Is it my responsibility?

Anonymous

April 4,2023 at 7:28PM UTC

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Is it my responsibility?

I am not a trainer or manager. I have slight seniority, yet our org has a flat structure with only one leader and many direct reports. I share an office with a new coworker. She just finished her onboarding window but is still drowning and not quite catching on. There are several things she does right, but the amount of time it takes for her to get going or start a task is not sustainable or requires me to stop what I'm doing to show her. I have chatted with a few coworkers about it previously against my better judgement yet out of frustration. One seems to have a bit of a personal disdain for her, while the other questioned her competency from day one. They both feel that I should go to my boss, and reiterate she's not cutting but there is no way that our boss isn't privy to XXXXXXXX not working out. We have weekly one on one's to discuss projects, various team meetings, and such and I know there have been balls dropped. I do not feel that it is my place. I do share with my boss in my meetings that I'm frequently interrupted or where she is needing assistance, but I also give her praise where praise is due. My boss apparently shared that information with the team member that deems XXXXXXXXX is incompetent and feels that I'm doing us a disservice and need to be harsher because my boss implied that I'm painting XXXXXXXX in a positive light. I firmly believe that my boss does not share everything with either of us, and feels that it would be inappropriate to discuss anything that was critical of another team member and reiterated this to my coworker. I've been in leadership, and am one of the few on my team that has any prior management experience, which is why I feel that I'm doing what I'm "supposed" to do. However, I know times have changed and have a nagging feeling that perhaps I am dropping the ball.

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AnonymousApril 4,2023 at 8:57PM UTC
If you are not prepared to continue your support and training then you must make your manager aware of the new coworkers short comings.
If you do not communicate the real picture, your boss will consider you as not honest about the situation and the reason she allowed it to go on for too long. You will become part of the problem.
AnonymousApril 4,2023 at 11:05PM UTC
I agree with the other comment below. If you are tasked with helping her transition from onboarding to IC, you need to report her progress or lack thereof if she is falling short and is still in her probation period.
AnonymousApril 5,2023 at 12:20AM UTC
Offering praise to soften the blow is helpful in some contexts.
When someone just needs a little more confidence that they know the job and are capable of doing it, yes. That's not what you're describing.
This employee is not cutting it and your mixed messaging is confusing your boss. You're giving false hope that she's going to master this role when it's clear to everyone (you included) that she's not. Your boss is a step away from the day-to-day and is counting on you to be honest.
AnonymousApril 5,2023 at 12:10PM UTC
Now 'is it your responsibility'? Why not partner with her and see if there are certain aspects that you can coach her on with best practices. Being a team member champion of others is amazing! Perhaps bring your manager into the loop and then offer a weekly touch base with your coworker to help answer any questions or provide advice. I bet you will learn from them at the same time and build your leadership skill set as you play a role in the development of someone else. I've done this several times and it's not only rewarding but relationship building. Often an asked questioned was one I didn't know answer but we learned together who to partner with on getting it. That also helped build cross dept relationships. Never discount the opportunity to support a team member. Then after a couple of months, put a timeline on it, allow them to then reach out when needed. Bringing your leader to let them know progress and opportunities. You shouldn't put down a new team member let a lone a seasoned one. It's easier to be kind and helpful. Try it. I think you bring value.
AnonymousApril 7,2023 at 3:17PM UTC
Is the performance issue a competency or motivation issue? If motivation, be blunt with your manager on this and lack of delivery. That’s not anything you as a peer will solve. If this is a competency issue, you could be part of the solution. This is an opportunity to step up an show your leadership potential. Go through the issue with your boss in detail what is going on and the impacts. This includes the impacts to you and your productivity or deliverables. It needs to be a clear fair picture, not sugar coated but not a venting or trashing session. Make sure you have actionable gaps documented that need to be addressed. Then propose a plan including yourself and maybe other team members as mentors with a defined impacts to the proposed mentors, timeline, agenda, and performance measures and any deliverable impacts with this other work will cause. It can be as simple as you taking a mentor lead with the understanding of the short term impact on your other work as you get this team member up to speed. It could be a little of you and then time and coaching from others of the aspects of the job each of you do best. Successful or not, undertaking this will showcase your leadership potential.
AnonymousApril 7,2023 at 1:11PM UTC
It depends...as a coworker, and human being, bringing out the best in others and helping them to succeed is important, but not to the point where you impede their development (or yours). But what is your organization like? Was the new coworker place in the shared office with you so that you can act as a mentor? Can you see deficiencies in the onboarding training, and can you make (or implement) suggestions for improvements? Is your manager actually looking at you to see if you are the team player with promotion potential? Is the coworker actually trying or are they already on their way out and are just not willing to walk away on their own?
Comparing notes with coworkers on if they are seeing the same thing you are, is a good idea, however, you have already inserted yourself into the situation and are now being seen as "doing us a disservice"... not good for you.
Time to have a crucial conversation with your manager, and clarify what your role in this should actually be.
AnonymousApril 7,2023 at 3:05PM UTC
No! It is not your responsibility to train or manage this employee. Make this point clear to your manager who may actually be confused about your role. Don’t take any s&@t from management on this point. Good luck.
AnonymousApril 7,2023 at 5:40PM UTC
Let it go, focus on your work and not on the lack of leadership from your manager. Leave it to her to manage the poor performer, don't continue to discuss with others and if the new person does approach you for help perhaps put a few times on the calendar for say 15 minutes each day for those interrupts. Decline any other requests under the subject of "sorry I have to focus on getting my own work done". Now, everyone has to start and learn somewhere so there is a level of empathy for the person who might be failing because they don't know what they don't know. You might help by writing some things down that could help their learning for reference material if this is applicable to do so and that could help them do things better. In your 1-1's focus on you and you alone but also document in your notes the time that you have spent away from your duties to help this other person. If it becomes a topic then you should discuss, if not you at least have the showing of what you did to uplift and help as much as possible.
AnonymousApril 8,2023 at 5:00AM UTC
On average, it takes 6 months-1 year to fully onboard into a role, to where you’re proficient. If she’s been there less than three months, and is being compared to others with more seniority, that’s unfair and not productive. Mentor/support her to where your bandwidth allows, but encourage her to speak up to your manager about what else she can be doing to get up to speed.