ren hoek
Footballguy
This woman was hired on to work a technical position. Former hairdresser. I'd been tasked with training her for it. She's wildly unprofessional, can't take criticism and has been a complete liability from the second the manager hired her without our input, and I'm the one getting #### on for it, but other than that she's an ok person. Today she forgot to enter in a patient history on the computer and asked me 'well why wasn't there a patient history?' I said, "because you didn't put one there." That's when she stormed out saying 'I'm gonna talk to personnel,' muttered something about 'gonna snap.' Here's a brief rundown and statement I'm thinking about turning in tomorrow.
I'd really rather not give up too much about personal details and line of work. So there's some redacted stuff here. But really appreciate the advice (or failing that, piping hot takes).
I'd really rather not give up too much about personal details and line of work. So there's some redacted stuff here. But really appreciate the advice (or failing that, piping hot takes).
I'm a total poopyhead on here of course, but I'm generally pretty easy in real life. What do I do going forward?Hello,
Just wanted to type a statement in the event there was any confusion. The assistant manager informed me the employee was complaining of a “hostile work environment,” and that I'd asked her “if she wanted to be a 41-year old flipping burgers.” She informed me of this in front of my coworker K_____. The look she gave indicated this was a serious issue that was actually happening and that I was guilty of something. I don't know this person's name and have rarely spoken with her beyond the time she helped with reimbursement for my practical exam.
J______ had been struggling to learn how to do the things required of the position, and would complain about having to work with children and how she wasn't sure if she liked the position. She'd mentioned in the first couple days how one of her first orders of business was to get some sort of gastrointestinal surgery once she got insurance, and then foot surgery after that. She talked about Donald Trump and her distaste for him on her first day, and in lieu of making things awkward I just kind of shrugged and said “yeah I know what you mean.” It's not typical that political opinions come up but I thought better of keeping things lighthearted as best I could.
She struggles with basic functions of the position. For example, the _____ machine. She was very afraid of hurting people with it and so I made it a point to hold off on having her use the machine in earnest until the last week of her training. We'd basically figured it's about a month-long learning curve and it would just have to wait until the last week. I'd also printed out some sample tabs of a blank record and highlighted different sections for data entry, because the program and forms are very confusing when you're trying to learn what goes where. I tried my best to teach her the different aspects of the job, recommending adjustments as gently and helpfully as I could, giving her praise when she did things right. I confess to not being as understanding when I have to tell someone how to do something a 5th, 6th or 7th time, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying.
Like I said, she had a lot of reservations about whether she wanted to pursue and apply herself to the position. I thought it'd make the job seem relatively more likable in the grand scheme of things if I related a story to her about how I used to work at McDonald's. I'm not the best at having a precise recollection of words that were said, but we were having a conversation about whether or not she likes this line of work. I said 'I remember working at McDonald's cleaning ketchup stains off the wall. I remember one time how these high school kids in a sports car came through the drive thru and looked at me like I was nothing. It was so humiliating. And so this is a pretty good job by comparison I think.' And that was that. I had hoped that by regaling a deprecating story about myself that it'd put the position in a better light for her. I am saddened and regretful that she took it the way she did. While the tasks of the position itself seemed to dismay and build anxiety for her, I've never once heard a complaint from a coworker, patient, doctor or manager about my treatment of her. I'd even asked my coworkers at one point after she'd left the office, 'do you guys think I'm being too hard on her?' After all, it's tough to get from novice to competence as a technician. To say it requires some level of criticism and correction is a massive understatement. They shook their heads 'no,' and Dr. ____ told me he was glad to have someone like me training her back there. I have trained many people dating back to my years at ______ for this exact line of work and things were always amicable and respectful. I would never in a million years bring up a person's age, outlook or otherwise unprofessional remarks to make them feel uncomfortable or ostracize them in any way. I invite you to speak with anyone I've worked with here if you have reservations about character.
I hope this clears things up. I wish J______ well and think it's unfortunate things didn't work out the way they probably should have.
Thanks,
-xxxxxx
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