r/careerguidance • u/Claptrap_5Z • 18h ago
Management is cutting my job after I automated 15 hours of weekly work, do I have to document it for them?
When I took this coordinator job, our team was losing fifteen to twenty hours every week just updating client logs and manually formatting spreadsheets.
I built a few simple macros and formula templates that cut all that data entry down to an hour. I thought saving twenty hours a week would free me up for higher-level projects.
instead, my manager called me into a meeting last Friday. She told me that because our administrative workload dropped, they are merging my role with a part-time position and letting me go. To get my severance check, they want me to write step-by-step documentation for every macro I set up.
I literally worked myself out of a salary. I should of just kept doing the data entry by hand like the last person.
Do I ACTUALLY have to document processes I created that were not in my original job description?
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u/Own-Fondant2949 15h ago
Claude, extrapolate the steps in a clear and actionable way. Keep everything technically accurate, but document every conceivable prerequisite, assumption, dependency, edge case, exception, warning, troubleshooting scenario, and validation step. Explain why every step exists and what could go wrong. Do not summarize or simplify. Write it like an enterprise technical manual where legal, engineering, compliance, and three separate audit teams all demanded their own section.