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A common complaint about Millennials that I hear pretty often is that they don’t want to pay their dues at work. Even though I always here this complaint, this past week I found myself complaining to my mom about something work related. (Now I wasn’t sure I even wanted to write about this topic since my boss and lots of people I work with read my blog, but I think this is a common problem with Millennials at work. Since I am always honest on my blog and with the people I work with, I figured it would be a good idea to talk about it anyway.) Anyway, back to my story. I was complaining about a specific task that I find to be both mundane and painful to complete at work. As I was complaining, my mom stopped me mid-sentence and said, “suck it up you have to pay your dues at work.”
And I think she is right. Millennials at work have to do tasks that they find mundane, painful, useless and terrible. But an important part of climbing up the corporate ladder is proving yourself, and the best way to prove yourself is to do a fantastic job at a terrible task that no one else wants to do. Now doing a fantastic job at a sucky task, doesn’t mean that it will suck any less, but it does mean that people will respect you for not complaining and will appreciate that the task is getting completed.
That being said, I still don’t want to do this task. And that made me wonder, why is it so important for Millennials to pay their dues at work? If I hate doing a task and I’m not good at it, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to do something else that I am really good at instead? Wouldn’t I be benefiting the business by working on something where my skills and talents can be properly utilized?
Probably, yes. But I have been assigned to the task and I have to complete it. Which is why I am going to suck it up and do a damn good job at this task that I hate, even though I don’t want to.
So to all the Millennials out there, do you think paying your dues sucks too?
Nice post! I think paying dues is excruciating for every generation! LOL - I completely agree that we should be tasked with things that we enjoy, are great at doing, and find challenging. Makes me wonder why we can't just get rid of the task instead. - I enjoy reading your blog!
Well... paying your dues can me different things.
Sometimes 'paying dues' is seen as some sort of hazing, where employees are made to do something undesirable simply because that's how you treat new, less experienced employees. If this is the case, then the employer should change the practice.
Other times, paying dues is simply showing that you can be trusted. Show that you can excel at a lower level task and you will be given more responsibility.
Reality is usually somewhere in between. Younger employees get stuck with the unexciting grunt work that no one else wants to do, and it's not necessarily intended as a character building experience. It's just something that needs to get done and you're lowest on the totem pole.
My suggestion is to find a novel way to eliminate the task or reduce the amount of time required. This will both help with the boring task you have been given, and show that you can think outside the box to come up with solutions.
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@Kahnrad I wish we could eliminate the task, but it is actually an important aspect of the business. Thanks for stopping by!
@Scott That's a great idea, thanks for the advice!
Let me offer one Boomer's perspective. "Paying one's dues" sounds to me that one needs to have a certain amount of seniority before being considered a qualified asset to the organization. If you're in an organization that subscribes to this outdated culture, I would suggest that you are most likely not with the right organization for you.
Employees should be valued as assets, and should be given the opportunity to shine. If you are assigned a task that you consider mundane, I would suggest that you go ahead and do it the first time, thinking how the task might more economically be completed in the long term. Then, if the task is assigned to you the second time, ask permission to run your experiment, and see what happens.
It's also OK to ask your supervisor his advice on how to best complete the task. You will also need to find a way to "cut through" and preconceived notions your older team members might be holding with regards to your generation, and check your own objectivity concerning notions you may have about their generations.
Success and happiness in life is about the quality of relationships, both in and out of the workplace. Building relationship currency is important, and is often synergistic to the mission of the organization as well as valuable to You, Inc.
If you have difficulty building relationship currency, do some outside work getting to know yourself better. "Emotional Intelligence", the book, is a good place to start.
There will always been a 'paying your dues' in some form, regardless of generation. And I highly doubt that anyone enjoys those certain tasks. But work is work, and if it needs to get done, someone has to do it.
I worked for a long time in a department that had a lot of 'mundane' tasks, none of which I really enjoyed doing. However, my boss would purposely hire people he thought were bright, in hopes that they would be bored with the tasks and figure out a new, quicker, potentially automated way of doing them. He said to me once, "if all I wanted was someone to do data entry, I'd hire someone do to data entry. But I didn't. I hired you to figure out how NOT to need it entered at all."
Blake - I love the fact that you question mundane, boring tasks. And I like the advice you've been given here to eliminate or find more efficient ways of doing the task. Let's say the task is necessary though. Put yourself in your manager's shoes. Soon you will feel the logistical nightmare of trying to get stuff accomplished that no one wants to do. Sometimes stuff has just gotta get done.
I can't remember what book or article I copped this quote from, but it's helped me to get through some bullcrap type tasks in the past:
"He puts up with a lot of bureaucrap, but he says that avoiding crap shouldn't be the objective in finding the right work. The right question is, how can I find something that moves my heart, so that the inevitable crap storm is bearable?"
Great article, Blake!
My mood as far as 'paying my dues' at work has changed drastically over the past year or so. As the jobs started to dry up, I found I suddenly didn't mind helping cover the receptionist's desk in the early hours of the day. Doing administrative work that I had previously thought to be below my skill set became another way I showed I wanted to be at this company.
In the end, the junk work they have me do has led me to not only know the company ins and outs A LOT better, but it's helped me to know our audience better since I now talk to more of our members on a daily basis. It's also made me a more valuable and (for now) necessary part of the team, and a little job security goes a long way in my opinion!
I believe that you should be doing what you were hired to do. If this task falls under the general realm of your job description, then yes, you should do it.
However, I have a problem with inflated job descriptions or titles. If I am going to a be a secretary or an office assistant, don't make the job title "communications specialist", etc. I think this is where the conflict often arises...Millennials expectations of their job is often misaligned with what hiring managers or bosses have in mind.
