I work for a not-for-profit and have enjoyed being productive in this job since starting a couple of years ago. My morale has, however, been negatively impacted recently due to the employment of a new, more senior staff member. She lacks basic skills, competence and suitability to work in the field. My own workload has increased significantly due to having to rectify her constant mistakes. The difficulty is that she’s a friend of the boss, and he is mentoring her. He is not aware of the extent of her incompetence, so I worry if I take any leave I will need to fix her work on my return, as well as catch up on my own. I do not want to be constantly going to my boss to vent my concerns and report her errors. What are some tactful ways to approach the problem without affecting my working relationship with my boss?

My first thought is why do you feel the need to manage your colleague? As frustrating as you might find it, I would let her do her job, and you focus on yours. If your boss is mentoring her, he is not being given the chance to understand where she needs support because you are constantly fixing her errors. We all work with colleagues who we may judge to be less than competent, but that doesn’t mean we should be taking on personal responsibility to bring them up to a standard we might expect. I would take some leave and enjoy the time away from work. If she is as bad as you say, that will soon become obvious to your boss if you are not there to fix things.

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