How do I tell my senior colleague he’s being unprofessional?
APPRENTICE star and West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady answers your careers questions.
Here she gives advice to a reader who resents how unprofessional a senior work colleague is.
Q: I’m 28, and my 30-something senior colleague is really bad at his job.
He delegates work under the guise of “being too busy”, but then saunters off to take long lunches and private phone calls.
I don’t even mind doing his work, as I enjoy my job and really like the company I work for, but I resent how unprofessional he is, especially as he’s more senior (though he’s not my boss), and I can’t stop thinking about how unfair the situation is.
How do I deal with him – and my anger – in a professional way?
READ MORE FROM KARREN BRADY
Reeta, via email
Working with a colleague who is not pulling their weight can be frustrating, but it’s important to approach the situation professionally.
Continue to prioritise your own work and responsibilities, ensure you meet your deadlines and deliver high-quality results, so that your work is never in question.
I appreciate it can be difficult to keep your frustration in check, but avoid expressing it openly to other colleagues.
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Keep a record of all the additional work you are taking on because of him.
If the issue persists and it is negatively impacting your output, consider discussing the situation with your manager, but make your chat about you, not your colleague.
Explain that you don’t want it to go unnoticed that your scope of work is larger due to the additional responsibilities, and while you are happy to do it, you want to make sure you manager is aware of your workload.
Instead of dwelling on the unfairness of the situation, focus on finding solutions.
You’ll no doubt soon be promoted due to your hard work and success, while he’s going nowhere, other than on his long lunches!
- Got a careers question for Karren? Email [email protected].