However, the reality is there are almost always going to be tasks NO ONE wants to do...if you are a newer employee you will sometimes have to work through the less desirable ones. As long as its not an every day occurrence, I think this is completely acceptable.
At my job, there are tasks that you do in the lab that may be tedious, but they help you to understand the process and the rest of the project. It's the first step...and once you learn how this process works, you will be able to contribute new ideas, since you have a better understanding of what's going on.
First off, let's not forget that in most jobs there are tasks one has to do which are not fun/interesting/core strengths. It's part of the nature of getting things accomplished. Look at the rest of your life if you want to see what I mean. Look at relationships, friendships, family, and what you do for fun outside work. There are always things that pop up which we do not enjoy. Some of these things have to be done on a regular basis.
As others have pointed out - if most of your job does not suit your strengths, then it's not the best fit. If it's part of your job then do it. Someone has to, and it if you're the most appropriate person to get it done then shrugging it off would speak worlds about you in a negative way.
"However, I have a problem with inflated job descriptions or titles. If I am going to a be a secretary or an office assistant, don't make the job title "communications specialist", etc. I think this is where the conflict often arises...Millennials expectations of their job is often misaligned with what hiring managers or bosses have in mind."
@Cassie-great point!
I am all about respecting the need to pay dues when you are on the lower end of the line. My common problem (and constant problem at my current job) is the lack of respect that comes with the dues. Usually, I get assigned something that I don't want to do - and more interestingly- that my boss cannot do - and I don't get thanked OR appreciated for it.
I think its really important that positive attitude plays a role, because it is usually the thing that keeps you going when you encounter things like this.
Great post!
I think there's another question worth asking: Who else's time would be better used by completing this task?
It's not just who's good at something. It's how do you get the most value out of each employee. This is why CEOs rarely address their own envelopes or do their own filing. Are they capable of completing these tasks? I certainly hope so. But their time is better spent in other ways.
Part of why new employees get uninteresting tasks is because other people have already demonstrated that they can provide more value in other ways. "Paying your dues" is one of the ways that you show that you'll also be able to provide more value in other ways. But in the meantime, those tasks still need to be done.
I find it's fun to make the mundane tasks interesting and set mini-goals in finishing larger tasks that happen to be boring. For example, "I'll take a coffee break when I complete 50 -fill in your boring task here-." It gives you at the very least something to look forward to while completing the tasks. I've also found (in a variety of different jobs) that the more successful I've been at the mundane tasks, the more my superiors gave me the opportunity to take on more responsibilities. I agree with others that have said it shows you don't mind doing the grunt work and are dedicated to doing what needs to be done in order to benefit the business. Just remain positive!
WOW! Thank you everyone for the amazing comments and advice on this post!
@Cassie It doesn't fall directly under my job description, but it is a task that falls to a member on my team. A lot of my other team members have done the job already, which is why it is my turn now.
@Beth They definitely appreciate what I do, but that doesn't mean the task sucks any less!
@Kate I think that is the best advice of all of the commenters!
Here's why "paying your dues" is important and won't be going away anytime soon.
You arrive at company with your shiny new degree. Great, but what can you do immediately, when you don't know the details of the business, its place in the market, who their competitors, how they all operate or who is important in the industry and why. You learn, and that's what "paying your dues" is all about.
Mentors are critical, because 95% of all information in a company is NOT written down anywhere, and blundering about attempting to learn by yourself can get pretty expensive. Far better to have someone you trust who can fill you in.
Have you ever noticed that when the news media covers a hurricane it is always the newbie out there getting buffeted by the wind and rain and not the front line anchors? This is the journalistic version of paying your dues.
As someone who helps others work and play well with others, I get a little worried when baby boomer bosses tell Millennials, "you have to pay your dues". Here is why. In many organization, "paying your dues" is code for putting in a certain amount of time in a position before being considered for a promotion. And unfortunately, putting in time without a thought about development is the operative practice. What's missing is transforming "paying your dues" to a period of learning specific competencies that help the person become a fully contributing member of an organization and ready for the next step in responsibility. Sometimes learning those competencies can involve doing boring tasks, but the key is building competencies not just putting in time.
I think your mom is right. We all need to suck it up. Nobody likes to pay their dues. But put yourself in the other person's shoes. If you have been at the company 10 years and you are working with a newbie and one of these tasks come up, would you say, "Oh newbie, I know this bores you. Why don't I do this crappy task for you so you can do something more enjoyable and fulfilling?" No, you probably would think, "I did my time doing the crappy task, it's your turn."
@Suzanne, you're so right on this. I remember in my first job, which I held (with one promotion) for several years, I was always given one particular part of a project. It was, frankly, the most boring and least appreciated part of the project, but it was necessary (and a huge task for one person). Fairly soon, I was the only person in our department who had familiarity with all of the processes for that assignment.
And then I went on vacation mid-project. I gave my supervisor six months warning and reminded him that I hadn't taken more than a long weekend in two years, and pointed out that we could find a way to cover those two weeks with the amount of time we had to prepare.
A newer employee oversaw the project while I was gone. And when I got back, she said, "Wow, that was really boring."
At which point I looked at her and said, "When you've done it for five years, you can complain to me about it. Not after two weeks."
And this was after I'd demonstrated that I could successfully (and profitably) handle other projects--which is one of the many reasons I don't work there any more.
Don't pay your dues indefinitely. But you do have to pay them, and that process takes longer than you're going to want it to. If you feel that the time has come (and that time is at least a year in many jobs, so that you see the patterns at least once), ask what you need to achieve to progress. Don't act like you deserve it--find out what you need to contribute, and do that. If it doesn't help you in this job, it will in the next.
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