Training an assistant

[raindance]

How would you approach an assistant who wishes to have more "responsibility" but is no good at the basics?

I have been assigned a new assistant who has not been in employment very long and this is her first permanent post.  It has been my experience that many admins just starting out on their careers are often very proficient in a wide range of computer packages, but are not conversant with office practice.  Simple office procedures, how to address people, how to write a letter, letter and document layout, minute taking, maintaining a diary, problem solving etc etc are a complete mystery to this person.  So I have set about training her, and am investing quite a bit of my time in showing her how things should be done.  

Now I hear that my assistant wants "more responsibility" when she has only been in her post a month or two and is making the most fundamental mistakes.  And don't get me started on her spelling!  At the moment, she is undertaking basic things such as copy and audio typing, photocopying, emails etc.  There are large parts of my workload that she won't ever be able to do as some of it has to be assigned to a named person (i.e. me).  

I trained at an excellent college.  My fellow students and I received a very good grounding in all matters concerning a business, along with a strong "finishing" element (we had classes in grooming, deportment, interior design, flower arranging and event management). This was only a preparation for work -  I learned a huge amount in my first job, and each job I have had has given me lots of opportunities to expand my knowledge and skills.

Even though I say so myself, I think my new assistant has a great opportunity to learn from a successful and experienced admin.  How do I teach this person, who thinks she can do everything but can't in actuality, to walk and then run, without appearing to be patronizing, and without getting exhausted in the process?  I would be happy to think I could hand over XYZ projects, give her guidance and let her make the small mistakes that everyone makes from time to time, but what if there is a great deal of money and our company prestige riding on the back of these projects - situations where mistakes are just not part of the deal?

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Many thanks.

Raindance

[gee4]

Rain,

I appreciate we all started out at the bottom, but I have always been a real stickler for accuracy and procedures....maybe it's me being anal as a Virgo, who knows!  Has your assistant got a probationery period tied into her contract?  If so, then use that to emphasise the need for her to get to grips with office procedures etc. and indicate that a review will take place in 3 or 6 months, whatever is appropriate.

If not, then use it as an excuse, mainly for her to understand that she has to be employed long enough to prove herself before she takes on additional duties and responsibilities, and also for you to maintain her progress ie. is she progressing?  is she coping?  can she multi-task?  can she be relied upon?  can she manage a project?

I would say it can take years to move up the ladder but if you show willing and do a good job, then and only then, will you be given more responsibility.  After being in my current job a few months, I was given more tasks.  Even in the past couple of months, I have been given more responsibility.  It's a two-way process, do a good job and you will be trusted with more.  Prove yourself and you will be relied upon.

I cannot believe she is expecting to run before she can walk.  Why don't you even go out of your way to show the mistakes she is making and indicate if she is willing to take more time to improve these little things, that she may be trusted with more in due course.

Good luck!

[diamondlady]

I don't feel making this persons mistakes visible a good idea, it would almost backfire and make it look bad that you don't want to train this person as you are in fear of loosing your own post. Just my thoughts on that.

I do however, like the idea of a timeframe to put on this person to slow her down a bit.  I understand being anxious to get things started, I was the same way here, and I know there are reasons for going slow so you can learn things, heck I have been here in this post for 10 years and I'm still learning, which is really a good thing.  

Is there someone you can confide in to maybe show some examples of her mistakes and maybe have a meeting with this person in confidence of course, and maybe make some reasonable suggestions to this person. Maybe they don't know they are making mistakes and things are just fine and they think they are ready to move and they are not.  This certainly needs to be brought up to the trainee first too in a tactful way of course.

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you raindance.  I don't envy that kind of position, but I know you can handle it and will do the right thing.

Please let me know how things turn out.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[gee4]

I disagree - I always had my mistakes pointed out when I was a junior - it doesn't mean you are going to up and leave a job - it's just a learning curve.  If she's old enough to be in the job she's old enough to take the criticism.  We all have to learn from our mistakes.

[diamondlady]

However, there is an appropriate way to criticize.  That is not the way it should be, if it's a professional corporation, they WILL NOT expose her that way.  They should in confidence discuss it with her and move forward from there.  We can agree to disagree. Just my opinion.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

[Jackie G]

I had an interesting experience last week while temping.

I was covering for a PA (fairly new in post) who employed an assistant (first office job) just 4 weeks ago.  Of those 4 weeks, the PA has been off sick for nearly half, so the assistant has been on her own.

She is also terrified of the PA - it showed completely in the way she approached me to ask me things, and she seemed to relax completely when I treated her with respect and nicely!

She was only with me for 1 day (as she was also off sick!!) but I think I showed her how a true PA can handle things, rather than the way the incumbent in the post is clearly doing - others in the office had told me she was pretty unpopular, and had rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way since her arrival.  I spoke to her a couple of times on the phone and took an instant dislike to her too!

So anyway back to the subject at hand.  First of all, please can we all remember that this is an open forum which can be read by anyone, and where subjects are of an emotive nature, it is always wise to write a response, then sit back and review it prior to posting.  Sometimes you may find that something you have written will be mis-read and taken in a way you did not intend.  We are from a variety of cultures on this forum, and we must remember and respect that and each other at all times.

