Illogical job drift: AC or HK at SDU?

Jobs that match the qualifications of capable HK members: Administrative tasks in the broadest sense, finance, accountancy, coordination, project management, management support…

We have the right skills for solving those work tasks and we take professional pride in the many tasks we are qualified to do; nevertheless, we are seeing a trend at SDU towards hiring candidates with master’s degrees for administrative positions, even though their master’s degree may be in religion or marine biology. 

Why are these candidates considered to be more competent than us HK members, who are actually trained in and dedicated to administrative tasks – and who previously carried out the AC-converted role to the letter? It is detrimental to the job satisfaction of HK staff members when we are passed over, even though we bring a high level of professional expertise to the table.

Professionally perplexed by the trend

Within HK, we are professionally perplexed by the trend to prefer AC candidates, if this means we are no longer looking for the right skills for the right tasks. The situation becomes almost absurd when experienced HK staff are asked to train newly graduated master’s degree holders in specific roles and tasks; only for the AC staff member to move on shortly afterwards because they find new challenges that better match their actual professional skillset. Who could blame them for that?

Why not stick to the principle that at SDU we recruit the right staff with the right skills for the right roles? This seems more logical and less expensive. Let staff work on the types of tasks they are trained to solve and which they find motivating to work with.

HK’s appeal to the rest of SDU

This is our appeal to the rest of SDU, and perhaps above all to our management, that we need to revisit some useful principles regarding how we organise our shared workplace. For example, at an educational institution such as SDU, we should focus on the fact that education is about professional expertise, and that professional expertise means finding the best possible solution to specific work tasks.

As members of HK, we must help put a stop to the illogical job drift and reclaim our professional pride. This could be achieved by increasing the involvement of union representatives in recruitment processes at SDU, so that together we can better maintain professional standards and ensure that the right skills are matched to the right jobs.

At the same time, as HK staff we must focus on the targeted development of our skills, so that we are always able to meet the existing and new demands placed on us in our roles. AI is one of the areas we must explore further as we seek to strengthen our professional and administrative profile.

This is not AC-bashing

We hope it is clear that this is not meant to be AC-bashing at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is a question of logical management that shows greater respect for professional expertise, and of generating a positive professional culture and collaboration between AC and HK staff.

All in all, there are many reasons why we need to address the current job drift at SDU, and we must do so together.

On behalf of all HK Kontor union representatives at SDU:

• Michelle Pedersen at NAT/TEK (representing the whole of SDU)
• Lone Mikkelsen in the Central Administration
• Ann Skovly at SAMF
• Helle Hansen Søht at SUND
• Heidi Christensen at HUM
• Maria Guldberg in the campus cities
• Mette Lønne Moltrup Andersen at the Library.