What to Do When Your Procurement Colleague Isn’t Pulling Their Weight

If there’s one truth in procurement at the moment, it’s that we’re all extremely busy. We’re busy with everyday negotiations, for example, figuring out what to do if our suppliers want to pay in crypto. We’re also busy with bigger questions, for example, how to prepare our supply chains for the fight against climate change. With all of these things on our plates, what we don’t want to have to do is trouble ourselves with a colleague who isn’t pulling their weight. 

Yet, this is a situation many of us unfortunately find ourselves confronting. 

A colleague not pulling their weight can be anything from an annoyance to a downright liability. After all, procurement teams are often just that, teams, so when someone isn’t doing their job, someone else inevitably needs to do it. And as all of us know, doing one job in procurement can feel overwhelming at times, let alone trying to do multiple. 

So, if you find yourself in the uncomfortable situation of working with someone who isn’t pulling their weight, here’s what you should do:  

1. Prevention is the best cure

It may sound like the chicken before the egg, but one of the best ways to help a colleague who isn’t pulling their weight is to do a few things before the situation gets out of hand. 

These can include: 

• Before you assign a task to a colleague, check in with them as to their availability: after all, you don’t want to be the one to overwhelm them.
• Set clear expectations of what you expect when assigning a task to someone, including when you need it completed.
• Unblock roadblocks. Let your procurement colleague know that you’ll be there to help them clear any hurdles to completing something if needed.

2. Dig a little deeper

When someone isn’t pulling their weight and it’s affecting you, it’s natural to feel frustrated. However, before you accuse them of anything or raise the issue with your manager, it’s best to dig a little deeper … especially if the colleague is someone who has previously been a solid performer in your procurement team. 

Try taking your colleague to lunch or to have a quick coffee. Then, gently ask them how things are going. Perhaps, if you feel like you have the capacity, ask them if there’s anything you can help them with. Remind them that you’re there for them, no matter what. 

You might discover that what looks like them not pulling their weight is in fact something else entirely. Whatever it is, endeavour to show empathy and help if you can. You never know when you might need to ask for help in return. 

3. Offer opportunities to learn and grow

Very few people actually aspire to be lazy or to perform poorly. Most of the time, there’s a good explanation for someone not pulling their weight. Often, the reason is that they simply don’t understand how to do better. 

And this is where you might come in. 

If you’ve noticed this, in order to not embarrass your procurement colleague, you can offer to help your procurement team in general to learn and grow. Depending on what you believe is holding your colleague back, you can suggest that you might run a session on how to be super productive in procurement, or even how to tell your procurement manager that you have too much work. 

In procurement, it’s very difficult to achieve anything on your own (without your team). Ensure that you do what you can to help your colleagues (even if it feels like they aren’t pulling their weight), as it will no doubt help everyone succeed in the future. 

Have you ever worked with someone who didn’t pull their weight? What did you do to help them?