askST Jobs: I keep having to pick up a colleague’s work. How should I raise it with my boss?
Focus on how a colleague’s work affects your workload, and avoid making personal attacks.
This month, The Straits Times’ career advice column, AskST Jobs, explored the issue of employees taking on additional responsibilities due to a colleague's absence or performance issues.
Michelle Koh, managing director at executive search firm The Edge Partnership, advised employees to raise such concerns calmly, rather than in a moment of frustration. She cautioned against approaching the conversation in a way that makes it seem like a personal attack on the colleague.
Koh recommended employees prepare specific examples of the additional tasks they've taken on, the deadlines they've met, and instances where they have had to step in. She also stressed the importance of keeping the conversation focused on the impact on the work and the team, rather than attacking the colleague personally.
Workplace Asia managing partner Tan Weixi warned against framing the issue around whether the colleague is "pulling their weight". He suggested employees avoid keeping a scorecard of every mistake and instead focus on patterns that genuinely affect the delivery of work.
In some cases, Tan suggested speaking directly to the colleague first, as they may be unaware of the workload situation. The key, according to both experts, is to go into the conversation with the intention of finding a solution, whether that's clarifying responsibilities, redistributing workloads, or resetting priorities.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
