Am an I asshole?

[911wasaninsidejoke]

so i'm about to take somebody's job in about a week or two and he has no idea its happening. I'm just waiting on getting my training and then for him to get the word that hes stepping down from his management position. I'v worked under this guy for about 2 years now. We are sort of friends and have hung out with each other outside of work many times. So I can't help but feel like an asshole.

However, he really hasn't been doing his job well and its affected the productivity of everyone else. On top of that hes very hostile towards the other management above him and complaining that they are the ones doing everything wrong. Obviously he is asking to lose his job from this kind of behavior. I'm fairly certain its going to kill our friendship and make other people who will inevitably work under me get upset too.

I know I have to look out for myself and I know I deserve this promotion. But I can't help but feel like an asshole at the same time. anyone else ever experience something like this at work?

[Paullehh]

It's a dick move but you will get over it.

[OddBallFreak]

If they were going to fire him instead of him just getting a demotion, I could see it being a real dick move to not give him a heads up. Were you explicitly told (or are you fairly confident) that if you were to say something to him, it puts your chance for advancement at risk? If so, the guy should be understanding enough to see the spot you were put in and not hold a grudge for it. If he isn't able to see things from your perspective and decides not to like you for not telling him, then he's the one being an asshole and good for you being in a better spot because of it.

As far as dealing with the people that are going to work under you and how they might be upset, It's shitty but it comes with the territory of managing people. The best advice I could give you with that is that is you need to either have a group meeting or make time to speak with each individual as soon as possible after you get promoted. Ask them if they have any questions or concerns, let them know that you're the type of person they feel they can come and talk to about any issues they are having, but also make sure you establish the fact that you are now their superior and need to be respected as so.

Its hard since i don't know what kind of work environment you're dealing with or the personality types you work with, but if you're worried there's going to backlash from the people you have to manage, you really have to address it as quickly and professionally as possible. The longer it goes without it, the harder it's going to be for you in the long run.

[Enigma]

The biggest thing is, if you're not doing your job, you can't expect to continue to have the same job. If his lack of responsibility is affecting the business, it is expected that the company will replace him. And even if you feel bad about it, wouldn't your rather have that position than someone else get the same position when you deserve it? Don't feel bad. If he was doing what he was supposed to be doing, you wouldn't be in that position.


I feel like I just repeated myself like 6 times in that...but I think I made my point. :)

[sTr]

As long as you didn't do anything to progress your career at the expense of his. It's one thing for him to be a fuck up and get demoted and another if you were making him look bad to your superiors. !'m glad ! don't work with people ! know, because !'m pretty ruthless at work. It's all about command and conquer, kill em all.

[911wasaninsidejoke]

No i haven't done anything to make his job harder. In fact its quite the opposite. For the last two years I have been the only person from our team who has put in the extra effort to help him get the job done. I'v put ion the extra hours, taken my time to make sure i do things right. I never once undermined his authority ever. He just hasn't been pulling his weight. He doesn't supervise his team, or use his team to their full potential. He comes into work for his scheduled shift, clocks out after 8 hours and doesn't give a shit about what progress he has or hasn't made. He is too stubborn to see that he may be doing something wrong. His bosses above him have been telling him for months to get his shit together and all he wants to do is maintain a hostile attitude and blame everyone else for the problems that are happening at work.

Granted other people and departments haven't been pulling their weight around and some of his concerns are certainly valid. But the problem lies within the fact that because of that, he doesnt want to take responsibility for his own work. He expects everyone else to drop their own responsibilities and help him get the work done. He is doing nothing to help himself and won't take responsibility for his work or his workers. His shitty attitude and neglect for his responsibilities is just make everyone else's job harder. In other words, this guy is not a team player and is too stubborn to accept the fact that he is fucking up.

I heard through the grapevine that upper management was looking to replace him. I saw the mistakes that this guy had been making for 2 years. I did everything I could to help him when things got rough. I even tried talking to him to figure out ways to make things work better but he never wanted to listen. He just takes no pride in his work and thinks he has a kush job. But this motherfucker is about to get a rude awakening.

[Paullehh]

911wasaninsidejoke Wrote:He comes into work for his scheduled shift, clocks out after 8 hours and doesn't give a shit about what progress he has or hasn't made. .

I like this guy. :)

[911wasaninsidejoke]

i like the guy too. but he takes no pride in his work. Its affecting his performance and its making things harder for everyone else to pick up the pieces.

*edit* i just realized i fucked up the title to this thread. if there was any doubt before, i think that confirms i am an asshole.