QUESTION: I am being denied good work, while others keep getting challenging work.
FACT: You have not yet proved to your manager that he can confidently assign you such work.
Distributing work among team members is one of management’s biggest challenges. A manager’s primary aim is to make a project successful. He knows the skill set of each person, based on previous project experience, or of a new hire; on the resume and interview. Work gets divided based on this Information. The other factor that plays a role is employee aspiration—an individual may have made a request in the past for a certain responsibility. The manager has to evaluate this request based on the individual’s skills and .on the time frame available. Sometimes, he might provide a Small portion of the work in order to gauge preparedness before giving more responsibility.
Complex or challenging work items are assigned to those in whom the manager has high confidence that they will get them done successfully. Even a few high performers might not be assigned every critical work item; they might be earmarked for providing support to a few less experienced people to help them complete their tasks satisfactorily.
When a desired task is not allocated, a few people do have the tendency to withdraw themselves from any discussion or Interaction regarding the work. As they feel let down by the manager, their focus at work drops. They don’t seem to understand that they are jeopardizing their own prospects as well as the team’s by taking these steps. They should understand that the current set of people might move to a different project, and so they might stand a good chance of getting the desired work in the future, provided they contribute to this current assignment.
WHAT CAN you DO AS THE EMPLOYEE? Take it as a challenge to prove to your manager that you too can be depended upon to pull off challenging work. You can start by doing your existing assignment well. Step by step, you can ask for more challenging work and prove your skill in those assignments. Slowly, you will gain confidence. This requires a positive attitude and the right dose of enthusiasm. if you know your limitations, then ask for assignments where you can excel.
WHAT CAN YOU DO AS THE MANAGER? Explain the reason for not giving your employee the requested task. Provide him with the necessary feedback, training and mentoring to help him enhance his skills. You could also help him in identifying his strengths, and encourage him to take up activities in which he can excel.
