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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU ... this is not my issue ?

85 replies

SheepyLamb2 · 24/05/2021 19:15

I am having serious issues with work and not sure how much longer I can put up with this or AIBU?

I have been in my company for 5 years and generally it's OK . It's a small company of 20 so no HR to go to unfortunately with any problems.

We hired a new person this year who was under performing from day one.
They simply could not seem to get anything right and it did impact me a lot. We began WFH because of covid for 3 months so somethings were brushed under the carpet but it's only gotten worse since full office return inc not completing all tasks, lots and lots of mistakes, high amounts of lateness.

Manager was dealing with this and I thought he would fail probation but no, pass. Now their duties have been stripped and moved within the rest of the projects team and they do the bare minimum.

I still have to work with the person closely and there has almost been a switch in attitude from manager. Now anything new person gets wrong , manager will say it is us. Even the simplest of task . 'We havnt reminded them enough' or 'we need to give more simple instructions'
This can literally be as easy as 'please print this today ' and if person has forgotten I am blamed and told I should have set a reminder for him! I may aswell do this myself.

New person is quite sensitive and he takes things personally. So now anything I say to him is being critised as not sensitive enough and I feel I am being analysed for everything I do . It's putting me on edge and I just want to get on with my job!

E.g I say oh have you printed that item?
This is apparently not sensitive enough and I need to explain further why I am chasing and avoid sounding like I am accusing him of forgetting by chasing the item.. even if he's forgot.

AIBU or is this just impossible to work with?
Admitedly I have shown frustration at times due to difficulty dealing with the constant issues.
Spoke to manager who use to understand but now I am definetely 'the bad one' and anything I say negatively about this person or mention I am struggling is put back on me as being too negative.

It's making me want to leave!

OP posts:
SD1978 · 25/05/2021 00:10

If they have disclosed something to your manager which is made them take a more soft approach, and you are the only one pulling them up, and doing so repeatedly as they are not completing basic tasks- then your choices are either to accept that they are incompetent and protected and ask nothing, or start documenting everything on paper so the blame is appropriately portioned to them and no longer you. If you have no managerial support with your concerns, then sadly it comes down to two options- stop asking and do it yourself, or look for a new job. That doesn't mean either option is fair, but clearly for whatever reason, management doesn't support your stance, so you need to change it, and accept the incompetence, or move on.

StillCoughingandLaughing · 25/05/2021 08:08

@Hardertobreathe

I would start by making sure every request is via email that way, when things haven’t been done, they can’t say you didn’t ask the new person to do them. Sounds very frustrating.
This is very good advice. I would make no verbal requests to this person from now on - everything via email, with your boss CC’d every time. I’d even start the first email with ‘Since there appears to have been some confusion over previous instructions, I want to ensure everyone has a track record to prevent any future misunderstandings’ or similar.

I’m in a similar situation with a colleague who always has a new reason why it’s not her fault that she isn’t doing anything of use. First she wasn’t supported enough during pregnancy; then she claimed she’d been excluded by other team members after maternity leave; then she was suffering with depression... I don’t want to comment on whether the last one is true or not as I’ve been through it myself and know how tough it can be, but unfortunately she’s become the girl who cried wolf in the eyes of many people. But of course, they’re terrified of sacking her.

If you’re lucky, doing everything via email in the simplest terms possible might force your boss to recognise that you’re not the problem. However, in such a small company with no escalation procedures, I’m afraid looking for another job may be the least painful option for you. But as a previous poster said, if you do resign, you can at least down tools for your notice period and let them wallow in their own mess.

Good luck Flowers

billy1966 · 25/05/2021 09:16

Good advice above.

EVERYTHING by email from today.
EVERYTHING.

Tell your boss you are deeply unhappy with his aspersions on YOUR character and from now on EVERYTHING will be via email.

Your boss is bullying you by critiquing you and casting aspersions.

In effect he has completely changed YOUR job discription.

You also need to put in email form when he blames you for her NOT doing something.

Spell it out in email form.

Things look very very different when written down.

Just confirming that you are telling ME Inam responsible for X not doing something that she was asked to do repeatedly.
Spell it out.

You are being too passive here.

Go out sick for a few days with a cold or flu etc., not stress.

Flowers

Look for another job, and then down tools.

Faevern · 25/05/2021 10:46

@SD1978 then your choices are either to accept that they are incompetent and protected and ask nothing, or start documenting everything on paper so the blame is appropriately portioned to them and no longer you.

This is not the way to go, if they have a disability they are not incompetent, so stating this and sending documented evidence that you are blaming them can be disability discrimination in itself. The legislation is to stop exactly this kind of behaviour.

The OP needs to concentrate on her own situation as she is the only one it is affecting, because no one else is being blamed . The manager appears to be bullying the OP rather than deal with the real issue. That is where the paper trail of evidence needs to be, the treatment of the OP by the manager. Sticking to facts, not opinions and hearsay.

