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carturo222
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25 Sep 2011, 10:38 pm

I recently got hired as an editorial middle-manager at a small publishing house. It's my first-ever job that's actually related to my interests, and I'm loving it. At the same time, a guy was hired as a part-time employee who would basically do the same tasks I'm doing, but for just two weeks. I scored higher than he did on the selection tests, so I got the permanent job and he got the temporary one.

On our third day I had already finished my first assignment with impeccable speed, and was already underway my next one, and he asked me for some advice on how to complete his, which was roughly the same size and difficulty as my first one. I showed him step by step how I summarized important parts, how I chose the relevant lines of result tables, and so on. He was quite impressed by my methods.

Next thing I know on the next day, he had quit because he didn't feel comfortable with the job.

Did I intimidate him? I admit I wasn't exactly humble when I showed him that I was a more capable editor, but was it wrong to let him know by how much?



VIDEODROME
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25 Sep 2011, 10:47 pm

Well if it was a temp job maybe he didn't feel motivated to increase his knowledge? I mean sure under your guidance he could have become better and more skilled but still be out of a job in 2 weeks.



League_Girl
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25 Sep 2011, 11:28 pm

No you didn't bully him.



izzeme
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26 Sep 2011, 3:45 am

no, you did not; he asked for your advice, and you gave it to him.

the story would be different if you did what you did without him asking, but in this situation there is no blame on you



gadge
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26 Sep 2011, 4:00 am

X4 nope thats not bulling.

thats being very good at your job, and helping when asked for advise :wtg:


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carturo222
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28 Sep 2011, 12:37 pm

Update: after he quit, I was assigned to finish the text he had been working on. I began a total rewriting of the material before I remembered that he had already written a couple of pages. Because now I'm working at the PC station he was using, I found the file he created. Until then I had no idea how inept he was. In my daily report email, I wrote, "nothing usable was found."
On the next day, our supervisor (a very nice, kind young woman) took me aside and lectured me on teamwork and diplomacy. I could see why she was concerned about the tone of my remark, and gave her a satisfactory answer. Basically, she wanted to be reassured that I would be less drastic when assessing my coworkers' performance, even if they were no longer present.
A brief moment of alarm that I managed to sail gracefully.



amojak
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29 Sep 2011, 7:55 am

hi,

That goes to show one of our weaknesses in the workplace, painful honesty, sure they guy wasn't any good at his job, you know what you are good at.

Instead of receiving praise from a manager you got grilled for being viewed as basically insensitive.. That is a weakness for the NT Manager in some ways as the goal of the company is to primarily make money by getting the line of work done and done efficiently.

there is a place for "touchy feely" management and a place for ruthless efficiency. Both have to work together and recognise the others benefits...

Look at the Bill Gates / Steve balmer relationship, that is two opposites with a common goal.

Bill