My Employer wants to change my job title and responsibilities.

Andy_L

ayers said:

Hello. Can anyone help? 

I work in a technology company as a technical/writer and have done so in this company for 4 years. My company want to change my job title and responsibilities which is something I am apprehensive about. They want to change my job title to content manager. The role of technical authoring/writing will no longer exist but the writing for technical documentation task will be spread throughout the orgnisation. We are still in the discussion phase. I wanted to suggest to the company if they are willing to explore me working as quality assurance test analyst in the Quality Assurance department instead of the suggested content management role? There will be learning but skillset as a technical writer and qualifications are better aligned to working in this department in this role than the one they're suggesting. I also feel I will enjoy it more than the role they're suggesting.

The question is, does the company need to consider my suggesting of working as a quality assurance test analyst as they are attempting to change my role?

Thank you in advance.

So is this a redundancy situation & its a question of if the new job is "suitable alternative employment" & thus a legitimate alternative to a redundancy payment?

Ath_Wat

Andy_L said:

ayers said:

Hello. Can anyone help? 

I work in a technology company as a technical/writer and have done so in this company for 4 years. My company want to change my job title and responsibilities which is something I am apprehensive about. They want to change my job title to content manager. The role of technical authoring/writing will no longer exist but the writing for technical documentation task will be spread throughout the orgnisation. We are still in the discussion phase. I wanted to suggest to the company if they are willing to explore me working as quality assurance test analyst in the Quality Assurance department instead of the suggested content management role? There will be learning but skillset as a technical writer and qualifications are better aligned to working in this department in this role than the one they're suggesting. I also feel I will enjoy it more than the role they're suggesting.

The question is, does the company need to consider my suggesting of working as a quality assurance test analyst as they are attempting to change my role?

Thank you in advance.

So is this a redundancy situation & its a question of if the new job is "suitable alternative employment" & thus a legitimate alternative to a redundancy payment?

Well, that's not what they are asking, but it would seem a legitimate line of enquiry.  I would have thought, on balance, that providing all the terms of working hours, salary etc remain the same then the employer would be able to claim that it is a suitable alternative.  I am not an expert but I believe the fact that it's just not really what they want to do is not enough to make it unsuitable - they would be perfectly capable of doing it and it wouldn't make any additional demands on them.

ayers

Ath_Wat said:

Andy_L said:

ayers said:

Hello. Can anyone help? 

I work in a technology company as a technical/writer and have done so in this company for 4 years. My company want to change my job title and responsibilities which is something I am apprehensive about. They want to change my job title to content manager. The role of technical authoring/writing will no longer exist but the writing for technical documentation task will be spread throughout the orgnisation. We are still in the discussion phase. I wanted to suggest to the company if they are willing to explore me working as quality assurance test analyst in the Quality Assurance department instead of the suggested content management role? There will be learning but skillset as a technical writer and qualifications are better aligned to working in this department in this role than the one they're suggesting. I also feel I will enjoy it more than the role they're suggesting.

The question is, does the company need to consider my suggesting of working as a quality assurance test analyst as they are attempting to change my role?

Thank you in advance.

So is this a redundancy situation & its a question of if the new job is "suitable alternative employment" & thus a legitimate alternative to a redundancy payment?

Well, that's not what they are asking, but it would seem a legitimate line of enquiry.  I would have thought, on balance, that providing all the terms of working hours, salary etc remain the same then the employer would be able to claim that it is a suitable alternative.  I am not an expert but I believe the fact that it's just not really what they want to do is not enough to make it unsuitable - they would be perfectly capable of doing it and it wouldn't make any additional demands on them.

Thanks for this. I did not think of this as a redundancy situation at all. However, I do feel I can put a good case forward as to why I will be able to perform a Quality Assurance Test Analyst role well. But equally, my company can argue I will be able to perform a Content Management role very easily to. I am not sure if they legally need to provide an alternative role if I am not happy with the role they have in mind for me.

SiliconChip

ayers said:

Ath_Wat said:

Andy_L said:

ayers said:

Hello. Can anyone help? 

I work in a technology company as a technical/writer and have done so in this company for 4 years. My company want to change my job title and responsibilities which is something I am apprehensive about. They want to change my job title to content manager. The role of technical authoring/writing will no longer exist but the writing for technical documentation task will be spread throughout the orgnisation. We are still in the discussion phase. I wanted to suggest to the company if they are willing to explore me working as quality assurance test analyst in the Quality Assurance department instead of the suggested content management role? There will be learning but skillset as a technical writer and qualifications are better aligned to working in this department in this role than the one they're suggesting. I also feel I will enjoy it more than the role they're suggesting.

The question is, does the company need to consider my suggesting of working as a quality assurance test analyst as they are attempting to change my role?

Thank you in advance.

So is this a redundancy situation & its a question of if the new job is "suitable alternative employment" & thus a legitimate alternative to a redundancy payment?

Well, that's not what they are asking, but it would seem a legitimate line of enquiry.  I would have thought, on balance, that providing all the terms of working hours, salary etc remain the same then the employer would be able to claim that it is a suitable alternative.  I am not an expert but I believe the fact that it's just not really what they want to do is not enough to make it unsuitable - they would be perfectly capable of doing it and it wouldn't make any additional demands on them.

