Thanks, Art. I'm feeling foolish for not having been doing the PR you suggest, but it is still a timely suggestion!
Ken ----- Original Message ----- From: Art Douglas To: 'Denise Tate' ; [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 1:48 PM Subject: RE: [EDI-L] [Update] EDI Coordinator Job Description Denise, IMHO HR is a four-letter word. They exist primarily to limit corporate liability in a litigious society. They do not understand the first thing about what you do, or how important you are to your firm. They have no idea of the value of the knowledge you have, nor how expensive in terms of learning-curve time it would be to replace you. Hopefully, your boss understands. Pray for him or her, that they stay alive and able to stand in the gap on your behalf. I tell my client's EDI and IT people that they need to become as adept at Public Relations as they are at their technical disciplines. Make certain that every manager in your chain of command knows who you are, and what value you bring to the firm. Don't settle for face recognition and an org chart. Then expand that number to include all the user business managers of all the departments your work impacts. Make sure they realize the value of what you do. Businesses issue press releases when they accomplish something: "XYZ Corporation announces the acquisition of Best & Company. This will combine the forces of the two great powerhouses in the widget industry to better provide our customers access to baseball, apple pie, and should they so chose, motherhood." You need to learn from this. When you add a trading partner, notify your circle of influence - i.e. the managers, "Today we completed EDI testing of Big Box Customer & Co. Beginning Monday, all purchase orders submitted by Big will be processed through EDI, freeing up twelve hours per week for our Customer Service Representatives to spend with customers, instead of on tedious manual entry of Big's POs. This is the first step in fully automating Big paperwork. Testing of Big invoices begins next week. Once that is completed, our invoices to Big will no longer be subject to being 'lost in the mail,' meaning cash flow should speed up and the number of disputes should be reduced." What I am trying to explain, in my long-winded fashion, is that you need to establish, in the minds of corporate management, that you are not a commodity. You are unique, and bring unique value to the organization. If you do this successfully, I can guarantee you ... um ... nothing. Keep that resume updated, maintain good relations with everybody, and hope for the best. Good luck, Art Douglas Chief Consultant Blackwater Network 877-464-8915 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Denise Tate Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [EDI-L] [Update] EDI Coordinator Job Description Good Morning. A few months ago I asked for assistance in writing my job description. I appreciated all the information received. I submitted a job description for "EDI Coordinator/IT Support" which is more accurately what I do. Our Company IT department consists of my boss and myself plus a part time contract programmer 2 days a week. It is really a great setup. I enjoy doing different things. Well,,, last week I received a "benchmark" of my job & salary against the chicagoland area market. I was disappointed and surprised by what the HR person told me and I would like to share it with the group. The job description I submitted was ignored and a cryptic EDI Coordinator job description was used from a Marketing Salary Research databank. My salary benchmark was the salary I started at 9 years ago. And to top it off, when I asked about the "IT Support" portion of my position, the HR person stated if they used that part of my job to benchmark my salary it would have brought it DOWN! Yep she said DOWN! I have 15 years experience in EDI and this is the first time I have ever heard doing MORE will reduce your marketability. Hmmm.. Any comments I can pass along to my HR person? Thank you in advance.. I need a laugh today can you tell.. Denise ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix. Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
