Colleague shadowing me not fit for the job

Kevhog1988

The company i work for have taken on a new starter who was to be taking over some of my roles as i move into a new section of the company. The problem with this guy is that although he is a nice chap etc his written and spoken english is not good enough for him to complete the role he is required to do (Quantity Surveyor).  As he is not able to negotiate/communicate with contractors/clients effectively i am now finding that i have to somewhat double job and be the "face" of both accounts whilst i try to delegate the smaller items for him to complete and then i check it over aswell as complete my full role on the new account.  How should i approach the situation with my manager to tell them that the guy is not going to be capable of working on his own initiative?.

Glass fused light

The bit about own initiative (willing to learn to work on his own) is different to his language skills (able to work on his own).

Basically if he is lacking in language skills you need to discuss only this with the manager. If you are getting push back you need to move the checking of his work up to the manager as you are "busy" for the short while it will take to do the check. if the manager was involved in the interview process be diplomatic but point out what you have found to be important ie communication.

Politely make it clear that your focus will be on your new role and that while you are happy to help out with the transition you can't double job for ever. This is more important if you are changing manager.

If there are no written procedures in place a way to highlight the issue would be to get the new employee to do some up for the managers approval or client specific notes if there are some in place. This will have an additional bonus if you need to train in another person.

davo10

Perhaps a case of a short memory, is it possible you were like that once? Teach him what he needs to know, then let him gain experience.

seamus

Book in official "check-ins" between you and your manager at the end of each week to discuss how the new guy is getting on.

It's possible that the language issue is down to his nervousness, or potentially you find it more difficult to understand him than others might. Either way if you regularly update the manager on his progress, issues like this can be caught early on.

Kevhog1988

davo10 wrote: »

Perhaps a case of a short memory, is it possible you were like that once? Teach him what he needs to know, then let him gain experience.

It really isnt. i am here only 6 months but the clients are coming to me complaining about the language barrier also.  The fact of the matter is he is employed in a somewhat senior role and he is not able to perform what is required. I try to help as much as io can but it is difficult to do my own work when someone is asking you the same questions over and over.

Glass fused light

theemigrant wrote: »

It really isnt. i am here only 6 months but the clients are coming to me complaining about the language barrier also.  The fact of the matter is he is employed in a somewhat senior role and he is not able to perform what is required. I try to help as much as io can but it is difficult to do my own work when someone is asking you the same questions over and over.

As Seamus pointed out you need to formalise the handoff by updating the manager as to what you have done and how you think he has done.

Compile a list the clients to the manager who have commented on the language barrier.

As for the asking the same question over and over when you are trying to train someone the first thing you should hand them is the written procedures or if there are none give the person a pen and paper for notes.
Give the training in a structured way and referr back to the notes to see if the repeat item was covered.

Teyla Emmagan

theemigrant wrote:

It really isnt. i am here only 6 months but the clients are coming to me complaining about the language barrier also. The fact of the matter is he is employed in a somewhat senior role and he is not able to perform what is required. I try to help as much as io can but it is difficult to do my own work when someone is asking you the same questions over and over.

When you go through something with him list the steps that need to happen. Then have him write them down and repeat the whole thing over to you.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Is there a lot of jargon in your industry? When I started in my current role it was acronym central. Literally was like a foreign language. I'm used to it now and use it fluently myself, but I'm aware that new starts will struggle. Could you provide him with an acronym dictionary if it would help?