About a month ago, a new intern named Farah began working in Miu Miu's PR department. This is her first internship and due to this, she is not as experienced to handle the day-to-day workload at hand. I know that she was hired because my boss saw a "spark" in her - something that despite her non-traditional appearance, background, and attitude as an intern for a luxury brand like Prada, she was someone who would greatly benefit from this experience.
However, since day 1, I have not seen the "spark" my boss saw in her. I find her to be unmotivated, lazy, and rude. As she only comes in twice a week, she was hired to assist in making sure that all of the samples are being trafficked smoothly. I have tried my best to train her in the most professional and straightforward way, but not only does she not seem to grasp the tasks of a PR intern, she seems to be irritated with her level of responsibility. I find that her being around essentially creates even more work for me because she very seldom completes a task properly.
Being that I rarely see my boss face-to-face, I knew that she was most likely not aware of the situation at hand and I have been struggling with whether or not I should inform her. On one hand, it is unfair that Farah is receiving the same amount of credit as I am for doing none of the work, and her behavior is unprofessional and rude. On the other hand, I felt as if it was not my place to talk poorly about someone who should be my peer who might actually have an explanation for her behavior.
I knew that there needed to be some changes in my relationship with Farah, so I decided to talk to her about it first. We went to lunch together and she explained to me that she comes from a non-traditional homelife and has certain obligations like caring for her siblings because her parents are not always around. Additionally, she is taking classes at Brooklyn College and commutes about an hour and a half into the city from Long Island for both this internship and school. Upon hearing this, I decided to cut her a break and felt that she was making the best of her situation by trying to gain experience in the workforce and move away from her family. We left things on a positive note and I was ready to give her another chance.
Instead of being more proactive and picking up on the work environment, Farah did not seem to improve at all. In fact, she began coming in even later in the day to simply sit around and even complained to my boss that she had nothing to do because I did not give her any responsibility. After hearing this, I knew that I needed to talk to my supervisor. I explained to her that Farah has nothing to do because she comes in so late that all of the tasks for the day have been taken care of. I also told her the truth about her attitude and lack of motivation.
I felt as if this situation put me in an ethical dilemma because I did not want to be looked at as a "suckup" or try to seem as if I was any better than Farah by talking badly about her. However, I knew that it was unfair for me to put up with her ways and not speaking up would result in her being praised and credited for work she did not do. In the end, I was able to discuss the situation professionally with my supervisor and saw immediate changes as soon as she was informed of what was going on. Although Farah and I have even less of a friendly relationship than we did before, I felt as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders for being honest and know that I made the right decision by speaking up.
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