My coworker should be fired. Do you agree or disagree?

baseball1988

My coworker and I joined a software company this year. The difference is that she have more of industry experience. Over the past months, it has come to the point where she is asking me for assistance and I don't mind helping out.

1. In our first 3 months of probation, it was hard for my manager to tell if my co-worker is smart or dumb, lazy or hard working, independent or hand holding. Everything looks normal in the beginning. But, she is still asking simple questions. She is suppose to pick up slowly & improve her knowledge over time.

2. Unclear communication: my coworker asked me to fix her spelling & grammar mistakes 50% of the time (even though I am not too confident with my grammar). It's getting a bit annoying and I have started to log off of the internal communication software (pretend to be offline or busy). Sometimes she document problems that are very unclear which management comes back to clarify the issue.

3. My coworker usually speak another language with another coworker so often (I'm not racist or anything). But, we work in an English work environment and sometimes it does bother me when I don't know what they are talking about. It's so loud that it can distract several cubicles down the isle.

4. My coworker's assumption: she has been in the software industry for quite some time and know how things work. We test software and look for bugs. If we can't verify on time, things will be pushed to the next product release (assuming that it is not urgent). Recently, she has a big task and the due date is around end of the month...she is taking her time very slowly...whereas management is worried. My manager steps up and assign 50% of the work to another senior coworker to assist. Because she knows that my senior coworker is helping out...she feels more relaxed and is working at a slower pace.

5. Where is the main problem? Because she is working at a slow pace, several senior coworkers and I are getting more work. The problem is that she is surfing the internet (clothing websites), taking personal phone calls in the hallway, reading online books, and sometimes chatting on MSN.

6. I am the type of person who likes to help if anyone ask. But, I expect the same in return. A couple days ago, I needed her assistance in a very specific area. She knows how to do it but decided not to help. She pretend she doesn't know (this happened 2x). The first time she lied. Later I looked at her work and she completed it within 2 hours. It took me a few hours to figure out on my own. Does this mean I should protect my knowledge from now on?

7. Today, I found a critical problem in a specific area. I asked her to confirm on her PC and indeed it was a problem. I told her that I will report it to the person responsible by saying both of us experienced the problem. Then, she opens up an email and send it to the person responsible without including my name in that email (since I discovered it first). So the person responsible cc the email to my manager and her...appears like she got 100% credit for discovering the issue. Does this mean I should work solo from now on?

Should my coworker be fired or am I over-reacting?

alpha6romeo

Do not bad mouth her in front of management, you will come off looking as petty. No longer help her unless you are told to by upper management. They should soon see your co-worker is useless

baseball1988

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No. I didn't bad mouth her in front of anyone. We work in a peaceful environment and there is almost NO gossip at all (since we work individually most of the time).

drkat

If she is not performing well management will see this and take necessary action. Your job is to continue doing what you're doing and perform the tasks necessary to stay employed.

Mrock4

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I can't agree more. As the current lead engineer/"service area manager" for a group, I can confidently say GOOD management should take notice and do something. As an employee, I'd just stick to my own and do the best I can. It is a frustrating situation to be in, but eventually, people will notice. I was in the same position about 5 years ago, and it took an entire year, but management finally noticed and took action.

al3kt.R***

Tough situation you are facing bro!!!
Bad colleagues can cause you a nervous breakdown, especially lazy ones who will get you more piles of job... been there when younger too Relax, try not to lose your patience/temper and work your way fulfilling your own tasks in a responsible manner. "Praying" for her dismissal won't do you any good, maybe you 'll get even more work to do...
Eventually, it will clear up (no employer likes a LAZY, unreliable employee, except if they are related in some way; but even then the odds are against those with bad professional behavior) and maybe you will be given a chance to be rewarded for your more reliable ways of serving your employer. You can try to stop being more friendly than you are truely willing to be, just be a professional and do the job collaboratively when asked to.

Cheers m8

Psoasman

drkat wrote: »

If she is not performing well management will see this and take necessary action. Your job is to continue doing what you're doing and perform the tasks necessary to stay employed.

