"It's my job to say something"

[DrFaroohk]

I had a co-worker once unhappy with my work. He came in the shift after mine at a 24/7 c-store. I suppose his problem wasn't that I didn't get any work did, as I got more than my own share of the work done, but rather I didn't do the things he specifically wished I would do.

He was bitching and complaining, and he when I gave him a little bit of it back he said "Hey man, if things aren't going right it's MY JOB to say something about it!"

Is that pretty much an incorrect statement? As he was my equal in rank and my lesser in seniority, it seems that it's actually his job to mind his own damn business and tell the boss if my work is shoddy. Of course, in this case the boss and I would have shared yet another laugh as we read his pathetic complaint notes.

Besides that fact that of course he had no interest in the productivity of the store - it's just easier to hide in the dust if you kick up a shitstorm every now and then and blame everyone else for what's wrong with the store.

[Pixilated]

If he's not your supervisor I can't imagine why he thinks it's his job to tell you how to do your job. But that kind are everywhere -- can't do their own jobs properly but they don't hesitate to tell other people what they are doing wrong. I ran into one of those the summer before last, at the They're Everywhere! coffee and doughnut shop I worked at. She kept barking at me that I was taking too long to clean the public loo, doing this wrong, doing that wrong, etc. I wasn't sure how our respectives statuses balanced out so didn't react much one way or the other -- until I realized she was universally despised by most of the other workers because she herself did as little work as possible. I'm looking at going back there this summer and it won't be a surprise at all if she's not there this time (I'm pretty sure she was unceremoniously dumped after Labour Day.)

I might mention, ever so casually, to my supervisor that X doesn't seem to think I'm doing my job properly and is he right? And then wait and see what my supervisor says. If it takes him or her 10 minutes to stop laughing, I think you can pretty much take your cue from that about how to respond to Mr. "It's My Job!" in the future.

[Kristev]

I lost my job primarily because of one of those kinds of creatures.

[Dips]

Working as a team is part of any job. I think it's best to work things out with coworkers first instead of crying to the boss over everything. Of course, how you approach a co-worker matters.

For instance saying, "Hey, it would really help me if you did x and y. Then I could concentrate on w and z which make more sense to do during the evening shift right before closing," is a good approach.

Or, "I don't know about you, but I hate doing x and y more than w and z. Perhaps we could work out a deal?"

Telling an equal what to do or whining to them about cherry-picking isn't.

It's certainly much better than running to the boss with every little conflict.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

All running to the boss with every little complaint accomplishes is causing the boss to tune you out. "Oh great, So-and-so is complaining. Again."

Unless you happen to be the manager's pet.