I've been working my ass off in my current department for years. I put my hand up and volunteer to get things done because I'm a clinician and these things need to happen for patients to get the care they need. I'm in a mid-level position, there's one position below me and one above me – then the clinical managers, above them is the department director.
For the last 3 years I've been doing more work than the people above me and more than the managers. In addition to my clinical duties, I've been working on 5 different special projects, including helping to manage our patient records program.
Last year I applied to a manager position that opened up and thought I had a good chance since I'd been doing so much extra. I believed that I had proven I could do the job after training new hires on the records program, supporting the department with technical problems, managing my patient load, and several other things I don't want to list because it would get too specific.
I didn't get the job, they gave it to probably the most computer-illiterate person in the department.
A few months go by and another manager position opens up, again I'm asked to apply. Again I don't get the job.
Since that time, the managers have gotten in the habit of delegating as much work as possible to me and a few people on one of the committees I'm on. We have become a dumping ground for the stuff they don't want to do and a scapegoat for their failures. I even had a manager take my work and submit it to a VP as his own; I got to sit through my director presenting this “brilliant work” from a manager back to me – not knowing that I wrote it.
This has been brought up repeatedly to the Director and I've been told to come to them with concerns about managers slacking off or not doing their jobs. So I started doing that – in a recent meeting my director lost his shit on me and started yelling, interrupting and shouting me down. The gist was that it's my fault the managers are fucking up and it's my job to make sure they don't. He made it very clear that he views me with contempt and takes what I do for granted. I was doing exactly what I was told to do – reporting to him problems with his managers and the response I got was that it's my job to manage the managers. “I don't want to hear it, this is your job. If they are making mistakes it's your job to take care of it.”
I felt the switch flip. I stopped arguing, I stopped saying anything. The meeting ended and I took the resume I used to apply for their positions and submitted it to a new role in a different department. I did one interview and was accepted immediately – which doesn't happen at my company.
My manager still doesn't know all the extra things I've been doing or how many other departments rely on me; in my exit interview he knew about 40% of what I was up to. I've sent emails to everyone informing them I'm moving to another department and “all future support requests can be directed to [Manager]” with his contact information. I gave my notice and… panic. Sheer panic. It took them over six weeks to find someone to do one of the extra jobs I have and the team that supports our tech needs is being entirely dissolved.
I'm going to a new department and I'm not going to make the same mistake. I'm working within my job title and role, but that's it. If they want anything more from me it will take an accurate title and cash on the barrel head.
Don't make the mistake I did – hard work is not recognized, it just makes it easier for management to take you for granted and to take advantage of you.