This office’s unofficial fixer is taking a much-needed break, and the office is falling apart without their extra contributions.
Sometimes you work at a company that wouldn’t even be able to function if you stopped giving 150% every day. At these places, oftentimes management is barely existent, and the workers take on extra burdens to keep the place running smoothly. They might feel empowered by this at first, which is understandable. If you’re the person who makes everyone smile when you walk in at 9 AM because you’re the problem-solver, it’s a good feeling. You want to be useful, and you’re proud of the work you’re doing.
Workers who aren’t rewarded for going above and beyond are certainly going to stagnate, though. They’re going to become unhappy with the status quo, and since they aren’t management, there’s probably no course of action they could take to change things up.
This person became frustrated with helping out a coworker at an office that seems to operate in this kind of way. When the coworker needed help, he knew exactly who to ask. This person obliged, and noted that they helped out a lot. When the printer needed unjamming, or the spreadsheets weren’t spreadsheeting, this person was the go-to. All of that extra work, even if they didn’t mind it at the time, is distracting from their actual job. The urge to jump in and be helpful all the time is alluring, but especially in circumstances where you’re not being appreciated, you have to learn to resist the temptation and let the office fail without your assistance. For perfectionists of the world, this is hard to do. Watching the office crumple under it’s own management without you stepping in to save the day can be intense. But just think about all of the actual work that you’ll be doing instead of doing random office tasks. You’re investing in yourself, since your workplace clearly isn’t investing in enough people to have the office run properly.
I hope the boss sees it that way, too! I worry for this person that they’ll be blamed by management instead. After all, they’re showing the cracks in the day-to-day management of the company, which some bosses would rather turn a blind eye to. This person shouldn’t just quiet quit — they should actually quit, after finding a better-paying job where they’re respected by all their coworkers, and where they’re not unjamming the printer every day just because no one else will do it.
Author: Kayitsi.com
