How can I make the boss see the dud in the top team?

Dear Aunty B,

One of the key people in our leadership team is not up to scratch. However, he has been with us since the beginning and has become a good mate of the MD. His performance has been raised with the MD by the CFO and the MD says he is okay, cheap for what he does and gets on well with the clients.

But we keep having to load up other people’s jobs with tasks he can’t do. The MD is ‘big picture’ and isn’t a details person, so even if we sat down and explained how everyone else was carrying this guy, he probably wouldn’t understand.

Any ideas?

Louise

Dear Louise,

Sometimes I think if we banned mateship the way cartels are banned, the productivity of this country would soar.

What you need here is a straightforward approach. Suggest a restructure and make sure that ‘Not up to scratch’ is reassigned just one or two jobs that he can carry out well.

When the MD questions his light workload you point out that other tasks need to be carried out by people who have the skills to do so.

Then show the MD the savings in the new restructure. He will get very excited until he notes the giant reduction in the pay of ‘Not up to scratch’.

But at that point what can he say? You have pointed out that ‘Not up to scratch’ is actually very expensive, which destroys his main defense.

Take him on. Don’t let him get away with it.

Good luck,
Your Aunty B

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