kimr10•7d ago

Vent: Heard a manager tell a new hire 'just figure it out' with zero training

I was grabbing coffee last week and overheard a manager at a tech startup tell a new employee to 'just figure it out' when they asked about the CRM system. The new hire looked totally lost, and I felt bad because I've been there. It reminded me that dumping someone into a role without a clear process is a fast way to burn them out. Have you ever been thrown into a job with no training and had to scramble to learn on the fly?

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.evan7d ago

Boy, that just rubs me the wrong way. I see this more and more in all kinds of places, not just offices. People confuse throwing someone into the deep end with building character when really it's just setting them up to drown. You wouldn't hand a guy a wrench and say "figure out how to fix that boiler" without showing him the shutoff valve first. It's a sign of a bigger problem where nobody wants to take the time to do things right the first time, and then everyone's surprised when the new person burns out or quits.

pat_coleman7d ago

Man, this hits home. A buddy of mine started at a warehouse a few years back and on day one they handed him a scanner and pointed at a row of pallets. No training, no walkthrough, just "get to it." He spent like three hours putting stuff in the wrong spots and the supervisor got mad at him for not knowing the system. They acted like he should just magically figure it out because the last guy did. He quit after two weeks and they acted all surprised, like they couldn't figure out why. You gotta teach people the basics first or you're just burning cash and goodwill.