[Robin]

I'm struggling with having to train someone to be my backup for daily gift entry. Our assistant has NO experience with Excel, minimal with Word, NO experience with mail merges. Myself and others have tried to show her the ropes with Excel and Word but she's not a good study. I'm trying to make a case that this person's lack of experience makes her a very poor choice for a backup. Anyone agree? Disagree? What kind of experience do you look for? I'm at my wits end. Thanks.

[haferkamp]

I don't hire, train, or manage gift entry staff, but my current job involves a good bit of gift entry, and my previous position here was entirely gift entry.

From what you say, this person sounds poorly suited to the job. You have my sympathies!

When I was hired, I had a few years' experience working with Excel and Word (though all I know about mail merges, I learned here). I'd also worked extensively with other database programs at previous jobs, including an accounting/billing system and a student information system.

I also arrived with a solid appreciation for accuracy and data cleanliness, the ability and willingness to learn quickly, a keen analytical wit, and a general high comfort level with computers and software--I'm sure those were big factors in my hiring.

[n1ugu]

Maybe the best argument would be for her to do the work while you are there and if she cannot do it, voila, pick someone else!

[Anne Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin

I'm struggling with having to train someone to be my backup for daily gift entry. Our assistant has NO experience with Excel, minimal with Word, NO experience with mail merges. Myself and others have tried to show her the ropes with Excel and Word but she's not a good study. I'm trying to make a case that this person's lack of experience makes her a very poor choice for a backup. Anyone agree? Disagree? What kind of experience do you look for? I'm at my wits end. Thanks.

Well I totally agree with you that this she is a poor choice. Is there anyone else who could be your backup, or are you stuck with her?

I imagine that your organization wants accuracy in the RE database. If she cannot grasp the concepts, then it doesn't sound as if the gift entry she does would be very accurate anyway. Who will have to re-do her work? I've been through that myself and having had to re-do the incorrect work of someone else has to be one of the most frustrating things.

Everyone has to start somewhere, but not everyone is cut out to do gift entry and so on. If she's not a good study as you say, perhaps her "talents" could be used elsewhere in the office. What does she normally do if she doesn't use Excel or Word? Even dinosaurs like myself use Excel and Word - these days what office worker doesn't? Or at least something very similar?

Best of luck!

[Melissa Siobhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin

I'm struggling with having to train someone to be my backup for daily gift entry. Our assistant has NO experience with Excel, minimal with Word, NO experience with mail merges. Myself and others have tried to show her the ropes with Excel and Word but she's not a good study. I'm trying to make a case that this person's lack of experience makes her a very poor choice for a backup. Anyone agree? Disagree? What kind of experience do you look for? I'm at my wits end. Thanks.

I have a few thoughts that I have learned myself on this topic.

a) a true backup should not be minimally trained but equally trained to do what you do (in case of the "hit by a bus" theory).

b) just because I know something does not mean that I can teach it. Sometimes professional training is better than co-workers showing you how they do things as we all have different learning styles.

c) if people do not want to do something they avoid learning it (I admittedly do this myself sometimes). Her supervisor, if not you, needs to get a real feel for whether or not she wants this and how to encourage her to learn this despite her feelings about it.

d) documentation is essential. providing policies and procedures and even soliciting feedback from them on the format and content of the documentation can help the user learn and remember better than simply being shown and then not having to do it for 3 months.