Exactly. Those people will get themselves weeded out eventually, either by their own actions or by management.
+1

kgb

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While I agree with everyone above as far as that's how it should be, that's not always the case. I've worked at some very large organizations that was full of incompetent and lazy people that made a lifetime career at such places. If there's always the workhorses such as yourself that step up and take the extra burden, those people continue to collect paychecks. That's a failure on management if they take a blind eye and don't make changes, but I've witnessed a lot of lazy and incompetent managers that only care about the end result.

I agree as well that you just have to suck it up and focus on your work. If it continues and doesn't look like it's going to change and you can't turn numb to it, then it's time to move on (that's what I did).

NetworkVeteran

baseball1988 wrote: »

1. She is suppose to pick up slowly & improve her knowledge over time.

2. Unclear communication:

4. Recently, she has a big task and the due date is around end of the month...she is taking her time very slowly...

Should my coworker be fired or am I over-reacting?

If you're not her employer, and you're not the team lead, your expectations and her performance relative to them are irrelevant. The best strategy is to focus your energy on performing the task(s) you were hired to do and not worry about your co-worker's performance.

5. Where is the main problem? Because she is working at a slow pace, several senior coworkers and I are getting more work.

Now we're getting somewhere! A real problem is that you don't know how to set boundaries. Tell your manager "Sorry, it's 6pm on a Friday, I'm going home." If you're not the manager, and you're not the team lead, it's not your problem that the team is understaffed. Be the best you can be for the hours you're willing to put in, and then go enjoy life.

6. I am the type of person who likes to help if anyone ask. But, I expect the same in return. Does this mean I should protect my knowledge from now on?

It depends. Were you assigned the task of training her? If no, I'd only help when the impact on your own timelines is minimal and/or the exchange benefits you.

7. Today, I found a critical problem in a specific area. I asked her to confirm on her PC and indeed it was a problem. I told her that I will report it to the person responsible by saying both of us experienced the problem. Then, she opens up an email and send it to the person responsible without including my name in that email (since I discovered it first). So the person responsible cc the email to my manager and her...appears like she got 100% credit for discovering the issue. Does this mean I should work solo from now on?

Did you know it was a bug before you showed it to her?

If yes, her behavior is more in-line with business goals. Testers are typically encouraged to file bugs as soon as they spot them. Next time, file the bug as soon as you see it, and perhaps add a note that more scoping information will follow within a couple hours.

If no, it seems your new co-worker is more capable than you, in that only she can determine whether a behavior is buggy when you're unable to.

I'd work on your mistakes in this story. If you had the knowledge and logged the bug as soon as you saw it, credit wouldn't be an issue, and you'd be a more effective tester.

paul78

kgb wrote: »

I've worked at some very large organizations that was full of incompetent and lazy people that made a lifetime career at such places. ..... That's a failure on management if they take a blind eye and don't make changes, but I've witnessed a lot of lazy and incompetent managers that only care about the end result.

Great point - in those cases.. it's usually management that gets fired and replaced That's how I ended up at my current job.

Mrock4

paul78 wrote: »

That's how I ended up at my current job.

Me too!

Roguetadhg

Focus on doing your work. If she lags behind, she lags behind. If she asks a question that she asked before, there's nothing wrong to help her out. Actually, its being apart of the team that you should help her out on questions. Show her where to get the information, what to do. But don't keep showing her how to do it. ...

By showing them I actually mean - I make people do it, but i'll guide them to where they need to be. For example: finding out that you have AV on your computer, I showed her to expand the notification area. But I made her take the mouse, move the mouse over the arrow, click on it, and pointed it out. If I do it, I've found, it doesn't stick into people's head.


I hate to say it's a dog-eat-dog world... but it is, right to the core of it all. You either carry your load, or you're replaced. Show people you carry your work load. Stop treating the person with experience with a bottle. She'll grow up

Bottom Line: By doing other people's work AND your work, you never created a problem for management. Actually to them, there is no problem. Because it's working. They do care about the results. They need to care about the results. I would care about the results of my team's work. But even if I knew of a problem, I can't back it up with solid figures to upper management... because they, too - care about the results. Why fire Ms X if Ms X is doing her work? It's a business.

