What to do - workload problem

AliceBanned

pinpin wrote: »

I know it can be annoying, but It's probably best to just 'let it be' and not worry about other peoples work.

I once had a job where a colleague of mine (who I liked so would never have thought to try to expose them) could get all of their work done for teh day within about 1.5 hrs.
They were 'done' each day by morning coffee time and would just surf the net or sleep until home time!! lol
Rather good pay too!
Meanwhile, I was snowed under non-stop until 5pm!

The main reason I think, is that the company was new and management really had way too much on their plate to properly look at various peoples roles and get a good idea of exactly what various staff members roles were. Not to mention that they were just badly organised in general. So this guy just got lucky being assigned his particular job which I guess the bosses thought would take a hell of a lot longer!

It would be a different matter if the just had no time to look at it properly. I don't think that's the case here. I do think it could be classed as constructive dismissal, because if I feel I am so demoralised and demeaned that I leave, because a colleague (and others too) get treated so differently, then really that is a legal issue I think. I have no one else to support me and no other job to go to so obviously this is a serious situation.

asajj

Hopefully it will be sorted out for you soon

AliceBanned

asajj wrote: »

Hopefully it will be sorted out for you soon

Thanks asajj. In the meantime I am applying for jobs but the ones I am interested in seem mostly to be fixed term contracts. I feel so desperate to 'escape' and feel trapped but I don't want to make the wrong decision.

Maybe I just can't cope with working life any more.

asajj

Well I'm a person who makes decisions hastily and sometimes I regret afterwards! So I believe it is important to try to keep calm

Perhaps put yourself a limit of let's say 6 months or a year, look for jobs and save money - perhaps you can take a break

Meanwhile, I'd search for mindfulness and how you can reduce this to reduce the effects of stress

PlutoinCapricorn

Perhaps finding another job is your best option.

FBaby

I got it that you don't like reading what you don't want to hear, but having been in a similar position, I would say that you need to be very careful. What got me from your posts is that you say that she herself claims that she is very busy. So clearly it seems to come down to a matter of opinion and yours is that she is doing a lot less. Are you actually able to demonstrate this in a better way that comparing 7 vs 14 projects. Because it is obvious that these numbers alone don't mean anything if one project is much more demanding than another. One project to manage could be the equivalent of 5 smaller ones.

Also, one factor that needs to be considered is that people work at different paces. Some people are just extremely effective, but can be so quietly so it is easy to assume that they don't do as much work. It is just the way their brain works, they can process a lot of information in a lot less time than the average, meaning they can produce outcomes much quicker.

What I find concerning in your last posts is that your boss is clearly not doing anything. It could be as you say that he doesn't dare confronting for whatever reasons, but it could also be because he actually doesn't agree with you (and your other colleagues) because he has a better grasp of what she does and what she produces than you do. If this is the case, the more you moan about her, the more it is going to go against you.

In the end, you've raised your concerns, he knows them, so if he choses to do nothing about it, you will have to either take it either, but be confident that you can evidence lower outcome/productivity, or look for another job and keep faith that something will come up. Of course, you can also chose to totally ignore her. After all, you have three more colleagues in the same boat than you and if she is a slaker, time will come that she will be the one left behind.

AliceBanned

asajj wrote: »

Well I'm a person who makes decisions hastily and sometimes I regret afterwards! So I believe it is important to try to keep calm

Perhaps put yourself a limit of let's say 6 months or a year, look for jobs and save money - perhaps you can take a break

Meanwhile, I'd search for mindfulness and how you can reduce this to reduce the effects of stress

Thanks. I've been there 7 years so long enough! But I do feel like making a hasty decision now and you are right to warn me about it. I just get so wound up by this situation - not the slacking itself - but the manager's attitude which is to always be spineless and not face things. I'm not the only one who sees it. True I need to do some de-stressing too.


I have booked a lot of my leave for the year already..not going away but just to know it is there coming up, and more work can't be thrown in on those days.

AliceBanned

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Perhaps finding another job is your best option.

I've sent one application to an agency for a particular job, and waiting to hear.


Also in the middle of an application now but it is a six month contract - ideal job but not certain about it because it is short term.


I'm doing jobsearches a lot at weekends and evenings - quite upsetting in some ways as I sometimes think I can't get anything or I don't want any of them. But I am trying to face it all and do searches and applications.

