Difficulty with a co-worker

Nightflier101BL

I'd like to share something that I'm dealing with at work and was wondering about ways that I could handle it.

So, this co-worker was hired on the same day as myself and has been working alongside me on most tasks and projects. When I came in I already had some experience and a few certs. This is my co-worker's first job in IT.

The problem is that now I'm starting to notice that he lacks skills in just about every area of the job, including soft skills. While I understand that this is first IT job and he has no certs, he does not have any initiative to read or learn. I've spoken to him at length about certifying, reading, labbing, practicing, but he just makes comments like "I can't stand reading", "I just want to go home and watch TV", "Man, you study too much". This is becoming an issue for me because he is attached to me like glue. Literally, everytime I turn around, he's there. He is becoming more and more reliant on me to solve the problems and explain things that he's not understanding from our superiors, either because he doesn't get it or he's not paying attention. When others, including myself, try to explain something or show how to do something, he'll continually interrupt with his on thoughts, which are rarely even related to topic at hand. For example, we've had some more complicated projects that are ongoing and he seems to be fine when I'm working beside him, but if I get pulled off to something else, he'll just stop completely and sit and wait for me. I've talked to him today about this and said that we need to be able to work independently because we're so busy, but he continued. He's extremely pre-occupied with the things that I'm working on and will completely stop anything he's doing to come over and watch me. I know he's probably interested but he's not receptive to learning about it when I try to explain it while I'm working. More interrupting with unrelated topics and laughs when he thinks it's too much of big deal.

The other issues are related to laziness and inattentiveness. For example, when he and I are patching cables or labeling things, he is careless and misspells names and locations, he'll rip old cabling out of racks without looking, throw new servers in racks without making sure the rails are correctly spaced. Leaves cables hanging out of the racks and doesn't care about making anything neat - just throw it in there and go. Pulls things out of my hand without warning me. I've tried correcting him on this but he just smirks or laughs.

I was sort of hoping that these problems would become apparent to my superior but it doesn't seem that way. Most of the time, I'm going behind this co-worker and fixing the issues so it doesn't look bad on me. I don't want to start leaving the issues and be that guy that says "It wasn't me, he did that." I don't like being vocal unless it's absolutely necessary. In our case, however, our actual boss is in another state and our lead is very busy with things of his own. I just don't think it would be appropriate at this time to get him involved with something like this. I'd like to handle this on my own if I could and just looking for advice.

Has anyone dealt with a situation like this before? Should I have a heart to heart with him and risk him getting mad? I feel like I'm this co-worker's boss because I always have to tell him what to do, where to go, what to watch for, what tools to use. I have no issue training somebody or teaching ways to do the job but he does not listen - not even a little bit. But then he's the first to say he deserver more money because his buddy down the street makes more. I just don't want to get the heat for something he's going to inevitably goof up.

Sorry for rambling. There's more but I don't want to make this too long.

varelg

In short, you are now forced to babysit your new co-worker. It's not an unfamiliar situation. There may also be some politics at play, like you are hired for your skills but this new person got hired through politics (new hire is a good friend with somebody, there's some kind of trade involved between third parties where part of their deal is to hire this new person to "work" with you).
You can almost count that the moment of truth will come when you'll have to spill your beans. To whom you'll (or should) spill, that is a good question.

UnixGuy

The guy obviously doesn't care, and he is not your responsibility. Just start working without him, if he stops working and wait for you, well too bad for him!

Nightflier101BL

I guess part of me wants to help the guy see things differently. Lately, things have been hectic at work and I can see it in his face that he's struggling. He's been looking like someone punched him the guts.

I do get along with him otherwise and enjoy talking to him about anything else, besides work-related things. I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings either.

I think I need to make a better effort trying to separate myself from him. I few times, I've seen him talking to someone else about something that needs to be done and I try to avoid the whole deal. 10 minutes later, here he comes and says "We need go take care of..." assuming that I was part of the conversation.

iBrokeIT

Time to cut the umbilical cord! You can't continue help someone that doesn't have an interest in their own long term success.

