Two months into my internship
at The Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore as a guest relations officer (GRO), I
was tasked to guide a new trainee to conduct a proper in-room check-in. I
demonstrated the full process twice and asked if she had any further questions.
After which, I got her to try it once.
Halfway through her trial, she paused and asked for help as she could not remember what else that had to be covered. Since it was her first time, I decided to let her off and guided her through once again. I got the trainee to do the check-in one more time, hoping that she would have gotten the grasps of it. However, despite multiple times of repeating the steps, she still could not get it right and this resulted in me getting frustrated. My tone changed and I could tell she was afraid. At that moment, I realized that it was her first time learning how to perform an in-room check-in and I was once like her as well. We all have different learning abilities and each of us takes a different duration to adjust to situations. She might not have caught on to the jargons that I was using which led to her not being able to remember the steps.
How might I then make amends with this trainee?
REVISED: 20 Feb 2017
Halfway through her trial, she paused and asked for help as she could not remember what else that had to be covered. Since it was her first time, I decided to let her off and guided her through once again. I got the trainee to do the check-in one more time, hoping that she would have gotten the grasps of it. However, despite multiple times of repeating the steps, she still could not get it right and this resulted in me getting frustrated. My tone changed and I could tell she was afraid. At that moment, I realized that it was her first time learning how to perform an in-room check-in and I was once like her as well. We all have different learning abilities and each of us takes a different duration to adjust to situations. She might not have caught on to the jargons that I was using which led to her not being able to remember the steps.
How might I then make amends with this trainee?
REVISED: 20 Feb 2017
Thanks, Charmaine, for sharing this scenario. You might allow for a broader scope of reader feedback if you eliminated the first two sentences of the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Brad. I have made the necessary amendments. See you in class!
DeleteRegards,
Charmaine
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDear Charmaine,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing your (not so pleasant) experience. I can say that teaching and coaching another individual has the potential of leaving you with a variety of emotions, some of which could be negative.
I believe that keeping your emotions in check would have helped your case at that point of time. It was also good that you were aware of how you were once in her shoes and that she required time to learn the ropes.
I hope that the incident provided you with a learning opportunity and I look forward to your upcoming posts!
Cheers,
Amirul
Dear Amirul,
DeleteThank you for the advice. I agree that coaching another individual will leave me with a variety of emotions and that was exactly how I felt. As a senior, I felt that I should have understood her situation better and should not have lost my cool.
As we become seniors ourselves one day, I will definitely not repeat this situation and I hope that you would not do the same!
Cheers!
Charmaine
Hello Charmaine!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this experience. I used to be a senior archer in my archery club and I have trained a few of the newcomers. I could truly relate to your frustration because as trainers, we thought that the steps or procedures were easy to grasp since we were used to it. But many a times, we forget that there's always a first to everything.
Maybe you can share any tips and tricks that you have learnt to ease the learning process for the newbie. I realised that sharing tips was an especially helpful tool when the task requires one to remember a sequence.
Hopefully, when the need arises, this technique would be useful to you!
Hasta la vista,
Amelia Iesham
Dear Amelia,
DeleteThank you for your advice! Yes, I agree that teaching someone fresh to the environment can get frustrating but I guess we were once like them as well.
As a vice-captain of my netball team, I also had to coach my juniors and thinking back, I did provide them with some tips on how to further improve on their skills. However, I guess in that spur of the moment, I did not think of that technique and got myself annoyed.
Thank you for sharing and I will keep that in mind in the future!
Regards,
Charmaine
Reflecting back on the incident, I felt that there were many other ways to look into the situation besides letting my emotions get to the better of me.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, as Amirul mentioned, coaching another individual has the potential of leaving one with an array of emotions, both negative and positive. However, understanding that I was coaching a trainee who had absolutely no prior experience in this industry, I felt that I should have been more understanding and accommodating to her needs. Instead of getting frustrated and allowing my tone of voice to portray my feelings, I should have controlled my own emotions and understand that I was once like her as well. Frustration is inevitable but if one puts in the effort to be more understanding, I believe the trainee would have had a more conducive environment for learning.
Secondly, Amelia indicated that I could have provided tips on how to ease the learning process for someone new. This is a great advice and although some might not be receptive to it (since we all have different learning styles), I'm sure there would be no harm sharing. When I was once a trainee, my senior shared tips on how she dealt with the immense amount of information which helped her throughout her journey. I should have done the same to make the learning process easier for the trainee.
As i will be embarking on my Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP) in May, I too, will be learning something new. I am sure it will take me some time to get myself adjusted and comfortable with the new ways of operations. Transition is not always smooth sailing, but with the help of encouraging seniors, I believe this will make the process more enjoyable. Hence, as i progress through my IWSP, I hope that I would one day be that encouraging senior and I will definitely keep those pointers which Amirul and Amelia have mentioned in mind!
As it is important to maintain a healthy relationship with our colleagues, being accommodating, understanding and sometimes compromising will help to foster the relationship. We all want to create good will and this is where we can apply the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, where the accommodating mode (high in cooperation and low in assertiveness) would be the most suitable conflict management style.
Thank you for the advice and here's to working towards a better future with greater communication!
Regards,
Charmaine