Coworker complains about tech support worker getting credit for their unfinished jobs, forced to finish them himself: 'So now, he’s doing twice, sometimes 3 times the work, all because he wanted full credit for partial results'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 28, 2024 12:00 PM EST

Giving full credit for something to the person who "finishes" it is generally a poor idea, as it completely discounts other contributors' efforts. You see this with things like sales where the person to "finalize" the deal gets credit for the sale against their figures, regardless of whether or not they were the one to work on it originally. Really, absolute policies might be easy and cut and clean, but they create nightmares down the line whenever there are situations that aren't as black and white as the policy would like them to be.

This tech support worker faced a similar thing when their management announced a change to the company's procedures: an absolute change declaring that the person who resolved the client's issue would be the one who received full credit for the ticket. Still, when one of their coworker's clients called during their lunch break, and they put the finishing touches on their work, they noted their coworker's contributions regardless. The coworker took offense, feeling slighted despite their attempts to share credit however they could. This led to another policy change, where now the initial person who took the call would get the credit, regardless of who finished it, forcing that same coworker to go back and finish support tickets that they had left unattended.

Advertisement
  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10434351616
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • 02
    Oh we're changing procedures, again? You got it M I work in tech support, but basically a call center fixing computer problems. So when someone calls, we record their information. Everything from their name, to the reason for the call,
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 03
    to the solution. During a team meeting, one of my higher ups (we'll call her Paula) announces if a client calls back about the same problem in a short time, whoever ultimately fixes it gets full credit for the work. For context: I'm not here to be "Super IT". I don't care about the credit. I work my 8 hours a day and collect my check. That's it.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 04
    One day I get a call. The client says they were just on the phone with someone else, and they told them to call right back. I look up the coworkers name (John); he just went to lunch. I ask the client if they want me to transfer them to the John's voicemail. They say, "Can you just help me?" Np. I'm familiar with their problem and fix in it 20 minutes. I adjust the record for the problem to my name. I add John's name as a footnote so he still gets partial credit.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 05
    Fast forward: John gets back from lunch. Comes up to me and demands to know why I took his name off the record. Tells me he spent an hour on the phone with that client and he would appreciate if I would let him know if I touch his records (Mind you, John and I don't speak. He's cold towards me and we only interact when absolutely necessary. Today, he doesn't even say hello.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 06
    He just starts in on me.) I wait a moment and calmly explain how I got the call, the client didn't want to wait, and how I followed procedure. I also pointed out that I added John's name as a footnote for partial credit (which is not required to do). John says "Oh, I didn't see that" and leaves. No apology, just a mumbled "thanks" as he walks away.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 07
    In our next team meeting, our boss tells us from now on, whoever speaks to the client first gets full credit. I asked her to please clarify because Paula told us otherwise. She reiterates the announcement, says "this is how we're doing it, I hope that makes sense" and quickly moves on. I can see where this came from but I hold my peace.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 08
    More background: John's approach is to rush through calls to increase his "calls taken" metrics. My approach is to make sure the client is taken care of before the call ends.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 09
    So a few weeks go by, and things took an unexpected turn for John. (When a client calls back for a problem that was previously marked "fixed", I restart the record and only add my footnote. This causes the record to go back into the original agent's workflow for processing.) Since John doesn't take the time to
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 10
    read the footnotes, he's reaching out to me for updates before he marks the record "fixed" again. I take my time to respond, because I've already made the info available in my footnote. Not only that, some problems require him to call the client back to confirm the problem is actually fixed. He went from talking to me once a quarter to once a week.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 11
    So now, he's doing twice, sometimes 3 times the work, all because he wanted full credit for partial results.
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 12
    disaster999 52m ago. . What was the malicious compliance? You guys followed policy and it inconvenienced John in talking to you?
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 13
    CoderJoe1 43m ago . Top 1% Commenter Resulting in mixed results
    via whoknowsmy1name
  • 14
    LeftPhilosoph... • 18m ago • We're putting cover sheets on the TPS reports now. Didn't you get the memo?
    via whoknowsmy1name

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

terrible coworkers workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs employee job malicious compliance work coworkers workplace coworker workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace tales from tech support tech support technical difficulties Tech
Scroll Down For The Next Article