Question: “Due to a reorganization, an administrative assistant that I have worked side-by-side with for 10 years was reassigned from Operations to HR. She still continues doing most of the work she did previously, even though I should now perform most of those duties. She had no choice in the reassignment and doesn’t feel secure in her new position. How should I tactfully tell her that I should now handle the duties for the Operations department?” — Mary
See Comments Below
Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!
Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...
We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.
The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.
" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/15498/how-do-i-handle-a-co-worker-who-wont-give-up-her-old-duties "
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I have been in the exact same situation as Kimberly and Carissa. This must be a common problem. I tried to handle it with the admin directly and, when that didn’t work, through our manager. As with the other ladies, my predecessor deliberately trained me poorly and withheld files and info. The only method that eventually worked was for our manager to load her up with so much to do, and then evaluate her soley on her performance relating to those new responsibilities. Only then did she gradually loosen her grip on her old role simply because she no longer had the time to do both our jobs, or constantly monitor me doing her old job. It took about a year.
I was in a similar situation as well. In my previous job I replaced a woman who retired & was not really very technology savy. Neither was the other admin in the office, but the other admin “knew” how to do the things the other woman did because she was the back-up for this woman for many years. The other admin was very inefficient in general. As with Kimberly’s situation, the other admin trained me, but left things out. Then when I did things the way she trained me she was run over & tell me I did it wrong. After a couple times of this happening I spoke to our supervisor about the situation because I didn’t want it reflecting badly on me. She also had a habit of trying to blame things on anyone else & not take responsibility for her mistakes. A responsibility was taken away from her and given to me, she seemed to think I was not capable of handling it. What she didn’t know was my boss knew very well I could handle it. My boss had to tell her it was no longer her responsibility & she was not to handle it any longer. I definitely think it is something that should be dealt with through the supervisors. You want them to be aware of the situation so if mistakes are made they don’t reflect badly on you.
I totally agree. One thing I would add is that you may consider informing your supervisor of the challenge you are facing and your plan to rectify the problem before you approach your co-worker. By taking this path, you will not only have your supervisor’s support but you will show him/her your ability to problem solve proactively.
Keep documentation. I would approach my supervisor about the situation to see if there could be a sitdown with all the supervisors and workers that this situation involves. In the mean time, do the best job you can and develop your own contacts and ways to do things.
I was in a simular situation once where the other Admin was no longer doing her old job duties really, but we did have to change the password on the database that we were using because she couldn’t stay out of it, we know this because the computer noted the names of those that last made changes. But she refused to give me all the files and things that went along with the job. When she trained me on several software programs that were used in that department, she purposely left out steps and things so that I would make mistakes. (The main reason they reassigned her was because she was making alot of mistakes and didn’t mix well with the manager of that department.) Though thank goodness I am very smart so I figured things out on my own very quickly. I went to my supervisor about getting the files from the years past that could have been a help to me, who said we just have to be patient, try to be understanding with her, she will come around with them. But his wishy/washy idea did nothing but let her have her way. Only when they ended up getting rid of her like 4 months later, was I so surprised to actually see the huge box of things that she hid from me that pertained to my job, but by that time, I ended up having my own contacts, and creating my own forms and things that I no longer needed any of those items. lol
I agree with Anon. It should absolutely be handled by the supervisor. This is not a situation that should be worked out between the two co-workers as the employee who was transferred to HR clearly doesn’t want to give up her old duties and seems to have boundary issues. I am guessing she is upset about he shift in positions. I would approach my supervisor and let him/her set the record straight as far as who is to do what work. It’s not worth the headache trying to deal with it yourself. Good Luck!
It is not up to you to “tactfully” tell her anything. You should approach your direct supervisor and let him/her know what is going on. They can then approach her manager and come up with the best way to help her transition into her new position.
How does/can she continue to do most of the work if she’s in a different unit (HR) of the company? I realize this is a delicate situation, but a reality. You should say something to her or get the assistance from her/your managers to address this issue. The bottom line is that what was her job is now your job and if she’s continuing to do it, whatever she doesn’t do right could come back to bite you.
Doing nothing is not going to help either of you and will backfire eventually. Try working with her on projects. Approach her with a “let’s do this together” attitude. Something like telling her you know she can probably handle these responsibilities in her sleep but since you are both in transition with your new assigned responsibilities you’d like to sit with her and have her show you how to take care of each of the duties. This will help her let go and help you get on with your new duties. You will both be up for a review at some point and I’m sure both of you should be doing what was designated to you – this is where things can backfire if you don’t approach this now. Maybe you two can both learn each others new duties and be a back up to each other in case one of you is out – crosstraining is very valuable and each of you can bring it up to the bosses and get points for thinking of it. And with her being your back up she won’t feel like her old responsibilities have been totally taken away from her. Change is hard but I’m sure you two can work it out as a team – good luck.
I would not tell her anything. If you ex-colleague is willing and able to keep doing “most” of her previous work, I would let her do it. Unless you have not enough work to do, or she doesn’t do the work well enough, I would not make a problem out of this.
Also, there may not be enough work for her to do in her new job. Just stand by and wait until she gets a better grip on her new position and then slowly take over her previous work.
In the meantime, enjoy the simple life.