My Associate will be the reason I quit
Hi all,
To be honest, I have no one to vent this to and would appreciate some workplace-politics advice.
I'm an Analyst 1 in a boutique bank IN NY, the office is about 20 or so people, but we punch above our weight and have great deal flow. Despite the amount of work, the culture at my office is great - we look out for each other (especially when it comes to workload/staffings) and everyone has great relationships with another.
Except one individual - my Associate. This guy is completely the opposite of the culture I mentioned above. Made up deadlines? He will do it. Giving me more work than anyone else VP and up would give me? He will do it. Absolute impoliteness/rudeness? He will do it. Dumping work that was intended for him to me? He will do it. Being completely ignorant to more efficient ways of doing something in order to pave the way for his method? He will do it.
Sure this must be a common experience, but I am finding this absolutely intolerable. I know I am a relatively good worker - I have had really good reviews and I have amazing relationships with everyone other than this guy. He is newly promoted, so that might be a factor, but fundamentally he is the opposite of what our firm is about and I just can't envisage staying to Associate level if he is always going to be my main touchpoint/closest senior.
I don't think I will be requested to provided year-end reviews on anyone (Analysts usually don't unless 3rd year), so how on earth can I flag this to someone? I don't want to overstep given I am so junior and maybe I am being unreasonable, but in general, how can I best navigate this to mitigate this situation as much as possible?
Any advice would be deeply appreciated.
Experienced same associate and ended up recruiting elsewhere. If you have good reviews with other people could try and get them to staff you on other projects/talk to your staffer and mention you'd like to work more with others. Tough situation and wish you luck
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s how you can navigate this tricky situation with your Associate:
1. Understand the Root Cause
2. Communicate Effectively
3. Document Everything
4. Leverage Relationships
5. Focus on Building Political Capital
6. Avoid Escalating Prematurely
7. Consider Long-Term Options
8. Maintain Perspective
By taking a proactive and professional approach, you can mitigate the impact of this Associate’s behavior while maintaining your reputation and relationships within the firm.
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/guide-to-office-politics-part-i?customgpt=1, How to deal with that associate??, Year 1 in consulting - tips, tricks, advice, and unspoken rules., Guide to Office Politics (Part I)
My very first year over w decade ago, me and my other analyst 1 had a douche associate. We eventually both went to our team head to gently complain but that didn’t do much. I never would have complained like that if my other analyst didn’t come with me.
He was eventually fired as he would disappear for a day or two always saying a family member died lol.
But what made him avoid me at work towards the end, was one time I received work from a director and then the associated dumped his work on me as usual. Normally, I would obviously do the directors work first, but this time I did the associates work first and did it slow.
When the director came by to see if I had questions, I said I had not gotten to it yet as I was doing another deck since I was told it was time sensitive and feigned confusion.
The director said please do my deck and then went and told the associate that when he assigns work to someone they should do it and not pawn it off. The associate came by later to yell at me and I was like dude you said it was needed to be turned fast, so I yours first. After that he kind of avoided dumping on me.
VP at a boutique bank in NY here also...and hope you're not talking about my firm, but feel free to PM me in case.
You mentioned he is a newly promoted associate. If so, unless he's being a complete dick to you (as opposed to getting frustrated occasionally during intense situations), I would cut him a bit of slack.
Others may disagree, but I think the analyst-to-associate role can be a very tough transition to make depending on personality, and that associate may improve significantly over time.
Idk about other banks, but in my situation, I was getting all kinds of feedback from senior bankers that I needed to balance, and it wasn't easy. There were a couple pieces of feedback in particular: (1) be proactive and anticipate client needs, (2) stop doing analyst work...they should be doing the work first and you should be outlining / reviewing, (3) mentor the analysts and give them the opportunity to step up.
#1 is likely the driver of the artificial deadlines. When you're a new associate, it's hard to anticipate things, so some err on the side of super early deadlines to give themselves room. If that's the case, speak with him. Tell him you have other deadlines to meet that are actually urgent and that you don't see timing being an issue on the the project you're on with him for x, y, z reasons. CC the staffer and/or other senior bankers if needed.
#2 and #3 are what causes associates to dump work on analysts. Personally, I hated reviewing work. I much preferred to do things myself, but gradually over time, I learned to delegate. Now, others are the exact opposite. they take this feedback to mean that analysts should take EVERY first stab at assignments with no involvement from the associate until after the first turn. In this case, first of all, communicate deadlines with staffer involvement to make sure you don't have too much on your plate. Second, talk with the associate directly. Say something like, "Hey, appreciate you giving me the chance to drive this one. I've never encountered this situation before, so would you mind spending 5 minutes so we can chat through this?" or "Hey, I'm happy to help with all these assignments, but I'm congiscent of the upcoming deadline, so is there any way we can divide this tonight? Happy to the pen after. Just want to get through this night."
If he reacts in a hostile manner to the suggestions above, then yeah, he's probably a dick, and you may want to explore other options. Getting staffers / senior bankers involved can be a good thing, especially if multiple analysts feel a similar way.
Hey I’m the poster here. Not sure if we are at the same firm (crazy if so). Appreciate the colour.
It’s now been 9-10 months since I made this post. The associate in question is almost in his 3rd year and there has been 0 improvements in what I said in my post.
Seniors at the firm are now involved but nothing is improving.
With that said, I am now lateraling. So, if anyone reading this is in a similar spot - my 2 cents is that in my situation, things didn’t improve, and I am moving on.
The trials and tribulations of the engine room eh
The other strategy which i was using (only works in certain teams depending on structure) is to just be really really good at your job and after a bit tell the staffer to stop putting you on projects with him
I have a similar story and unsure how to go about this. My principal is terribly rude and impolite for no good reason other than her own misery which she likes to spew on others. This person is also an anomaly on the team and I have been suffering for years working for her. Just nasty comments, negative tone or poor choice of words.
I am about to quit and the team is going to ask me what the reason is. I am inclined to mention this poor treatment as it should be known this person made my life hell. BUT at the same time, in order to keep a good reputation and leave on a good note, staying silent is obviously an option.
How should I think about this?
You should definitely tell them. If I were in their shoes I would want to know that info.
Far to many people try to "not burn bridges" on their way out, but lets be honest calling out poor behavior that caused you to actively leave your firm is not burning a bridge. Odds are the person with the shitty attitude does not even care about you, so why not let the good people in your firm really know how they can improve.
This just goes to show how one bad seed can destroy an otherwise positive culture, which is what keeps my up at night as a manager. I would be livid if I lost someone good because there was one jerk,
And where is the proof he is a jerk. For all we know OP could be a DEI Becky who hates to pull her weight and acts entitled. We already know the bar is lower for women. When was the last time we provided real feedback to them at a BB/EB because all we cared about is retaining them for our DEI KPI.
Well OP was able to say that this 1 person goes against the culture so is otherwise fine pulling their weight? Sad you're an ED..
OP here - I am a non-DEI male and was top bucket in both full-year and mid-year reviews since I made this post
Was at a sweaty EB before and what some people had luck doing was telling the staffer they never wanted to be staffed with one specific Associate or there would be issues. However, this ONLY works if the analyst is considered very good and has a lot of built up credibility, otherwise it can backfire.
Bro stop being an incel, it’s weird
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