Job Description
There’s a quiet crisis in many Kenyan workplaces—not dramatic enough for headlines, but serious enough to show up in missed deadlines, burnout, and the familiar phrase in office corridors or WhatsApp groups:
“Sisi ndio tunabeba hii team.”
(We’re the ones carrying this team.)
In many teams, a small group consistently does most of the work while others contribute minimally. It feels frustrating, but over time it becomes dangerous, eroding morale, performance, and trust.
A Familiar Pattern
James, an Operations Manager in Nairobi, led a team of 10:
- 4 high performers carrying most of the workload
- 3 average contributors doing just enough
- 3 consistently underperforming
At first, he relied heavily on his strongest people. It worked—until it didn’t.
Soon, the best performers were frustrated, one requested a transfer, and another began job hunting. In a performance review, one said:
“I feel like I’m being punished for being competent.”
That was the turning point. The issue wasn’t effort—it was leadership and systems.
1. Stop Overloading Your Best Performers
Many workplaces unknowingly reward competence with more work.
This creates imbalance, dependency, and burnout.
Fix it by:
- Auditing workload distribution
- Rebalancing tasks fairly
- Avoiding the habit of always assigning “critical work” to top performers
2. Address Underperformance Early and Clearly
Avoidance is common but costly. Underperformance doesn’t disappear when ignored; it shifts pressure to others.
Fix it by:
- Setting clear expectations
- Addressing gaps early and specifically
- Using structured performance improvement processes
Fairness requires honesty.
3. Build a Culture of Accountability
When accountability is weak, excuses thrive, and reliable employees carry the burden.
Fix it by:
- Making ownership clear for every task
- Using trackers or regular check-ins
- Reviewing performance collectively and consistently
4. Protect Your High Performers
Top performers rarely complain, they leave quietly.
Fix it by:
- Recognizing their contribution
- Avoiding over-reliance on them
- Offering growth, not just more workload
- Checking in on workload and morale
Retention is about fairness, not just pay.
5. Fix the System, Not Just the People
Chronic imbalance often comes from structural issues:
- Weak hiring practices
- Poor onboarding
- Unclear roles
- Lack of consequences for poor performance
If the system allows imbalance, it will repeat itself.
6. Don’t Confuse Loyalty With Performance
Long service does not equal productivity. Protecting low performance due to tenure lowers standards and demotivates others.
Respect experience—but measure results.
Final Thought
When half your team is doing most of the work, the problem is rarely effort, it’s equity.
Left unchecked, it creates:
- Burned-out high performers
- Comfortable underperformers
- A declining organization
James eventually redistributed work, addressed performance issues directly, and strengthened accountability systems. Six months later, performance stabilized and his top performers stayed.
People don’t mind working hard.
They mind working unfairly.
If you’re seeing this in your team, don’t normalize it. Fix it.
The post What To Do When Half Your Team Is Doing the Work of the Whole Team appeared first on Corporate Staffing Services.