Colleague goes over and above. How to deal with it?

[Amoregelato]

I work in an environment which is very stressful and there are not enough hours of the working day to get everything that needs doing done. It is relentless and really hard work. It is not well paid for the workload and responsibility.

We have a team of nine who are all lovely people. Two of those nine always go above and beyond in their work. They work late at night sending emails and doing admin tasks. They arrive early and they leave late. The issue is that they make the rest of us look bad and it looks like the job is manageable when it really isn't. They are both aware of what they do and when we have meetings they always say they'll stop working at night but ultimately they carry on.

How would you deal with this?

I wouldn't do anything. So long as you are not getting into trouble for working normal hours and getting through a reasonable load in those hours, just keep doing what you are doing. They are in the minority and you could easily argue that to do what they do, they work late every day which suggests the workload is unmanageable.

My boss is like those two people. I love her dearly - I really do - but she works an 80 hour week and just blinks at people who complain at being expected to do 45 hours when they are only paid for 40. I've learned never to whinge about unpaid hours to her, but equally, I won't get sucked into too many of her unpaid extras.

This. What's it to you

I would be less concerned that they were making me 'look bad' and more concerned that they were hurtling towards burnout and breakdown.

In a team you will always have some that will go above and beyond, some who may slack in some areas but excel in others.
some that work very hard but not, rightly so, be staying extra hours regularly and often some that do as little as possible

don’t worry any experiences manager is aware of this and you are working hard. They are not making anyone look bad they are showing they go above and beyond

It's not showboating to work hard. It's just working hard. You do you and let others make their own choices on whether they do bare minimum, go above and beyond or somewhere in between.

Agree some people take pride in their work and like to achieve and there's nothing wrong with that. This is normal life!

It's what teaching is, especially in the first week back.

I can argue the toss about lack of time (and I do), but if I don't have any lessons planned or seating plans made or lack stationery or haven't looked at SEND information before I meet my classes today then it's me who ends up with further stress. Try being in a room with 30 teenagers, most of whom find your subject hard anyway, and not knowing what you do with them for an hour, knowing you will face them, their parents and the stress you put your colleagues under if your classroom ends up in chaos as a result.

Training days are full-on and I have subject responsibility and as a result cannot actually prepare my lessons until the day officially ends.

Edited to say to the OP that in education, it's not about looking better than your colleagues. Everyone has a different way of surviving the workload and I can guarantee that even some of those who go home early still log on in the evenings.

it looks like the job is manageable when it really isn't

This is the only serious issue. I really hate how much work is being heaped on cheap staff. So much stress and responsibility for so little pay, and relying on employees goodwill. Trying to leave...

Schools are like this. You have to find a way to do the job that works for you and don’t worry about what other people are doing.

Work the hour's you're paid for, when people start working for free it can become an expectation from management and in a lot of cases how a job gets done is irrelevant to them as long as it gets done.
Op don't go down the road of working for free you have a life outside work.

We're well past working to rule in education. The issue isn't the quality of the work; most of the time it's the sheer volume. Say the OP has a pastoral role - if they have 20 parental calls to make in a day, those 20 need to get done (and often they have little control over how long they take) if the policy says parents need to be phoned back within 24h. Then the OP has 15 forms to fill in, 25 students to find and talk to and so on. It gets overwhelming very quickly, but if she doesn't do all of them (because she works to rule) then it causes her and other staff more issues over time.

And since there still isn't enough money in education, her employer cannot just hire more staff. It's why people on here time and time point out that too much is expected of schools, and it still increases year on year.

Apologies I didn't see that it was in education,I was thinking more along lines of private sector.
That's not right having all that heaped upon staff ,no wonder people pack in being a teacher.

I wouldn’t deal with it. I wouldn’t care. I’d just assume they really want a promotion in the future.

It is not your concern what others do. Sounds like you are competing with them and want to look good without working like them.

Petty and immature.

Why do you have to "deal" with it?

You do you and let others do what they want /need to do
Leave it to management to sort out

Ah yes also guessed education.

I need to change sector.

It’s not “normal life” to be working past midnight. Sure, it’s been normalised, but that doesn’t mean it’s a positive thing. You can take pride in your work within allotted hours - prioritising downtime and balance does not automatically = no pride in work.

If you work in a team you've just got to develop your own style that justifies your time and salary and try not to care about what other workers are doing. Any good manager will know strengths and weaknesses, working style and capacity and willingness . They shod also know where its not healthy ways of working and seek to manage it.

Some people just enjoy work. Before, I became disabled, my hours were 9-5 but I loved it so much, I normally went a few hours over. It wasn't because I was getting ahead but because I felt passionate about the job.

I dont think you can police how many hours someone works, there are many industries were there isn't enough hours in the day and whether you choose to lighten your workload in your own time is up to you.

My ex was a postman for a while and we had a young baby. He was an absolute grafter and would finish his round (which changed constantly, never allocated a specific round) in super quick time so he could get home and collect the baby from my mums and spend the rest of the day with him. His workmates used to say he made them look bad.

Not education here, but I do work in a team where there are people who work late at night. We see the time on their email responses etc.

If it makes you feel any better, the management tell them not to, and it's not expected of any of us, but we can't stop them.

Some people are more focused and productive later on, but are contracted to work certain hours. So they work later as well because it suits them. Just gotta leave them to it.

And if the environment you're in isn't suited to you, definitely look for a move.

Look for another job, which you may already be doing. Express concern privately to your manager that those working ridiculous hours may end up being ill, and the consequences for the rest of the team.

The only thing you can do is to be self defensive, don't try and keep up with them and focus on doing your job well as far as you can in the time you're paid for.

My job is bad for this - I'll get "don't work extra hours" from my manager. Then I get "why hasn't x been done". Then I say I could do it in the time allowed, as I'm not supposed to work extra hours. So I get told I should manage my time better! I just shrug my shoulders. One of my colleagues literally breaks himself in getting all the work done in his spare time. What does he get? Told he also needs to manage his time better, and more work piled on 🤷🏽‍♀️

This.

The only way they’re making you look bad, OP, is if your work is crap.