Classic situation -- a woman who has seen too many years at one workplace is now leaving. She is, understandably, feeling a little negative about the whole place. She's into her last week, and has been saddled with me as a shadow, to train.
It's not an easy job...inventory control for a big box retail outlet (yeah, yeah, the same one I've been boring myself at as lowly cashier). The weekly and monthly and quarterly product counts are scheduled, and important (read: deathly important). And she has been there long enough to feel that she knows best.
I have some tips for training your replacement. Try to:
- Get over your negative attitude, and make your replacement feel welcome.
- Remember you are not irreplaceable. (Hell, they weren't even that concerned about replacing you with me, it was just a sudden thought on the part of the GM.)
- Be aware that you may think you know better than all of the other staff in the store, but that mindset is probably why you're generally unhappy there.
- Not tell the person you are training "You will never get this." It does not 1) make the trainee feel welcome, nor 2) make you look good.
- Actually train your replacement. Yes, you can do it faster than I can, but I'm the one who has to continue doing it once you've gone.
I liked her prior to today. This evening, while I could still like her socially, I have very little respect for her.
As always, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
Lori
4 comments:
I know how you feel. There is a thing that drives me completely mad. It is when you ask for an explanation as to why something is done a certain way and you are told "Because, I told you to." or "Thats just the way its done."
I feel that it is a complete cop-out. The person being asked either doesn't know themselves or can't be bothered to properly teach a curious mind. Either way, it certainly doesn't make me feel valued enough to be taught why and how to do the job properly.
I had that job just out of high school - HATED IT!
Good Luck.
IH
Thanks, IH.
I'm up incredibly early because my brain is obsessively going over questions I want to ask, alternating with polite ways of saying 'show me some respect, dammit!'
Wow. "You will never get this"? Not helping you learn, but demonstrating that she can do it faster than someone who doesn't know how yet? (Big whup!) This woman sounds seriously insecure.
I still say you should hold 'em up for a raise; in fact if you have to train yourself you should get twice again as much.
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