"It's Not My Job"

One of things that really irritates me is to hear anyone utter that immortal phrase, “It’s not my job” – like that somehow excuses them from helping you, or even trying. Regardless of whether it’s true or not – that it really is not part of their job description – it is so often used just as a lame excuse to avoid getting involved.

Go into a big box retailer and it won’t be long before you ask an employee a question and are then told that they can’t help you because it’s not their department or it’s not their job or area of responsibility. Never mind trying to help you anyway or summoning the proper person to assist you.

It’s gotten so bad – that people are desparate to get someone to help them in a retail store – that perfect strangers often approach me and ask for help. Maybe I look like the helpful type. Sometimes I just answer their question – if I can – or I might tell them that I don’t work there and then answer their question if I know the answer.

One of the funniest instances happened several years ago. I was driving in a different state looking for directions myself so I got off the freeway and stopped at the convenience store to ask. They couldn’t help me even though as it turns out the street I was looking for was the next street to the east.

As I was walking back to my car, someone else needing directions asked me where a particular street was. Now I could have told them that I wasn’t from there – a true statement and much like the “it’s not my job” response, but it just so happened that I had seen the street sign on the other side of the freeway as I was exiting. I told them how to find it just like I was a longtime resident.

I wonder if the people who proclaim that it’s not their job are the same ones who when they’re stopped behind you at a traffic light blow their horn the nanosecond the light turns green.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com.