AliceBanned

FBaby wrote: »

I got it that you don't like reading what you don't want to hear, but having been in a similar position, I would say that you need to be very careful. What got me from your posts is that you say that she herself claims that she is very busy. So clearly it seems to come down to a matter of opinion and yours is that she is doing a lot less. Are you actually able to demonstrate this in a better way that comparing 7 vs 14 projects. Because it is obvious that these numbers alone don't mean anything if one project is much more demanding than another. One project to manage could be the equivalent of 5 smaller ones.

Also, one factor that needs to be considered is that people work at different paces. Some people are just extremely effective, but can be so quietly so it is easy to assume that they don't do as much work. It is just the way their brain works, they can process a lot of information in a lot less time than the average, meaning they can produce outcomes much quicker.

What I find concerning in your last posts is that your boss is clearly not doing anything. It could be as you say that he doesn't dare confronting for whatever reasons, but it could also be because he actually doesn't agree with you (and your other colleagues) because he has a better grasp of what she does and what she produces than you do. If this is the case, the more you moan about her, the more it is going to go against you.

In the end, you've raised your concerns, he knows them, so if he choses to do nothing about it, you will have to either take it either, but be confident that you can evidence lower outcome/productivity, or look for another job and keep faith that something will come up. Of course, you can also chose to totally ignore her. After all, you have three more colleagues in the same boat than you and if she is a slaker, time will come that she will be the one left behind.

Believe me, it dawned on the three of us slowly but it is crystal clear and yes it could be proven. We have a certain number of projects and the work that spins off from those - she has much fewer, smaller projects so there is no way she could have too much work.


I appreciate your warning and I do need to calm down and think clearly.


The reason I don't trust my manager on this is it is (annoyingly) an almost carbon copy of a previous situation, only with that one they ended up having to put her through a disciplinary process, because external people and other people high up could clearly spot that she was a problem/her work was poor quality. That was slightly different though as she didn't have the charm of this one, and this one is shirking by volume, so only our team and manager know unless it is pointed out, though it is on record as part of the department schedule. Looking at Outlook diaries it is patently obvious - hers is almost empty and the three of us are up to our ears.


Not sure how to approach but an anger management approach would suggest speaking from the heart and saying it is disappointing/demoralising so I may just do this. I won't be happy if they fluff around the issue, as this is what happened with the previous person.


What also upsets me a lot is the dishonesty towards the organisation. I know I am biased as I am annoyed by doing more, or her slacking, but also if I were a manager I would do it by the book. My manager and director seem to conspire not to, and not care about the repercussions on the team and therefore the organisation. It feels like there is nowhere to turn as I can't trust my own line manager to actually do his job and support the organisation. It is upsetting for me - the weakness and the incompetence, especially as it nearly got them in trouble last time. It seems there is no accountability, and who wants to work for an organisation like that?!!


Yes I can choose to ignore her, and did for a while, but she got really cheeky and started asking us to do things as she was too 'busy' and we knew it couldn't possibly be true. All our work is on email and in Word documents and Outlook diaries, so if it went further no, it would be no problem at all to prove something is amiss.


My other colleague spoke to the manager about it in her 1-1 today and he made pathetic excuses about her being new, despite one who came in after her also does twice the volume she does. It is his refusal to see or acknowledge the truth that is a) insulting and b) annoying and unfair that winds m up the most, but on top of that to try and get me to believe his crap responses - adds further insult to injury.

AliceBanned

PS with the previous one who was a problem, she went off sick for a year after they started the disciplinary, then was texting me saying 'I hope you are not having to do my work'. Errr yes we did have to.


We had previously warned the manager about her, tactfully and being fair on her and giving her the benefit of the doubt, but she was upsetting a lot of people and she was writing a screenplay all day at work at one point and proud of this. He did nothing!!! Until..someone 'important' had a problem with her. Oh yes, never mind us, but someone more senior? It went straight to a disciplinary process and she was being pushed out. Eventually she resigned, after a year of trying to argue that they were bullying her. They probably were by this point, as they don't follow procedure at all. They pay lip service to it, ignore it unless pushed into a corner.


If HR had seen alarm bells ringing about this manager, we wouldn't be here a second time with something more insidious. The reason we are so annoyed (two of us having lived through it the first time) is his complete ignorance of reality or willingness to listen to us; he only seems to listen to random people, senior people, or popular people.