I agree about setting some sort of timescale.  I agree, partly, with Gee about pointing out errors - but not every one or you will completely demean the poor girl.  What about taking something that has a major impact elsewhere and showing her how it should be done.  Maybe a period of her actually shadowing you and what you do? - I know it may be a pain, but it may prove worthwhile in the long run - as you said, Rain, you have already invested a great deal of time and effort into this girl's development.

I think it's almost natural for us to want to run before we can walk.  We do it as babies learning to walk/talk, and I think we carry that through into the rest of our lives.  A little reining back, gently, does no harm!

Jackie, Peer Moderator
www.iqps.org

[countrigal]

Raindance,
I suggest that you talk with your assistant, one-to-one, and let her know you appreciate her desire to move on to other tasks and perhaps ask her why she's wanting to.  It may be that her skills and what she really wants to do aren't in the areas needed to be in the position that she's currently filling and that discussing this may let her (and you) understand this and perhaps have her move into a position that suits her skills/desires/expectations more.  It may be that she isn't really cut out to be a true admin if she doesn't have, and doesn't want to learn, all the fine finishing touches that we automatically use in our every-day duties as experienced admins.  Personally, I've never had any formal training what-so-ever for any admin type duties (except that one typing course - a semester - back in my sophomore year in high school), and yet I feel that I "finish" with the best of them.  I might not be able to arrange flowers, or decorate an office, but I can set up a meeting, type formal reports, informal communications, etc, and ensure proper grammar, spelling, etc are used.  I understand the business world I work in, and the proper means of communicating with whomever I need to contact (ie: via e-mail, through a secretary, in person, or through my boss).  I don't feel that education is necessarily what she's missing, but it may just not be what she's a natural at, nor what she's comfortable with, which is why I'm suggesting discussing with her what she expects out of the job and then set up a plan with her on how to get there -- if it's in your power.  Setting up the plan allows you to show her where you see she's needing some additional experience/time before moving on without "criticizing" her so much as educating her, and yet still get the outcome you're hoping to get -- a productive assistant who gets proficient at the duties you hand down to her.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[itsme_calista]

I think that a one to one with her would be a good way to talk about it.  Why not get her to list the skills she thinks she has and rate her own performance against them .. then get her to list some of the tasks she thinks she could take on and match her skills.

Sometimes the best way to learn is have a go ..... if it goes wrong she will learn if supported through the process, if it works then well done her  Are them some small tasks/projects that she could be given to start her off?

Callie

[kellinm]

This sounds like quite a fun challenge.  I read this and am wondering what she meant when she asked to take on more responsibility.  Can she define what that means to her?  It sounds like she is excited to have a job and wants it 'all' but she may not really understand the role of a PA (which I'm assuming is similiar to an Executive Assistant here in the states).  When I've mentored green assistants in the past I started out with the basics and built on that - if there's nothing else you're comfortable giving her at her level, then she needs to find ways to be productive.  

You may want to suggest some reading materials for her such as Inner Circle Assistant, by Joan Burge (my work bible) and/or the Complete Office Handbook.  I also believe that honesty is the best policy and suggest to her that she focus on her spelling, writing skills, etc.  If you create an open and mutually respectful environment for her, she'll be more comfortable with what you do or don't give her.  She needs to find her own working style so your challenge is to allow her to do that while guiding her to focus on getting her work done efficiently and accurately.

[Cathy S]

Does your company operate an appraisal/review scheme? if so could you use this to set her objectives with nice specific measurements so she can see her goals, her progress and have realistic expectations?

If there is no formal system not why not use an objective setting approach.  This will need you sometimes to advise on mistakes and how to avoid them, but also involves encouraging her to reflect on her own work.  Perhaps agree a series of steps that she will take with every piece of work (eg: read it over, spellcheck, check figures and calculations - whatever steps she needs to concentrate on to improve).  Also get her to take copies of her work (obviously not anything majorly confidential) and annotate with her development points (good and bad)

If you feel that to progress she needs to be given tasks that may be a little beyond her reach, ask her to write a checklist before starting the task and agree the steps with her, reviewing on completion so that she knows what she did well and what needs more attention.

All of these steps give you a way of having dialogue with her when she drops her standards, without needing to seem over critical, and yes it does take your time to set this up, but your effort should be repaid with a young admin growing in professional confidence, who can undertake some of your tasks, with very minimum supervision thus freeing you up to concentrate on tasks that you cannot pass on to her.

I would also try and bring others onboard with your approach to her training.  One of the biggest problems I have come across in a similar situation is an antagonistic attitude from colleagues receiving substandard work from a young secretary - all too often feedback is not given directly (or at all) and then the issues compound and suddenly the supervisor/mentor finds them self facing a catalogue of complaints, without specific examples to use in feedback to the junior.

Hope this makes sense and provides some little help

Good luck and let us know how things progress

Cathy

[raindance]

Thank you, all, for your replies to my posting.  I really do appreciate them, and will print them out and consider them very carefully.

It may well be that my assistant is thinking about the future and wishing to have a post similar to mine.   That's wonderful.  I really want her to succeed in this post and do well in the future.  This may sound ageist, but it isn't intended: she is very young, left school at the earliest opportunity and has lots of potential.  This is completely the opposite to my own situation, and I have to be sensitive to the fact that our education, training and experience are very different.

I will reflect on all your comments, but I think I am beginning to see a way through this.

Many thanks.

Best wishes,

Raindance