Should I throw coworker under the bus?

[Anonymous]

I've posted before about being stuck on a project with a coworker who is tanking it due to astounding incompetence. I tried talking gently to management - they know she's not great, but apparently thought I could fix it. I tried, and coworker actually got worse. Recently discovered that said coworker is aware of how bad she is doing, and doesn't care. She's moving away at the end of next year and will be quitting, but hasn't told management. In the meantime, she's just clocking in for the paycheck and really doesn't care about the project or anything else. The problem is that she told me this in the strictest confidence and I promised not to tell (before I knew what she was going to tell me), so now I can't really say anything. Or....should I? Project is going to fail way before she leaves, and it's going to hurt my career. Trying to do both our parts is literally killing me and I can't keep it up, especially since it's structured so that I have to rely on her for some client contact, where of course she is wreaking havoc. Ugh, such a catch 22.

[Anonymous]

My advice is that you let management know you can't fix her work. Ask for help from a third useful person. The managers might then look into firing the outbound person but she's mentally out the door anyway. And if they give you another person to work with, that person will be oriented and ready when the bad employee leaves.

I would not rat out the bad employee yet. Not unless I thought it would save my job. Tattling doesn't usually work that well anyway. It just gets management upset and doesn't fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

Tell the part that is yours to tell -- the work that you are doing and the work that isn't getting done -- but there's no reason to discuss her future plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell the part that is yours to tell -- the work that you are doing and the work that isn't getting done -- but there's no reason to discuss her future plans.

This. Revealing a confidence is not the key to fixing the project, keep your focus there. It could cause management to see you as indiscreet or untrustworthy.

[Anonymous]

I would document the parts of her work that are causing issues - give them a paper trail and let them deal with it - ignore the intention to leave, that's not really relevant.

[Anonymous]

Document the hell out of her incompetence.

[Anonymous]

Stick to facts. "Jamie was responsible for the Gibralter information and hasn't provided any of it. She also was tasked with A and B, and reminded on May 30, June 15, July 15, August 13 and 28, and last Friday but hasnt't provided it to date. I am bringing this to your attention so you can make a decision on whether the client meeting should go forward as planned."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice is that you let management know you can't fix her work. Ask for help from a third useful person. The managers might then look into firing the outbound person but she's mentally out the door anyway. And if they give you another person to work with, that person will be oriented and ready when the bad employee leaves.

I would not rat out the bad employee yet. Not unless I thought it would save my job. Tattling doesn't usually work that well anyway. It just gets management upset and doesn't fix the problem.

+1

[Anonymous]

Meh I’d throw her under the bus. She knows her laziness directly impacts you and your reputation and she doesn’t care. That in and of itself would absolve me of any guilt I’d feel about spilling the beans.

[Anonymous]

I’d throw her under the bus. Why should you prioritize loyalty to her over loyalty to everyone else who will be affected by her tanking the project? It is not good for you or the company for this to continue.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t tell them she’s leaving but as others have said I would sound the alarm that she is causing problems.

[Anonymous]

If there's a supervisor, it's certainly fair game to say that you don't see any evidence that your co-worker is doing what she's supposed to do, including things that you need from her to do what you're supposed to do, and that you need to let the supervisor know to manage expectations and come up with a plan for damage control.

That's an easier conversation to have if you and your co-worker have clearly defined responsibilities that a supervisor was involved in defining those responsibilities. If you were just paired with your co-worker to work on the project, and the two of you just decided how to divide the work, it's a harder conversation, because in that case you initially entrusted someone incompetent to deliver.

Either way, it's probably better to speak up sooner rather than later, because an unsuccessful project is going to reflect poorly on a number of people within your organization. You don't need to say anything that was entrusted to you in confidence, but you need to look out after yourself.

[Anonymous]

Just remember that " snitches get stitches" so keep it zipped.

[Anonymous]

Just do her work. She doesn’t GAF and management will not love a tattle tale. She’s leaving (as far you know, it could be BS)

[Anonymous]

I’ve never been in this situation, but I’m curious how things would go if you leveled with her and told her much her laziness is causing your work to suffer.

Like, “Hey, I know this job sucks and you’re planning to leave, but I’m having to take on a lot more than I thought I would. Can you please do XYZ.”

Anyone have experience on how requests like these end up going?