As far as bug testing goes, I don't know. But if I worked out that I can replicate the problem doing X, Y then Z. and I've ruled out any possibilities otherwise, I'd tell the problem to the people I'm supposed to. I did my job, I found a problem, here's what I did to prove it, I can replicate it, I've ruled out possibilities - Bam!

Your solution: Do your work, go home. Don't stay late unless you're told by management - You'll also be compensated with money that way. If you do your work, on time. There's no problem for you. If she can't finish her work - it's not your problem. So her the "ropes" beyond that, do what you're supposed to.

I've been in your spot... sort of:

This is my problem -- I deal with fixing problems before people put tickets in. I walk by a computer with a BSOD, Dell starts to blink, or monitor cries in pain (Yes, they do blink and cry). I'd stop by at first notice, and fix the problem! Excellent, I feel proud of myself because I just solved a problem before it became someone's problem. I was ontop of the world.

Want to know where I got a jolt of business management?
________________
I was doing my walk around, making sure of computer working, training PCs up and good. Making sure things are honky dory...
"We don't need him here."

That's right. I overheard:
"We don't need cliff here, because everything is working"
I stopped and listened.
The people here were trying to force my boss to give me the pink slip, but going to his boss on a conference call. My boss was trying to find a way to explain to his bosses why I'm here. Guess what? All those problems I fixed? Not a single ticket for any of them. There's no tickets as proof that i've been fixing things. But I sure can log in and clock out late! Without tickets to explain "Why" I'm here, I'm as good as gone.

The result of keeping me here without problems: I'm a money sink. I'm just a vacuum cleaner soaking up the cash. That's a management problem, and I had to explain myself to the VP, with my bosses on the phone.

That's right. Because to upper management, everything is sunshine and rainbows and there's no problems to work on! At that point, I am expendable. Yes, I've been threatened with my job more than once here so I've been fairly acquainted to "CYA". So while the PC geek inside of me hates seeing a BSOD, or people complaining about things that don't work (I try not to be a d-bag, and I do listen)... I have to not fix it. Yes, I have to WALK BY a problem and take a blind-eye.

For the record - I record problems I see, in excel. Especially BSODs. If they keep reoccuring, i'd like to know. How many tickets did I receive? 2 out of 15. Beautiful.


You know that feeling that you've spent way too much time trying to explain something? Yeah. I have that feeling. I'm trying to watch a movie!

Iristheangel

As much as I'm for team work and having reliable professionals around me, I don't underestimate useless or lazy people either. Why? They give me a chance to work harder, look better, and show how well I can do the job. She's not doing her work and leaving more projects for you to complete? Alright. Offer your boss to take some of the work off her plate. YOU look like the team player while still kinda drawing attention to the fact that her work isn't getting done but you did it without saying one negative word about her.

Also, you don't know the circumstances either. She might be getting paid half of what you are getting paid to do half the work so they have no intention of firing her in the future. That's fine. You still look good and if they don't appreciate all the work you're doing, then you make a choice whether you want to be in an environment like that. It comes down to this: You should care about being in an environment that promotes hard workers such as yourself, not be focused on being in one that punishes poor performers.

KenC

baseball1988 wrote: »

Today, I found a critical problem in a specific area. I asked her to confirm on her PC and indeed it was a problem. I told her that I will report it to the person responsible by saying both of us experienced the problem. Then, she opens up an email and send it to the person responsible without including my name in that email (since I discovered it first). So the person responsible cc the email to my manager and her...appears like she got 100% credit for discovering the issue.

You won't do that again.

baseball1988 wrote: »

Should my coworker be fired or am I over-reacting?

Bottom line, that's not your call, so don't waste time on it. Also, this is the sort of thing you will come across in your professional career, so you're going to have to find a way to deal with it.

m3zilla

You seem to have a lot of issues with your co-workers, and the company in general. Why not just find a new place to work?

