How to Deal with a Slacker Coworker
Do you work with a slacker? Are you constantly covering for an under-performer? Tired of it and want to tell you boss? The Public Speaker Lisa B. Marshall explains how to handle this difficult conversation.
Lisa B. Marshall
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How to Deal with a Slacker Coworker
Today’s article is my response to a reader question from Jonathan M. Here’s what he sent me: 
I have been listing to your podcast for over 12 months, perhaps longer, and I always look forward to listening to your podcasts.
I would like a podcast on how to approach your manager about other staff underperforming. It seems that if you doing a great job, you get punished for being successful and get given more work load, and if you do a poor job, you get rewarded by having work taken away from you. – Jonathan
Carrying dead wood or covering for a slacker is a very common problem in the workplace. In fact, I once read that Kerry Patterson (the author of Crucial Confrontations) ran a poll of about 500 full-time employees and about 93% said they work with at least one person who isn’t doing his or her fair share. So, Jonathan, I appreciate the opportunity to address this question because I’m sure there are many readers in your shoes wondering the same thing.
Before you go to you boss, the first thing to think about is this: Are you even the right person to be addressing the problem? Ask yourself: Does the under performance have a direct impact on me? If not, then it’s not your problem to deal with. In that case, the best you can do is to encourage coworkers who are directly impacted to talk with the slacker. If so, then you need to directly address the problem with the under-performer.
If you are going to address the problem, the first thing you need are objective facts or data to support your claims. By collecting data, you are ensuring it’s just not a personality, work style, or communication style difference. It’s best to document quantifiable examples of how the slacker impacted you and the department, or the company. For example, on three occasions, the night before a major deadline, the work was not completed before the worker left for the evening and instead needed to be completed by me working four hours of overtime the night before the deadline (and missing my kid’s school play).
Again, go to the coworker first, privately—not your boss. This type of conversation falls into the “difficult” conversation category. I have written about how to have difficult conversations in detail in my book, Smart Talk.
Perhaps the most important advice in this particular situation is to not blow up. Many people like to avoid conflict so they cover for the slacker on many occasions and then, finally, they find themselves finishing the slacker’s part of a project one day and get fed up. The next morning when they see the slacker, they aren’t able to control their emotions and scream at the person. But of course, that doesn’t ’t help the slacker change behavior, and, even worse, it often then reflects poorly on the person who had the emotional outburst.
In particular, when preparing and having this difficult conversation, you should try to put all negative emotions aside and approach the issue with curiosity and concern. I think it’s always best to operate in the mode that you may not have all the information, and there may be a reason for the issue that you are not aware of.
Ask the employee to lunch and then share your collected data examples in neutral non-accusatory tone so that your colleague understands the impact of his behaviors. Then ask, “What happened? Were we on the same page?” Again, the idea is to approach as if you were on a discovery mission—simply fact-finding to figure out what went wrong. Again the goal of any difficult conversation is to gain a change in behavior and being angry, accusing, or judging in any way will not help you achieve that goal.
If you are not successful the first time, you need to try again at least one more time—in effort to help the person. Only if you are consistently rebuffed or ignored is it time to consider talking to your boss about it. But again, even that conversation needs to be non-emotional, highly professional, and calm. Don’t tattle, don’t vent. Just provide the information that your work results are being impacted by the worker and that you have attempted to help the coworker to improve performance. Then ask your boss for the next steps.
Once you’ve had that conversation with you boss, you need to follow their advice or let your boss handle it from there. No repeat performances on your part. And remember, she may or may not directly address the problem or may not deal with it the same way you would. Basically, you’ve done all you can do, and you need to let your boss decide what is best for the employee and the company.
One last thing to consider, Jonathan. If you are consistently out performing your peers, perhaps the conversation with your boss shouldn’t be about your co-workers under-performance, it should be a about you getting a promotion or bonus for the extra responsibilities you have taken on. In this case, the data collection is not about how the coworker impacted your performance; it’s about how your extra work improved performance.
Finally, Jonathan, I want to address your remark that if you doing a great job, you get punished for being successful and get given more work load, and if you do a poor job, you get rewarded by having work taken away from you.
Yes, in the short run you are correct, but I would argue that in the long run poor performers are let go or move on, and high performers—especially those with strong communication skills who can successfully navigate difficult situations like this—are going to rewarded with promotions and raises.
This is Lisa B. Marshall helping you to lead and influence. If you’d like to learn more about compelling communication, I invite you to read my bestselling books, Smart Talk and Ace Your Interview, and listen to my other podcast, Smart Talk. As always, your success is my business.
About the Author
Lisa B. Marshall Lisa holds masters with duel degrees in interpersonal/intercultural communication and organizational communication. She’s the author of Smart Talk: The Public Speaker’s Guide to Success in Every Situation, as well as Ace Your Interview, Powerful Presenter, and Expert Presenter. Her work has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Ragan.com, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Her institutional clients include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, NY Academy of Science, University of Pennsylvania, Genentech, and Roche.