'Everyone finds out the trainee is actually incapable of doing the job': Boss insists employee stop blaming new hire for any mistakes, employee maliciously complies

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 24, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Training the new person requires an endless supply of patience. They're going to have lots of questions, make a ton of mistakes, and they'll take up a lot of the time that you've set aside to do your own work. 

It's also really rewarding to train a new person if they're learning at the right speed. But this person wasn't happy about their trainee. U/ForceAccomplished890 was training the person who was going to replace them! They knew that their boss really disliked them (never a good position to be in) and was hoping to push them out as soon as the new person was trained. So they threw up their hands and maliciously complied with their orders. People leave bad bosses, not bad jobs, and this person's story is a great example of that. 

Some people choose to stay at jobs where they don't get along with their bosses, but it's better to leave before it becomes intolerable. It seems like multiple people in the company were mentally checked out already. As for this person, they heard their ridiculous orders and agreed to go along with them, no matter how impractical they might be. 

After that, read about the tiny IT department that kept begging their bosses for new equipment, only to be told to rent it for thousands of dollars each month… whatever you say, boss! 

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    1487 S ICELAND EHF CAT 3 95-079 UMBUDAMIÐLUN UMBÚÐAMIÐLUN S ICELAND EHF CAT 3 S ICELAND EHF CAT 3 UMBÚÐAMIÐLUN 46-535 UMBÚÐAMIÐLUN 14-6832 UMBÚÐAMIÐLUN UMRÚC.ÐLUN 14-4489 UMBUÐAMIÐLUN
    via Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash
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    Stop blaming the person I'm training for the rookie mistakes he has been making? Very well. Okay, so this one happened a while back actually and it's not as epic as some others here, but still. I used to work as a temp in a cardboard factory. I started out assisting the machine operators in their work, but after the person
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    who managed the materials (cutting forms, printing stamps and ink), who henceforth shall be refered to as Dave, was forced to take a week off (paid vacation he was forced to take before the end of the year, and the end of year rush was coming up) and things went south because the floor managers couldn't keep up with his job and their own at the same time, the company decided we needed a second person to do Dave's job to avoid situations like that in the future.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    They tested several people by having them work together with Dave for a couple of hours and apparently I was the only one who did a decent job and so I was told Dave would be training me. I was never asked if I was interested, I didn't even know they were looking for someone to help Dave until I arrived at work one monday and my schedule said I would be working with Dave. Ofcourse, I didn't mind, because since I was already capable of helping operate 8 of
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    the 10 machines in the factory, I figured this was a great way to further solidify an actual contract with the company. Now, during his week off, Dave had met a woman and they had started dating. She would constantly text him while he was at work and it showed in his productivity. Ofcourse, COO figured his drop in productivity was because I was slowing him down. As time went on, Dave's gf moved in with him. Now, I haven't
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    mentioned this yet, but the factory had a 2-shift system. Early shift and late shift. Most of us worked in rotating shifts, but Dave had a fixed early shift (because he had to be there on monday mornings). Now, this meant Dave and his gf could never go out on weekdays and even had to go to bed quite early, so Dave requested to be put back on rotating shifts once he had finished training me. The COO said he would look into it, but
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    kept giving Dave excuses. So Dave started interviewing for another job. Then came the day me and Dave were called into the COO's office and got yelled at for "not pulling our weight" and stuff like that. One of the things mentioned was repeated tardiness. Dave couldn't deny that one, he had overslept several times in the last few months. But I had only been tardy once, because of a flat tire. So, wanting to set the record
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    straight, I tried to interject about my flat tire and the COO snapped at me to "keep my trap shut" while he's talking. So after his rant and he dismisses us from his office I once again bring up the flat tire and he just snaps at me again that I should've just avoided having a flat tire. That was the last drop for Dave. He got home, wrote his letter of resignation, mailed it to the COO and accepted one of the job offers he had gotten that week.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    For the next three months I'm stuck doing all the work on my own. Also during this time, due to a change in the laws in my country, I might become homeless, unless I get a contract. So I start asking the COO for a contract, since I've been there 2 and a half years as a temp at that point. Just like with Dave he keeps giving me excuses. After an incident with them refusing any vacation time request I put in that included a
