How to word this?

[deedee]

Long story short:  my former organization was eliminated in a reorganization/merger and I was dropped into my present spot in February.  I had to quickly learn an entirely new set of skills and get up to speed as fast as possible, but I am finding out that my new co-workers are less than forthcoming.  What I need is a way to word my mid-year review to indicated that, although nobody would cooperate with me, help me, or even take the time to teach me certain tasks and procedures, I still have managed to learn all the necessary skills and am productive (in some cases, MORE productive than the new co-workers).  I don't mean to blast them, and don't even know if I should suggest that people have been unwilling or unable to help--but that is definitely the situation.  For instance, one of my new responsibilities is processing invoices in order to assure the correct accounting, something I had never done, but I was reasonably certain I could learn to do.  The woman who had been doing this, let's call her "R", claimed to know nothing about it, and when I asked for her help, she reacted as though I were asking for a kidney.  All I wanted was a little help walking through the process so I could make notes!  I was persistent and found another way to learn, but R must have got wind of it, because THEN she called and offered to show me!  Anyway, how do I say this without appearing to whine about the others, but make myself look resourceful?  (you have to pat yourself on the back around here; nobody else will!)

[raindance]

Oh egos!  I've been dealing with a mega-ego today. As I've said before, there is only room for one prima donna in my office- me

Slagging people off, if you will excuse the slang, is never very helpful.  What you probably need to do is to put yourself in a very good light here and ensure that you come across as pro-active and The Best Thing Since Before Sliced Bread.  

I would suggest that you say something along the lines of "I am eager to contribute in any way I can to the efficient running of my section/department and would like training in .....".  If you are questioned about the input from your colleagues, you could say that you are aware they are very busy and may not have the time to train you.  Even if that is not true, at least you will come across as being understanding and gracious.  

With regard to your colleagues not being co-operative, you may not be aware of what happened before you took on your current role. I am just fishing in the dark here, but there may be some bad feeling left over from what happened before.  Change is not easy for people, particularly change, as it appears in this case, that is imposed on people.

Hope this helps, and I wish you success in your job.

Best wishes,

Raindance

[joysmile60]

Deedee - You should be proud of the way you handled this.  I've never understood people who don't want to help you learn something new; they're usually insecure and easily threatened. And they may feel like if they hold onto this precious knowledge, they won't be let go should they suddenly find themselves in a merger or takeover.   And, as raindance said, you don't know what happened there or what they were told before you arrived.

That said....I would probably use wording that included that you were "pro-active" and "resourceful" when learning/teaching yourself the new skill sets needed to perform the responsibilities of your new position, and  provide examples, not necessarily saying you couldn't get help from your co-workers, but definitely highlighting what steps you took to learn the job and get it done.  Hopefully, they'll be able to "read between the lines" and figure out that you didn't get any assistance.  But even if they don't, you don't come across as being a complainer, but as the resourceful person that you are.

Good luck!
:)60
Joyce

[countrigal]

There's always the old stand-by line -  With little or no direct (insert supervision, training, assistance, ect) was able to...  You can change it up to read something like:  "Became proficient at XYZ in only 2 months with little or no direct direct training, and am able to do x # in aa amount of time."  

'course you could also say something like "By attaining knowledge through (internet info, books, other services, etc) I have been able to become proficient in my duty of xyz in less than x months (or weeks) and am able to do x number in aa amount of time."

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[bethalize]

"Working independently" is another phrase. You could use this as a chance to emphasise your research skills, how through a mix of thinking, reading and asking people you learnt the process.

Your co-workers sound a bit mean.

Bethalize
Peer Moderator

[gee4]

Deedee - as the others have said and I was going to, state that you have been pro-active in your new role and have had to read a lot to gain knowledge.  I know that in the 9 months I have been in my new job reading is vital especially from the intranet - it's where you find out about the business.  

Do you attend meetings or take minutes?  I also find that this can add to what you already know.  I organise lots of meetings and therefore have access to many diaries and find this also informs and updates me as to what is happening.  I also attend some very technical meetings yet I still find it useful information cos someone might refer to it in conversation and then you at least know what they are talking about.

See if you can get more involved where you want to be involved - it will make you the fount of all knowledge in the company and the envy of others.  Therefore you will have an edge when it comes to promotion etc.  I find everyone comes to me to ask questions as I am PA to the director - that doesn't mean I know everything but at least staff think I might!  Use it to your advantage.

Hope helps.

G

[deedee]

Thanks so much--your input is much appreciated, as well as valuable.  It is often difficult to summarize one's situation and it helps to have this perspective.  And yes, my co-workers ARE a bit mean, but they were this little clique sort of group with various queen bee types who were on the outs with each other at various times, different factions, infighting, and so on.  I don't like to generalize, but it was 99% female, and my experience with women who have worked together closely for a long time has not always been good.  It was ugly, but as I wasn't directly involved, it didn't affect me so I didn't worry about it much.  As long as my work isn't affected, I tend to let these personality disorders slide.  However, the group was broken up in January and scattered to the four winds, then I was dropped into the center and held up as this sort of paragon (sure to make one disliked immediately!).  I am looking for another position of course, but in the meantime, I just keep my head down and do my work.