Get a pair of headphones and start referring him to your boss or team lead so someone else can feel your pain.

scaredoftests

Who in the heck hired him? Yes, cut the cord. It isn't fair to you.

EnderWiggin

I'm always willing to help teach someone how to be better at their job, but they have to be willing to learn. If he's not willing to put forth any effort, then that's his problem.

cyberguypr

You are not responsible for this person. Your manager is.

I will gladly stop what I'm doing to help out someone hungry and willing to learn. I will dedicate the minimum required time to show a lazy coworker how to do a task. I will dedicate ZERO time to an unmotivated slacker like the one you described.

thomas_

One of the things I hate with a passion is rework. If I noticed he was doing something wrong such as misaligning server rails in a rack, I would point it out to him. If it was the first time I would explain why it was important to make sure they were aligned correctly and show him how to make sure the server rails are aligned properly. I would then tell him it was his mistake, so he has to fix it. If he refused to correct it, then I would go to my supervisor and tell my supervisor. At that point I've tried to resolve it at the lowest level with training and instruction. Him refusing to correct it would then detract from me being able to do my work in a timely fashion.

If the same issue occurred a second time, I would point out the issue and tell him to correct it. I wouldn't do all of the explaining again because I did that the first time. Again if he refused to correct it, I would notify my supervisor. Same things go for cables or anything else he messes up. If he tried to smirk and laugh it off, I would tell him that him not knowing how to do his job properly isn't a laughing matter. The last part is to primarily create an uneasy tension in the air between me and him and then not let the tension go, so he knows I'm serious about it.

If he followed me around, I would start giving him tasks to do. If he continued to follow me around, then I would tell him I was serious about him having to go do those other tasks. I'm not going to sit there and work while another guy is just watching me when there is something that the other person can be doing. If he continues to do it, I would take it up with my manager because at that point I've attempted to provide guidance and direction, but he is refusing to take it.

This situation is kind of similar to the post where the guy/gal was having his supervisors abuse his off time with password resets and other work. If you let him get away with messing up and not doing things correctly, by fixing his errors then he is going to continue to do it.

twodogs62

I ran into similar issue, many years ago.
what resulted was a simple excel spreadsheet where user problems were tracked and then assigned a person.
this helped with accountability and spreading the work load.
do you have anything like this?
how do you document work completed? Projects? User reported issues? How issues resolved? Knowledge base.
come up with a way so you don't look like complainer.
is this small shop or large shop?

aschenbecher

I wish i was working with you, I want to learn about servers soo much , but i cant get a job or anyone to mentor me.
If i was in this guys position, i would be working really hard and learning from you and reading and working on get my certs. Why do people who dont care always get the jobs like this ?

yellowpad

I have somewhat similar situation. ...but that other person has stronger BS, ass-kissing, and politic than I do. I work hard...get my stuffs caught and help other teams. A number of times when I asked to help out, I heard from the management that I have nothing to do. For me...less BS, less talk. ..and more work.

I spilled the bean to management on my frustration and looking for help and I got a middle finger instead. Blah Blah just to blow me off....and implying my certs and most certs are piles of **** and isn't worth more than a box of morning donuts. "Anywho, I know my company is really proud of me and management really take cares of motivated employees. (Roll eyes)" I am looking for another opportunity shortly.....for a company that really cares.

The moral of the story, think twice before you speak to management.....politic may plays a huge role like me and as someone mentioned above. It may not benefit you.

Nightflier101BL

twodogs62 wrote: »

I ran into similar issue, many years ago.
what resulted was a simple excel spreadsheet where user problems were tracked and then assigned a person.
this helped with accountability and spreading the work load.
do you have anything like this?
how do you document work completed? Projects? User reported issues? How issues resolved? Knowledge base.
come up with a way so you don't look like complainer.
is this small shop or large shop?

