FIGJAM

Our IT Boffin has resigned. Bound to happen Gen Y with $ in his eyes, baby at home, non-working girlfriend and easily bored, plus we pay him peanuts.

He’s been good technically but unmotivated a chronic absentee and no enthusiasm. Maybe it’s my management style! So the powers that be have decided that since he spend half his week sick and the other half exploring cheats for dungeons and dragons, we’re not going to replace him. We’ll secure an external contractor to do the tricky stuff and all the other IT bits will be divvied up amongst, you guessed it . . . admin staff. . . .of which I am now one!

Herein lies the rub:

Advisers - advise clients, they press the flesh, kiss babies, present scenarios and take a few notes. They get invited to seminars in fabulous locations and after the presentations eat fine food, drink fine wine and have fun . . .with their partners no less!

ParaPlanners - do the technical stuff, creating strategies that will fulfil client’s lifestyle needs and goals. They’re the ‘brains’ behind the outfit but still get a few perks, fund manager luncheons and don’t have to answer phones or do anything clerical. They don’t even have to know how to fix a footer!

Fund Administrators – just administer self managed super funds and crunch numbers. They’re the beavers of the outfit. Heads down, bums up. In at 8:30, gone at 5:00 and an hour for lunch.

The Rest – do everything else. Now this is NOT sour grapes, it’s the absolute truth, we are the penultimate multi-taskers – no coincidence that we are all women by the way.

We do everything from keeping the kitchenette clean to complex correspondence, workload monitoring, implementation of client investments and service level agreements, web logins and passwords, database maintenance, diary management, facilities management, lease and license maintenance, client hospitality, fielding phone calls (apparently Advisers and ParaPlanners will spontaneously combust if their calls aren’t screened). I’ve bitched about this before, this assumption that we don’t have enough to do or that we can ‘capture’ tasks that are left over from a vacant position or that we can ‘adapt with the times’ and ‘cope with change’. Now we are to learn how to do backup and restores, automatic downloads into industry specific software, coding of templates, IT troubleshooting and PC audits . Crikey folks, we’re good but . . .

Gawd, I'm such a whinger this week.