LivingLaVidaCovid · 25/05/2021 11:32

Oh and yes to everything by email.

I personally didn't cc big boss every time.
As it angered them (but not enough to performance manage staff)
But i would cc big boss on all Monday status follow up emails (to see the individual in quesiton had sweet FA on) and on all escalation emails (so they could see that despite having 5 hours of basic work max to do all week they still somehow messed it up)

StillCoughingandLaughing · 25/05/2021 11:39

This is not the way to go, if they have a disability they are not incompetent, so stating this and sending documented evidence that you are blaming them can be disability discrimination in itself. The legislation is to stop exactly this kind of behaviour.

The OP sending documented evidence that mistakes are down to her colleague, not her, is not disability discrimination. A disability (IF the colleague has one) may affect their ability to complete certain tasks, but it does not mean the OP is to blame when said tasks are not satisfactorily completed.

HollowTalk · 25/05/2021 11:46

This person has to take responsibility for their own work otherwise what's the point in him being there?

Could you tell him to carry a notebook with him at all times and to write down any instructions you give him and tick them off when he's done them? Maybe he does need to be treated like a new office junior for a while. I know how you must feel, though, but I wouldn't want to leave a job I otherwise liked because of someone like this.

Bluntness100 · 25/05/2021 11:52

Could he have accused you of bullying? I’m afraid that’s the first thing that I thought of. I’m sorry,

Faevern · 25/05/2021 11:57

@StillCoughingandLaughing

I agree and that is what the second half of my post refers to.

However venturing into territory saying the person is incompetent and directing the blame is not the way to go and can very much be construed as discrimination. If anyone is to blame in this scenario it is the manager.

Which is why I mentioned fact, of course those facts will highlight who has not completed the work or made mistakes but the onus should be on the managers treatment of the OP which right now sounds like bullying.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 25/05/2021 12:22

Document everything from day one. Whatever their issues are, they are there to do a job and this shouldn't impact you negatively. If you have been there for more than two years, you could claim constructive dismissal as they have made your job impossible. This person sounds like a toddler that needs to have everything explained to them and constantly chased, and this would drive me nuts.

billy1966 · 25/05/2021 13:18

I wouldn't mention anything disparaging about the colleague.

Stick to the facts of the tasks and their completion.

Keep a note of ANY and every disparaging remark towards you and EVERY example of you being scapegoated by your boss.

SheepyLamb2 · 28/05/2021 07:39

Ok here's a perfect example from yesterday .....
Me: when you set up, can you please put flyer in conference room for customer to read and complete before I join hands flyer
Him : hands flyer back I already put one in there just now for them
Me: oh that's perfect thanks!

In the meeting with customer and cannot see completed flyer .

Take toilet break and ask while customer is out the way did they definetely have flyer I can't see one?
Him : YES I put it in there right before
Me : no probs must be under there folder

End of meeting with customer
Me : can I take your completed flyer?
Customer : what flyer?

Go out and get one for them to complete delaying customer and me looking unprepared. Explain to colleague they said they don't have one . Him swearing he gave one and being confused.

After meeting he comes and says he got mixed up and put it in a pile forgot about it and thought they put it in the room but realised now he didn't.

I literally cannot be arsed with this on daily basis , with everything ?! It just adds so much extra stress having to think, recheck, check again, remind . And if I flag situations just like this to manager now , manager will say I havnt been clear enough or said it the right way but to me these things are so black and white? How can the above be mixed up?

Looking elsewhere for jobs now.

OP posts:
billy1966 · 28/05/2021 10:21

Look for a job and work to rule until you get it.

Note everything.
The above sounds so frustrating and stressful.

Just note everything.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 28/05/2021 10:36

OP I feel your pain. I had just such a colleague. I left! Fortunately my company is big so I spotted a post in another department and moved. I was spending half my time doing this person's job, documenting what they ought to be doing so they knew what to do and mopping up their mistakes, as well as my own job. It was making me I'll and I don't know how I fitted it all in, looking back.

BobbinThreadbare123 · 28/05/2021 10:36

Ill not I'll!

SheepyLamb2 · 28/05/2021 10:45

@billy1966 definetely will be from now.

@BobbinThreadbare123 so glad I am not alone! It's just so frustrating isn't it. This was a huge client and I was trying to win business and colleague is suppose to be my help and support but they can't be trusted Sad then the blame on me on top of this is just AHHHH

so glad you got to move departments wish I could!

OP posts:
BobbinThreadbare123 · 28/05/2021 10:53

It's very frustrating. The same sudden 'shut down' from management happened in my case, and a hidden disability had been disclosed. I bent over backwards to accommodate but it just meant this person saw an opportunity to avoid learning or taking any responsibility, which was not precluded by the disability; just laziness. I had a lot of sympathy at first but I'm afraid to say it ran out.

SheepyLamb2 · 28/05/2021 11:16

@BobbinThreadbare123 wow seems to be a common theme in managers then!

