Manager realizes that his best employees are getting charged with more workload while the normal ones get more of a free ride, which seems unfair: 'Eventually my best person quietly told me they felt "punished for being good at their job"'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Aug 28, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Maybe you aren't that good of a manager if one of your employees had to point that out…

Sometimes I seriously doubt whether anyone who is appointed to become a manager at a job is actually qualified for the job position. I remember at one of my previous jobs where I used to think that one of the senior employees who worked in the same position as I knew much more than the manager. It got to a point where the boss had to ask this employee for help. This was unfair in my eyes, as one of those employees should have gotten the position instead of an outsider with a good resume that actually wasn't qualified to manage that kind of workload.

This story in u/AskManagers made me think of all those managers who are completely unqualified for their job, and in return they end up having everybody suffer from that. There are always employees that have been in the company for a while, and that would have been very good leaders to the team. Instead of the person that was actually appointed for the job, and that actually shouldn't have been. I always think "why". Why were they appointed for the job if they are completely incapable of performing it the right way? Do they have some kind of relation with somebody else in the company? Did they lie on their resume? I don't know what it is, but it makes me sick that the company would rather give the job position to an idiot like that instead of a senior employee who is actually qualified to do it.

Unfortunately, when we get a situation like this one where there is nothing left to do but accept the new manager, we just have to comply. Maybe a couple of months into the job, they will start to get the gist of how everything works and actually become capable leaders. In whichever case, there isn't much we can do about it other than complain to our coworkers. So it's better to just accept it. Luckily enough, they may even accept some constructive criticism that may expedite the process of them learning how to do the job they were hired to do. 
 

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  • 01
    Took me embarrassingly long to notice this pattern. Every time someone on my team delivered great work, my instinct was to hand them the next big/messy project because I trusted them to handle it. Meanwhile the average performers got the routine stuff and coasted. Eventually my best person quietly told me they felt "punished for being good at their job" since they never got a break while others did the same tasks on repeat with way less pressure. That hit hard because I genuinely thought I was r
    via Anishasahota
  • 02
    A woman sitting at a table with a laptop in front of her and looking burned out. Representative only.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A woman sitting at a table with a laptop in front of her and looking burned out. 

    Representative only. 

  • 03
    Changed how I distribute work since then, tried to spread the harder/high- visibility stuff more evenly and stopped treating "give it to the reliable one" as a default. Anyone else realize they were doing this? Curious how you balance trusting your best people with more work vs actually protecting their time.
    via Anishasahota
  • 04
    tedz2usa Well you should promote these high- performance team members; make a new role "senior analyst", etc. They get the harder/high-visibility projects and are compensated for the additional responsibility. The "average" performers are now incentivized to work hard to attain this title, to gain more trust and responsibility and commensurately -- higher pay.
    via tedz2usa
  • 05
    Aspen9999 You didn't realize it, your employee told you. Typical manager taking credit for what an employee did lol. Your employee will jump when they get the right offer.
    via Aspen9999
  • 06
    r_was61 Did you pay them More???
    via r_was61
  • 07
    Agnostickamel At no point giving them a raise was even considered.
    via Agnostickamel
  • 08
    Stacks of paper documents and file folders.
    via Wesley Tingey

    Stacks of paper documents and file folders.

  • 09
    rigidlynuanced1 I will never understand how clueless middle managers are.
    via rigidlynuanced1
  • 10
    Weary-Show-7506 Totally real story written by a suddenly aware real human person!
    via Weary-Show-7506
  • 11
    phoenix823 Nah, I give my best people the toughest jobs. They also get 3-4X the bonus of everyone else, higher salaries, more time off, and special treatment around comp days and T&E reimbursements.
    via phoenix823
  • 12
    Explore NC69 Are they paid like a top performer? Have they been considered for a promotion due to their work? If everyone is on the same level then its absolutely mismanagement and glad they finally spoke up.
    via Explore NC69
  • 13
    Fancy_Avocado 7497 so people who were slow and less able were paid the same for doing their allotted work? weaponized incompetence wasn't punished so there was no reason NOT to be lazy Did this manager have no experience with men at all? Weaponized incompetence is something young men learn early in life - in childhood. No young boy ever did work if his sister could be told by parents to do it instead.
    via Fancy_Avocado 7497
  • 14
    tcm0116 This is what's known as the "burden of competence." Side effects include: more work than everyone else, getting pigeonholed into a specific role, reduced opportunities for advancement, and burnout.
    via tcm0116
  • 15
    user4356124 Other POV. I was that high performer getting way more work than my peers and my peers were floating. I was happy with it because it has fast tracked me to management and now I'm a trusted advisor to our senior management team resulting in more pay, better titles and more flexibility. While my previous peers have been doing the same role for 5-10 years each (I am also now their boss). You just need to read what kind of high performer you have. Do they want movement? Or do they want to
    via user4356124
  • 16
    BlakeCutter It's important to promote them and compensate them. Also when you give them larger and tougher projects assign other people in your team to build them up as your right hand and extend their managing skills
    via BlakeCutter
  • 17
    Charming-Clue1987 My first real job had me doing the work of five people and traveling overseas 36 times in three years before I eventually burned out and had a mental breakdown. One of those trips was after a key supplier fired is and I found a replacement in 12 days 11 flights and 20 factories visited.
    via Charming-Clue1987

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manager workload unfair overworked-employees
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