Re: Dividing the Tech writer job

[Nancy Hickman <nhickman -at- GVI -dot- NET>]

I wondered who you meant by "we're reorganized." Who is the "we" here or
did things just fall into place? It sounds like trouble's a brewin' from
your description, and that you aren't too happy with things.

I have to stop and say that unless you are working with people under the
age of 12, they aren't "girls." If your organization refers to them as
girls, you can bet your bottom dollar that they also get girl-size pay
and girl-size professional respect. And since you are grouped with them,
you are now one of the girls to outside eyes. It might be very wise to
argue for a Junior level or some distinct job title or create a
different department that is a clerical support pool, since you are so
very different from them in experience and expertise.

And by the way, it may not be wise to set yourself up to be the trainer
of them. If it is a serious skill, an organization will pay to send
employees to school or training to acquire it. I'm willing to wager that
other professionals have a training budget at your company, and you
should find out what your training budget and plans are (for yourself as
well, because you should be able to grow). You should all also have a
career ladder. What levels of promotability and pay scales will there
be? What job titles will there be? What will be evaluated during job
reviews?

To me, it doesn't sound like a true doc group. From your description,
people were grouped together because they type. You may have cause to be
concerned, because this could degrade your ability to get raises,
training, and to sell and implement complicated design work in your
organization. The possible work envisioned for your group may be
degraded to the lowest skill level, and future interesting work will be
a tough sell to your company.

Another thing that you have not addressed is whether these two
co-workers actually want to see any changes. As hard as it may be to
believe, some people do not want to take on different tasks or, more
importantly, responsibility. They signed on to the company for one
thing, and that is what they want. This is a valid option for anyone,
but if they want to stay or if they want a different job title/pay, they
may be asked whether they want to accept the change.

You aren't entirely responsible for bringing them "up to speed," your
company ought to have a transition plan. The two co-workers deserve to
know what are the new parameters and requirements, how will the
organization support/train them in their transition, and how much time
they have to make the transition so they can make the grade on their
next job review. Then it's up to them whether they will stay.

Despite what you've said, I'd say you have not achieved a satisfactory
re-org here. It's not simply a process problem.

-- Nancy Hickman

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