Conference "Non"attendance

RuthG

I went to a conference recently with a colleague. Whereas I attended the conference and sessions as we were supposed to, she basically skkipped the entire conference and sat by the pool. This made me really mad. Do you think I should report her to our manager or to HR, or just let it go? She basically got a free vacation....

HRforME

Honestly, there are some times you just have to let it go.  Especially if you need to continue to have a good working relationship with this individual. You obviously learned more than she did.  And hopefully that knowledge will further your career over her career.    Otherwise it could become a she said/she said situation.  And while I hate to say this because I am one who would attend the sessions, by "tattling" you might lose more respect and trust than she will by not attending the sessions.

I would ask myself what I would hope to gain by telling...Do I want justice/revenge? Do I want her disciplined/fired? Do I want the company to change policy on who gets to attend conferences and possibly to lose the privilege of attending conferences altogether? 

But I would not lie to HR or the boss if asked about her attendance.   If there is any type of company policy where you must tell, then do so.  I would even provide to HR/boss a writeup about what I learned at the conference.  Possibly even be willing to give a talk/overview to your whole group on what you learned.  Use this to your advantage.  She obviously can't use it to her advantage.

 

 

BKate

That's a great answer. I particularly like the idea of focusing on the positive benefits of attending the conference and writing up what you learned/offering to give a presentation afterwards. Turning in the other employee might make you feel better in the short term but probably will only hurt in the long term.

LadyAnn

I would be mad, too, because I would look at it that this person cost the company X for the conference cost, X for the hotel, etc. and I would know that it would come out of my profit sharing. 

Does your company require a trip report?  If so, make sure that you include times, conference session titles and group leaders. Even if it doesn't, maybe you could submit one to your manager anyway.  Maybe the manager will decide to probe your colleague and find out the information anyway.