However, I do feel I can put a good case forward as to why I will be able to perform a Quality Assurance Test Analyst role well.

There's no harm in putting this forward as an alternative but the real question is are there any vacancies for the role, and if there are how likely is it that you'd get the job if you applied alongside other candidates? I don't see why they would create a role specially for you when they've already offered you something else, and if there is a role what are the chances that they'd offer it to you rather than advertising it either internally or externally?

ayers

SiliconChip said:

ayers said:

Ath_Wat said:

Andy_L said:

ayers said:

Hello. Can anyone help? 

I work in a technology company as a technical/writer and have done so in this company for 4 years. My company want to change my job title and responsibilities which is something I am apprehensive about. They want to change my job title to content manager. The role of technical authoring/writing will no longer exist but the writing for technical documentation task will be spread throughout the orgnisation. We are still in the discussion phase. I wanted to suggest to the company if they are willing to explore me working as quality assurance test analyst in the Quality Assurance department instead of the suggested content management role? There will be learning but skillset as a technical writer and qualifications are better aligned to working in this department in this role than the one they're suggesting. I also feel I will enjoy it more than the role they're suggesting.

The question is, does the company need to consider my suggesting of working as a quality assurance test analyst as they are attempting to change my role?

Thank you in advance.

So is this a redundancy situation & its a question of if the new job is "suitable alternative employment" & thus a legitimate alternative to a redundancy payment?

Well, that's not what they are asking, but it would seem a legitimate line of enquiry.  I would have thought, on balance, that providing all the terms of working hours, salary etc remain the same then the employer would be able to claim that it is a suitable alternative.  I am not an expert but I believe the fact that it's just not really what they want to do is not enough to make it unsuitable - they would be perfectly capable of doing it and it wouldn't make any additional demands on them.

However, I do feel I can put a good case forward as to why I will be able to perform a Quality Assurance Test Analyst role well.

There's no harm in putting this forward as an alternative but the real question is are there any vacancies for the role, and if there are how likely is it that you'd get the job if you applied alongside other candidates? I don't see why they would create a role specially for you when they've already offered you something else, and if there is a role what are the chances that they'd offer it to you rather than advertising it either internally or externally?

Thanks Silicon.

Those are very good points you raise. Points I did not consider so I will ask but also prepare for them to say "No".

ayers

I have another question. In a way, is my employer attempting to change my contract of employment if they want me to change my job title and responsibilities?

Andy_L

ayers said:

I have another question. In a way, is my employer attempting to change my contract of employment if they want me to change my job title and responsibilities?

Possibly. Does you contract have an "other reasonable duties" clause?

Even if they there isn't, ultimately they can impose the change & see what happens

https://www.gov.uk/your-employment-contract-how-it-can-be-changed

theoretica

ayers said:

Thanks for your comments once again TELLIT01 and Ath_Wat.

This is my dilemma. As a Technical Author/Writer, I work very close with the product being developed which allows me to use my technical skills and learn new technical skills. This is something I am good at and something I enjoy. Being a Content Manager moves me away from the product which is likely to involve me using less technical skills.

This concerns me which is the reason why I wanted to explore with my company the possibility of doing a quality assurance test analyst role. This role would keep me close to the product using technical skills and learning new ones. There is more involved but I feel a role of this nature is better suited to my skills and I feel I would enjoy a role like this better than a Content Manager role.

I just hope they seriously consider this. Thanks again.

From the company's point of view, how in demand are your technical skills?  How good are your colleagues' writing skills?  Distributing the task of the writing may go well, or it may be challenging.  Who could replace you in the content manager role - would it need to be someone with your technical skills? 

ayers

theoretica said:

ayers said:

Thanks for your comments once again TELLIT01 and Ath_Wat.

This is my dilemma. As a Technical Author/Writer, I work very close with the product being developed which allows me to use my technical skills and learn new technical skills. This is something I am good at and something I enjoy. Being a Content Manager moves me away from the product which is likely to involve me using less technical skills.

This concerns me which is the reason why I wanted to explore with my company the possibility of doing a quality assurance test analyst role. This role would keep me close to the product using technical skills and learning new ones. There is more involved but I feel a role of this nature is better suited to my skills and I feel I would enjoy a role like this better than a Content Manager role.

I just hope they seriously consider this. Thanks again.

From the company's point of view, how in demand are your technical skills?  How good are your colleagues' writing skills?  Distributing the task of the writing may go well, or it may be challenging.  Who could replace you in the content manager role - would it need to be someone with your technical skills? 

Thanks Theoretica. You have given me a lot to think about and consider.

SensibleSarah

As someone who works in content, and having been a 'content manager' in several different work settings, I think you're right to be wary! I would say that a lot of further info is needed from your employer about the day to day responsbilities of the new role (and if they haven't got that information ready to provide in detail, it probably tells its own story). In my experience, having product experts write content is all well and good, and obviously they are experts in that area after all, but it then usually needs an awful lot of editing by whoever is responsible for that (presumably the content manager in this scenario) to make it appropriate for the target audience and can often take twice as long as writing it yourself in the first place, especially if it's on a subject you're very familiar with already. Absolutely nothing wrong with doing it this way if that's what the company wants, but I know that it can make a once-enjoyable job a lot more frustrating for the person doing the 'fixing'.