A Funny Thing Happened at the Office...
We had a tough night at work the other day, which wasn't made any easier by a particular brand-new rookie. It was hard to get frustrated with her though, because she was obviously trying very hard and doing her best.
So at the end of the shift, I mentioned in passing that I appreciated how hard she had worked. No big deal, right?
Turns out she's a friend-of-a-friend, just out of school, and terrified that she's going to screw up. It gets back to me that my words of encouragement were incredibly appreciated and she's been all cheerful and not thinking she can't hack it and stuff.
People are starting to take things I say seriously.
This is scary.
So at the end of the shift, I mentioned in passing that I appreciated how hard she had worked. No big deal, right?
Turns out she's a friend-of-a-friend, just out of school, and terrified that she's going to screw up. It gets back to me that my words of encouragement were incredibly appreciated and she's been all cheerful and not thinking she can't hack it and stuff.
People are starting to take things I say seriously.
This is scary.
posted by Ted @ 16:37
4 Comments:
At 15/12/07 21:14 ,
Yankee John said...
so you've encouraged someone incompetant who will kill someone someday?
I'm kidding of course, but you play in a world where everyting's for keeps. How big a temptation or danger is it in your line of work to coddle those who really don't belong?
Now there's a deep question for ya.
At 16/12/07 11:15 ,
Ted said...
Not much of a temptation, really. It gets pretty frustrating working with people who just don't get it.
The challenge is differentiating the people who don't get it from those who have potential but no experience (e.g. this post).
Keep in mind that we're all ignorant when we start.
At 16/12/07 19:00 ,
KAISER ANDY I said...
Are there regular reviews for newbies, or actions taken only upon multiple complaints or incidents?
At 16/12/07 22:38 ,
Ted said...
As a general rule, any new hire in this industry goes through a probationary period (usually between 2 weeks and 90 days), during which she's monitored by training officers on a one-to-one basis. At the end of probation the TOs' evaluations (among other things) are used to decide whether or not to offer permanent employment.
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