Yes patience definetely than thin after months of this.

I do understand it must be difficult to have a disability but this is impossible Sad although unsure if one is at play here. All signs seem to be leading that way.

OP posts:
billy1966 · 28/05/2021 11:29

OP,
For you to be bullied by your boss for not doing your colleague's work may be grounds for constructive dismissal.

For your boss also to be making your job more difficult is just too much.

Zzelda · 28/05/2021 11:44

Why @billy1966 said. Involve the other directors. Ask for a copy of the grievance procedure and, assuming it exists, use it. And look for another job at the same time.

LookItsMeAgain · 28/05/2021 12:05

I had someone like this join my team some time ago now. I got to the point that I had to have a meeting with my team leader and manager and basically said that either X got redeployed to a different team or I did and I was actively looking for any role in any team in any department and would apply for anything in order to help with my stress levels and mental health.
When the penny dropped and my managers finally realised that the quality of my work was better than X's, and that I was trying to fix the issues that X was creating on top of doing my own job that was the moment that they decided to release X from our team and then HR had to find somewhere else in the company for X to work.

In some respects I often think what would have happened if I was the one to move team and X had stayed?? Ah well...
I am still on the lookout for a different role in a different team though and will move at the first opportunity after the way that whole situation went down. It showed me who the company (i.e. managers) were looking after in the first instance and it took me laying it on the line for them to do anything to help me.

mercuree · 28/05/2021 12:19

Yeah it sounds from your examples like he definitely has something affecting his executive function and working memory.

This must be really difficult.

The company is obliged to make reasonable adjustments to enable this, but that does not include other people who are managing them making reminders for them

Well, it does if there isn't a system in place to facilitate a task list and reminders (which a bigger company would probably have). It is reasonable that all tasks directed to the person are entered into some sort of calendar or to-do list, and the calendar or to-do list reminds him automatically. But for that, OP needs to enter the task, and OP said there was no point bothering to do that? I'm not sure which sector OP works but adding every single task, no matter how small, into the system and assigning those tasks doesn't seem like a foreign concept to me (in engineering). If the manager seems very focused on OPs "negative attitude" and getting quite personal about it, it could be that he is seeing OP as one of the "change is bad" types? Or it could absolutely be bullying, I don't know.

But either way it sounds like the problem is actually between you and your manager's expectations? If your manager is looking for you to manage this person more closely, and you aren't doing it... is there a reason? And how are you communicating this reason to your manager (i.e is it in an effective way based on needs / constraints / business reasons or is it all personal to do with the employee?).

If you want to fix this and try to repair the relationship you could try setting up a meeting with manager about how you could implement a Plan, Do, Check, Act system that you all could follow.

From yesterday's example... you perhaps wouldn't have asked him last minute before the meeting because it would have been a planned task (could he have a standard list of tasks that need to be done the morning of a customer visit?)

Do... employee thought he did, but he didn't. Because all systems must account for human error, where was the check? Act, the flyer wasn't there so where was the action?

But regardless of the things that could have been done to mitigate failure in that exact scenario which may or may not have been cost effective... go to your manager, explain the mistake, and come prepared with corrective action that will prevent that failure ever happening again. New process: customers are handed a flyer and any documentation they need for visit on arrival by reception staff. (Or whoever is greeting them).

Again it could absolutely be that the manager is either incapable himself, scared of putting a foot wrong wrt the Equality Act, or bullying you. But it could equally be that he is looking for you to step up and take a more proactive approach, such as coming armed with solutions along side complaints?

But it's totally your call OP. I have no idea your level or what you get paid, so that's just one suggestion for attempting to fix this but equally I wouldn't blame you for wanting to find a new job if you have lost the motivation to improve things.

SheepyLamb2 · 28/05/2021 12:32

@mercuree when I said I could not be bother to assign every task that is because I have tried this and multiple times it is still wrong. It is exhausting to be honest. And thinking of every single scenario that could go wrong for every single task so they don't make a mistake is near impossible when I HAND AN ITEM to them and they refuse it because they have done said task. Your suggestion is to take task off them and give to reception? This is what has been done with near everything else ? So what are they suppose to do all day?

No , I am not paid high enough for this responsibility. I am not of management level they are colleague but junior to me.

OP posts:
SheepyLamb2 · 28/05/2021 12:34

Sorry but I am at the end of my tether

OP posts:
PaperbackRider · 28/05/2021 12:37

@Moonwatcher1234

I would agree that there may well be a hidden disability such as a learning disability at play here. In which case the manager would not be able to disclose the list info to you and/or some form of reasonable administrative may also be in place. Just something to consider may be a possibility.
This has been said multiple times now, but how does that change anything? This person can't do their job, and is also causing OP huge problems in doing her job. IT's not ok to accomodate an employees issues at the expense of another employee, that's not how it works. And reasonable accomodations does not extend to making everything they do wrong someone elses fault.