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    monday, they finally gave me someone to train to be my second. Let's call him Abdul. About a month after I started training Abdul, I get called into the floor manager's office. Apparently a mistake was made somewhere and he asks me how that happened. Now that was the first week I was letting Abdul work independantly without me constantly telling him what to do. So I tell the FM that Abdul had done that job and I had not yet
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    had the chance to inspect his work. The FM grumbles but just dismisses me. A week later I get called in again for a similar situation. So again I point out that Abdul is learning and mistakes will be made. So this time the FM blows up at me that I have to stop blaming everything on Abdul and if I blame one more mistake on Abdul being a rookie, he's getting me fired. This is where the compliance comes in. Around this same time
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    me and Abdul were put in opposing shifts. My first order of business every day would be to double check all of Abdul's work and fix any mistakes. I couldn't inform him of his mistakes so he kept making them. Abdul also started to get sneaky. You see, part of our tasks had to be done in an area of the factory where only the two of us would frequently go, so Abdul would do all the work that was to be done where people could see him
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    work, leaving me with all the tasks behind the scenes, meaning I was never anywhere to be found. We also had these big barrels of ink, which were hooked up to a machine that mixed the basic colours of ink into other colours. Abdul had always refused to change these barrels when they were empty. He would usually state he hadn't had time, even though making sure those barrels aren't empty was a priority job.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    This eventually all culminates into a moment about 8 months after Dave left where I am once again called into the COO's office. I'm thinking I'm finally getting my contract after 3 years as a temp. I'm also convinced Abdul got a contract the week before, though Abdul and the COO have always denied that. Instead I'm told I'm fired. The COO also goes out of his way to inform me that he's been wanting to fire me for 6 months now, because he blames me for Dave quitting, but was
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    asked not to by the Floor Managers until I had trained someone to replace me and they considered Abdul to be ready to do the job now. He also told me that he did appreciate the work I did, he just had a problem with me personally. After my meeting with the COO, I make my round of the factory to inform my co-workers that I have been fired and to say goodbye. The look on Abdul's face was pure panic. He suddenly realized
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    that despite me demonstrating how to change those inkbarrels, he had never actually done it himself and as such didn't remember how to do it. A week after I left I got a message from one of my former co-workers that the entire factory was looking to go to the COO's office and demand they rehire me, because Abdul was not only doing a poor job, but he was also being a megalomaniac. I told her not to bother, because if they did
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    rehire me, it would only make the COO hate me even more. Several months after another former co- worker informed me that not even a month after I was fired, Abdul was demoted back to assistant machine operator and one of the Floor Managers had to take over his tasks full-time.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    TLDR: Boss wants to fire me because he hates me. Manager tells him to wait until I've trained someone. Manager yells at me for mistakes my trainee made and tells me to stop blaming my trainee. I start secretly fixing my trainee's mistakes. Manager thinks the trainee is doing a good job and allows the COO to fire me. Everyone finds out the trainee is actually incapable of doing the job because he was relying on me to do all the work.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    [deleted] I think you need to send a message or email to the CEO; "I hear you fired the wrong person, it's a shame you have no idea whats going on in the factory floor. Good luck"
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    popejupiter I only worked in a factory for a couple of years, but I learned quickly: Never with your Material Handler A good Material Handler lets a factory floor run like butter. But if you them off (or lose a good one) your production goes in the toilet.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    CaptainBaoBao Bad crafters have bad tools. Bad managers have bad workers.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890
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    Spikey59 I don't get why you worked there for 3 years as a "temp". You should have left after they didn't give you a contract after just few months.
    via u/ForceAccomplished890

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