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/79452-too-much-work-work.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/78779-not-happy-current-job.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/76832-4-months-into-job-im-bored.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/76951-job-car-drive-coworker-my-way-home.html


Personally, I never try to give too much thoughts to what my co-worker is, or isn't doing. When you start thinking like that, you end up nitpicking on everything they do. If they slack off and work gets reassigned to you, so what? Did you sign up for the job thinking you're only going to do your portion of the work and go home for the day? Unless you're staying late to clean up his/her mess, suck it up and do it. It may not seem like it, but management usually notice all these things.

Nutsacjac

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Focus on doing your work. If she lags behind, she lags behind. If she asks a question that she asked before, there's nothing wrong to help her out. Actually, its being apart of the team that you should help her out on questions. Show her where to get the information, what to do. But don't keep showing her how to do it. ...

snip....

You know that feeling that you've spent way too much time trying to explain something? Yeah. I have that feeling. I'm trying to watch a movie!

I lurk here a ton, but I just had to log on to say that I feel your entire post, especially about the ticketing process and the SLA world. It breaks my heart to tell these poor users why they have to stay on hold with the help desk for an hour to get a ticket, but it is what it is.

zekeb

I work at a software company and see the exact same trends in many of my co-workers. I find that it is helpful to direct the "dumb" coworker in the right direction... but also to understand when it is time to be firm and tell them to test the issue for themselves instead of completely relying on me for help. Making it more difficult for the coworker to get quick answers from you will force them to either

1) Begin learning themselves
2) Ask someone else their dumb questions, relieving you of the annoying burden

Dave B

This is interesting but pretty common in todays world. Many workers are able to use others abilities and appear to be doing the work themselves. I can't really give any advice on this other than do your job. I have co-workers that do this routinely but it doesn't help me any to dwell on it I just push on with what I am working on.

it_consultant

I get the feeling that there is another side to this story.

UnixGuy

baseball1988 wrote: »

....
I needed her assistance in a very specific area. She knows how to do it but decided not to help. She pretend she doesn't know (this happened 2x)....

What I did in similar situation: I stopped interacting with the co-worker who did this. Just don't ask her for anything, don't tell her anything (i.e. don't acknowledge her existence). You need to avoid her, and never ever help her. I know it's difficult, but if she asks for something tell her that you're VERY busy. Whatever help you will offer her WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU. So be careful.

baseball1988 wrote: »

....
. Does this mean I should work solo from now on?

Should my coworker be fired or am I over-reacting?
....

Yes it means that you should stop doing anything with her. As much as possible. And yes, she must be fired, but there's no guarantee that this gonna happen. Work (and life) is unfair, so we need to deal with it. I've been in similar situations, you should need to ignore her and focus on your own self-development. Be careful and never get into gossip bad mouthing her or anybody else. At the end of the day, you're just an employee, so be very careful.

baseball1988 wrote: »

....
My coworker usually speak another language with another coworker so often (I'm not racist or anything). But, we work in an English work environment and sometimes it does bother me when I don't know what they are talking about. It's so loud that it can distract several cubicles down the isle
....

I suffer from this problem, and frankly speaking I've yet to find a solution! It's annoying, and I can't focus when people are loud.

Zartanasaurus

I don't have a problem with people speaking other languages. I doubt their conversations revolve around you, stop being paranoid. I would have a problem with loud, distracting conversations in any language.

Nemowolf

it_consultant wrote: »

I get the feeling that there is another side to this story.

m3zilla wrote: »

You seem to have a lot of issues with your co-workers, and the company in general. Why not just find a new place to work?

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/79452-too-much-work-work.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/78779-not-happy-current-job.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/76832-4-months-into-job-im-bored.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/76951-job-car-drive-coworker-my-way-home.html


Personally, I never try to give too much thoughts to what my co-worker is, or isn't doing. When you start thinking like that, you end up nitpicking on everything they do. If they slack off and work gets reassigned to you, so what? Did you sign up for the job thinking you're only going to do your portion of the work and go home for the day? Unless you're staying late to clean up his/her mess, suck it up and do it. It may not seem like it, but management usually notice all these things.

While i empathize, as many have said, this isnt your issue as this isnt your employee. Good management will catch on quicker and bad management will take longer. You also don't know her story and the conditions she is dealing with.


Be glad you have a job.

Cheers

cyberguypr

OP has been MIA/AWOL