who support each other from game day to graduation day and beyond. For more information about UAGC, visit Brian M. Mullen The University of Arizona Global Campus +1 480-916-0710 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Instagram Facebook YouTube X Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Return to the office turns rude: 62% more "acts of incivility" reported in the workplace
Does going to the office make us miserable, or is misery simply inherent in the American office? It's a capitalist 'chicken or egg' question that, just half a decade ago, would've been difficult to treat as anything other than a thought experiment. For the last 80 or so years, hundreds of millions of Americans, at a largely uninterrupted clip, have found themselves reporting to some variation of a fluorescent-lit cubicle, day in and day out, spending the bulk of their lives in a place that we've never since lived without. Then came the pandemic, creating the highly unlikely conditions that allowed workplace researchers to examine the difference between white-collar workers in the office, and white-collar workers out of the office. For a little more than a year, the Society for Human Research Management, the largest trade and research organization for HR professionals, has been surveying U.S. workers about conflict at their workplaces to develop a 'civility index,' measuring the amount of interpersonal conflict that employees report at work. Think of 'incivility' as the fairly common, routine disagreements or conflicts we all experience most days: being talked over, having an idea dismissed, inadvertently touching on a sensitive subject. James Atkinson, a vice president in SHRM's research division, told me it boils down to 'that ability to communicate, and both step away from the conversation and feel like your voice was heard, your voice was not dismissed.' The organization's most recent civility index, released in March, found that workers at companies that brought their employees back to the office reported 62% more incivility in the workplace, versus those whose companies didn't return to the office. In the five quarters that SHRM has been conducting the survey, the March reading is its second-highest, following its survey at the end of 2024, after the U.S. presidential election. On its face, it makes sense that office workers would report more day-to-day conflicts than remote workers. 'I think one of the primary drivers is simply the fact that it's more face-to-face interactions,' Atkinson said. 'And while this creates more opportunities to engage and collaborate, and get to know other people better, it also creates the opposite.' The most commonly cited drivers of incivility in the workplace were politics, social opinions and differences in race or gender, Atkinson said. 'And those are all things that are going to come out in the course of your conversations, right?' he said. Still, while looking over the report, I couldn't help but think of the ways that most people working some sort of white-collar laptop job — graphic designers, lawyers, accountants, marketing managers, customer care agents, recruiters, copywriters, consultants and dozens more — have taken to talking about our jobs. Because nowadays, post-COVID, when I'm meeting somebody new and we're talking about what we do for a living, the conventional reaction to learning somebody has one of these laptop jobs is to ask whether they're remote, or at least hybrid, for Christ's sake. Two-days in-office gets a high-five, while three solicits a knowing shrug. Four days a week in the office, though, and you'll either be asked how the job hunt is going, or assumed to be paid handsomely for your sacrifice. Do companies enacting RTO mandates simply run unhappier companies? It's a sweeping theory, but not at all far-fetched. Consider alone that virtually every organization ending remote work is doing so against the known wishes of their workers, who have demonstrated in countless surveys and studies their strong preference for more flexible work arrangements. The post-pandemic business landscape is full of public, drawn-out battles between a companies' executives and its workers over the RTO mandate. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a dogmatic proponent of RTO, went on an eight-minute rant during a town hall meeting in February, rejecting a petition against the company's in-office mandate that was signed by 950 JPMorgan Chase employees. 'I don't care how many people sign that f***ing petition,' Dimon said in leaked audio from the town hall. He's since apologized, saying, 'I do town halls all around the world, and as you know, I mope sometimes.' A recruiter showed me how many JPMorgan Chase employees have their LinkedIn preferences set to 'open to work.' Of the company's 300,000 workers, 120,000 currently indicate they're open to new opportunities. Patrice Williams-Lindo, a workplace strategist based in Atlanta, said the companies most strictly enforcing return-to-office mandates often have 'a legacy of top-down decision making.' Upper management at these companies tend to distrust their employees, she said, and hold 'outdated definitions of productivity' — an approach that, naturally, makes employees resentful and inhibits healthy communication. 'In other words, the incivility didn't start with RTO — it was just harder to see when people were apart,' she said. For Nadine, a people manager in New York City who requested anonymity to speak openly, her company's return-to-office rollout in March felt like 'a huge slap in the face.' Her employer, a live music and event production company based in New York, brought employees back to the office four days a week once pandemic restrictions were lifted. But since March, the company has required all employees to work in-office, five days a week. 'Everyone was upset, especially in our industry,' she said. 'Pretty much the whole office took it poorly.' Nadine manages nearly a dozen direct reports from New York, most of whom live in different cities. The five-day mandate landed in employees' inboxes in February, in an email from the company's chairman, who included the usual reasons behind the new policy: better collaboration, synergies, innovation, etc. As a people manager, she also received a separate email with suggested talking points for the inevitable questions she'd be fielding from her direct reports, all of whom have used their one-on-ones to vent their frustrations with RTO, she said. 'It's been difficult because I feel similarly,' she said. 'I'm like, 'What am I supposed to say as a manager when I agree with everything that they're saying?' It's tough. It's not reasonable.' 'Every year, our company makes us fill out this survey,' she continued, 'and every single year, the results show that people want a better work-life balance and more work-from-home flexibility. For them to do the opposite of that, and slap us with a five-day, in-office schedule just feels disrespectful … especially in this industry, where so much work is done outside the office.' Not everybody on the company's payroll is adhering to the new mandate, she said. 'The heads of our company are rarely here in the office, and their corner offices sit dark a lot of the time.' Nadine read aloud from the chairman's email to all employees, beginning in the middle of a sentence: '… being together in the office also helps you and your colleagues grow your relationships and professional careers in-office. Presence fosters more effective collaboration, training, supervision, mentoring and innovation.' The email continued: 'We grow and learn new skills faster and better through everyday, in-person interactions with leaders, colleagues and mentors, as well as in-person training, development and networking events.' 'Bull****,' she said, after finishing the last line. 'Morale sucks, and it's only going to get worse.'
