Training offers ignored? Here is how to address a tech-averse remote worker without letting fear of community backlash hold you back.
EXPERT OPINION BY ALISON GREEN, INC.COM COLUMNIST @ASKAMANAGER
Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues—everything fromhow to deal with a micromanaging bossto how to talk to someone on your teamabout body odor.
Here’s a roundup of answers to three questions from readers.
1. My new employee refuses to learn technology
I have a new remote employee who is resistant to learning our basic technology systems: Microsoft, Sharepoint, calendars, Doodle polls, just about everything. She is familiar with Apple products but that’s not what we use (and can’t change just for her). I’m not sure whether she’s unwilling or unable to learn. Our whole team has offered training support, whether from us or from online tutorials, classes, etc., but she has largely ignored the offers. Instead, she asks someone else to do basic tasks (like scheduling meetings and filing email attachments in Sharepoint), which others can do in five minutes but shouldn’t have to — this is part of her job.
I’m at a loss for what to do next. I’ve questioned for weeks whether she can do the job at all. I have reason to believe she might badmouth the company if we were to let her go and she is very well-connected in the community we serve, but I know fear of retribution is not an excuse for keeping her.
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It sounds like it’s time to say very directly, “We do need you to learn how to do XYZ and have training to help you do that; it’s a critical requirement of the job and not something we can be flexible on. To keep you in the role, I need to see you start taking the trainings and learning these skills in the next week. Is that something you’re up for doing, or do you feel the job isn’t for you?”
If she agrees to learn and then doesn’t make any move to do so, at that point you really do need to let her go. If she’s going to badmouth you regardless, there’s not a lot you can do to stop her but sometimes having started with “do you feel the job isn’t for you?” can make it feel like a mutual decision where she had some agency, which can help the parting feel more amicable.