Where I work is a smaller shop/division of a Fortune 500 company. We have a help desk system but doesn't get used much except for more specific issues that come in. We do have KBs which I've contributed to tremendously, network diagrams, etc. Our group is mainly project oriented with most of my work in the form of upgrades, new equipment, improvements for a large datacenter. We don't "officially" track anything besides emails and documentation/diagrams.

Today was a little bit better. I made an effort to avoid his questions and at times, directed him to our lead to ask. This way, he's forced to interact more with him and maybe things will be recognized.

iBrokeIT

Nightflier101BL wrote: »

Today was a little bit better. I made an effort to avoid his questions and at times, directed him to our lead to ask. This way, he's forced to interact more with him and maybe things will be recognized.

Sounds like progress. Your boss and lead aren't going to see a problem because the work is getting done.

You need to training him to think for himself by challenging him with questions like: what troubleshooting steps have tried? what is your recommendation? have you checked the kb and looked for the answer online? You dont know? Ok, research it by looking through X documentation and get back to me.

Stop giving him answers and solutions, instead give him resources to figure it out himself. Eventually it'll be easier to figure it out himself or ask someone else since you are no longer the quick and easy fix to his problems!

E Double U

@ Nightflier101BL - You have some good karma coming your way.

scaredoftests

That is a great idea. That way, your lead will have an inkling!

YesOffense

Good stuff, but this sounds like things your lead should be noticing and addressing. Is he just disconnected?

Nightflier101BL

YesOffense wrote: »

Good stuff, but this sounds like things your lead should be noticing and addressing. Is he just disconnected?

Well, our environment is unique and everyone is very busy, in their own projects most of the time. Everyone kind of does their own thing and comes together at meetings. It's highly likely that the lead does not notice anything. I really wouldn't want to say anything during the meetings that would single him out. Maybe I can just suggest that we work more on our own. Things have gotten busier the last couple of days, so things are okay right now. Hopefully, he can get used to working on his own during this time.

CyberSecurity

I would personally play a game with him. Before he requires your help with something or your explanation on something, ask him a question that he would have to research a little to figure out that he may not know, sort of like on the job training. "What port is FTP?" When he answers it correctly then help him out (Help him help himself). With automation coming to light the more you know the harder it could be to replace you with a robot.

the_Grinch

I'll start this by saying I have no issues voicing my opinion at work. I actually had the same type of situation, though I have been here longer. The person was hired to help me with the work that I do. I wasn't involved in the interviewing or hiring so I had to accept what I was given. I sat with the guy for a week and showed him all of the tools we used along with the duties we had. Based on his interaction I knew either he didn't care or he was completely out of his element. There was never a response to what he was being told. I would literally ask if he had any questions because nothing was written down and he literally just sort of stared ahead. I would finish up and he'd go to his desk. I would never get an correspondence from him and never get any type of question about things he should have had questions on.

Eventually I assigned him a number of task to be in charge of. If something didn't get done and I was asked why I'd simply say that was assigned to this person. I will say I would take the heat for it, but direct supervisors would know who it was. I eventually cut him out and let my boss know he wasn't doing what was assigned thus I would just do it. It's managements job to make sure that each worker is doing what they are suppose to. After a few months they transferred him to a unit where more tracking of work was possible and where there was more structure for tasks.

Thus you should do the following:

1. Assign him tasks
2. Don't assist
3. When things blow up keep management in the loop and fix the issues

Eventually they'll reassign him or get rid of him.

nascar_paul

I think that you're being taken advantage of, and unfortunately, you can't depend of someone that is attempting to take advantage of you to act fairly or responsibly. If they were capable of (or interested in) doing so, they wouldn't be trying to take advantage of you.

So create distance between yourself and that person. Act helpfully and professionally, but make sure that you don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are friends. If you were friends he would make an effort to learn and not burden you with extra work. No, you're a resource and I'll bet that as soon as it becomes apparent that you're not interested in doing any more of his work, your "friendship" will disappear. This probably won't be the last time that you see this either. Just know that it's an unpleasant but un-avoidable component of work life like traffic and take care of it like any other business!