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I haven't talked to anyone at work about this it's been brewing for a while. I'll try to make a long story short.
Over a year ago I got this new co worker who is quite a bit older than me, but is new to this line of work. Things were fine between us untill I slowly noticed things changing. He pretty much weaseled his way into a higher position(behind everyone's backs) by befriending the higher ups with his fun personality and has pretended to be much better at this job than he really is.
Whenever we work together(which is rare) I immediately notice his questionable knowledge and lack of experience. I wouldn't care if he wasn't in the same department as me, but he is now starting to get things to be his way and I'm feeling left behind.
Anyway, my issue is my double feeling because on one hand I seem to like the man, he does have a charm and if things had different circumstances he would probably be a close coworker. On the other hand, I feel like he is a disingenuous slimeball who even to this day is still keeping his position somewhat of a secret and he got everything handed to him due to seniority while I've been working hard here for years. With the new young guys coming in he tries to be their superior. With me he doesn't and whenever I bring this issue up even vaguely I can see him getting very uncomfortable, even intimidated. The latter tells me he knows he went about things the wrong way.
I want to confront him more openly but I fear my own frustration is gonna escalate things and turn this into a conflict that will get the boss involved. On the other hand he should definitely know about my frustrations. He has even remarked like is everything ok between us etc. If anybody here every experienced something similar at work it may help me if you shared your experiences.
To get this out more in the open, it's the secrecy that really grinds my gears as well. And perhaps to make him think twice next time he tries to orchestrate changes behind the backs of his coworkers.
Over a year ago I got this new co worker who is quite a bit older than me, but is new to this line of work. Things were fine between us untill I slowly noticed things changing. He pretty much weaseled his way into a higher position(behind everyone's backs) by befriending the higher ups with his fun personality and has pretended to be much better at this job than he really is.
Whenever we work together(which is rare) I immediately notice his questionable knowledge and lack of experience. I wouldn't care if he wasn't in the same department as me, but he is now starting to get things to be his way and I'm feeling left behind.
Anyway, my issue is my double feeling because on one hand I seem to like the man, he does have a charm and if things had different circumstances he would probably be a close coworker. On the other hand, I feel like he is a disingenuous slimeball who even to this day is still keeping his position somewhat of a secret and he got everything handed to him due to seniority while I've been working hard here for years. With the new young guys coming in he tries to be their superior. With me he doesn't and whenever I bring this issue up even vaguely I can see him getting very uncomfortable, even intimidated. The latter tells me he knows he went about things the wrong way.
This is very common in the workplace and has happened to various degrees at the places I've worked. After some more amount of time, if the co worker you speak of keeps getting promoted ... his only job may be telling you and your peers how your numbers need to be better and who've they've hired (without your input), and you don't need much technical knowledge to do that.
But it's the goal of most to ingratiate themselves with management and to show they know more than they do and make as much $ as possible.
As a 2nd point, though this doesn't apply directly to your story, most people will do anything in their power to 'not take a paycut'. So, it does happen where somebody older with more raw years of experience but less (if not zero) years of experience can be hired higher or even be a supervisor of somebody who knows the line of work much better. Then, the goal is for them to fake it until they make it. It happens quite a bit actually.
As a 3rd point, I will say ... although everybody as a generality is after the dollars and less work, there are owners who appreciate hard work and technical knowledge (or at least the thirst for that knowledge) and there are owners who appreciate those who can talk big, have charisma, and are 'on board' with the idea of some lofty revenue goal and cracking the whip as hard as they can. Think of it as a dichotomy that sets the attitude for the company.
This is very common in the workplace and has happened to various degrees at the places I've worked. After some more amount of time, if the co worker you speak of keeps getting promoted ... his only job may be telling you and your peers how your numbers need to be better and who've they've hired (without your input), and you don't need much technical knowledge to do that.
But it's the goal of most to ingratiate themselves with management and to show they know more than they do and make as much $ as possible.
As a 2nd point, though this doesn't apply directly to your story, most people will do anything in their power to 'not take a paycut'. So, it does happen where somebody older with more raw years of experience but less (if not zero) years of experience can be hired higher or even be a supervisor of somebody who knows the line of work much better. Then, the goal is for them to fake it until they make it. It happens quite a bit actually.
As a 3rd point, I will say ... although everybody as a generality is after the dollars and less work, there are owners who appreciate hard work and technical knowledge (or at least the thirst for that knowledge) and there are owners who appreciate those who can talk big, have charisma, and are 'on board' with the idea of some lofty revenue goal and cracking the whip as hard as they can. Think of it as a dichotomy that sets the attitude for the company.
Yup, that does describe him. I don't find it a respectable way to go about things in life, but I've been professional so far(ironically this makes me fake in a way as well, pretending to like this person in order to upkeep the team spirit) without letting it obviously affect me but I am losing my patience. I feel like if I don't get this out there it's gonna drive me nuts.
The way I'm thinking is I'm not gonna get in his face about this specific issue. I'll just talk to him and steer the conversation into that direction and bring it up.
You should realize confronting him won't fundamentality change anything but confrontation has its pluses, which is allowing you to speak your mind. But your coworker isn't going to change his ways and it doesn't seem like he has done anything that would warrant your boss to change him either. After you confront him, it would be obvious you are not his friend so he may do more to undermine you behind your back. Just be prepared.
To get this out more in the open, it's the secrecy that really grinds my gears as well. And perhaps to make him think twice next time he tries to orchestrate changes behind the backs of his coworkers.
I'm curious how the coworker 'pretended' to be better at his job than he actually is. I mean, that should be something demonstrable and not something you can B.S. your way into.
Is he a manager? Does he actually have the authority to change things? and what type of things is he changing? Are the changes for better or worse?
If the guy's a poser, just give him time and he'll make a stupid mistake and be revealed for what he really is.
I've never had that happen to me, but many years ago, my husband had a problem who seemingly had the higher-ups bamboozled only in this person's case, he would put in for a full 8-hour day while coming in late, leaving early, and taking long lunch hours almost daily. It bothered my husband so much that he actually kept a record of his co-workers coming and goings for a month (because it meant more work for him as they had the same job and job title) and then showed it to their mutual supervisor. The result of this was that my husband was reprimanded for doing so -- the "cheater" was more of a charm guy and was friends with some of the higher-ups, whereas my husband just did his job and was not socially outgoing at all (although he was pleasant). After that, my husband developed a bad attitude, and it was probably to everyone's relief when he found another (better) job within a couple of months.
The point of the above being that if you try to do the "right" thing, it might backfire on YOU.
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