Work News

So aside from my saddening review and my dread of returning to Front End, here is some of the work news that I've been meaning to share for the last month or so.

I'm still in Payroll. It's been about four months now. The other girl has been on an extended leave, so I've been covering her position. And it's been great. I've learned a lot, and it's been really nice to have all my evenings free. I've discovered that I really like paperwork and office tasks.

We trained a new guy too: Jared. At first I was really excited about this - from the minimal amount that I'd worked with him before he seemed like a really dynamic guy. But close up, he gets a little annoying. If I never hear his "der derder der" again, that will be fine. My opinion of him at the end of his month in Payroll isn't what I expected.
It was weird not being the newest person in Payroll anymore. I was used to doing all the grunt work and also all the medium-hard work to learn how to do it - but now Jared got to do all that. I wasn't quite ready to let go yet! And he was doing all my work! With three of us in there (and Jared's a quick learner), we were running out of things to do for the week.
The training dynamic was a little weird. During my cross-training, Geoff was the only one who taught me; the other girl had little input when she was there. When we trained Jared, though, I seemed to think it was just that - us training him. He knew me better than he knew Geoff, so he started by looking over my shoulder. And then one of the next tasks to be done was something that I actually knew better than Geoff (I'd come up with a new and better way to do it), so I introduced it to Jared. Then he just started asking me most of his questions. I felt bad about this - I hoped that Geoff didn't think I was taking over his role as trainer! So I tried to be more hands-off about it; I'd say things like, "So, should I do this termination, or do you want to show Jared how to do it?" And Geoff would respond, "Oh, you can show him how!" So I did. I suspect that perhaps Jared was bothersome to Geoff too, so he didn't mind having less interaction with him.

When I went on vacation a few months ago, I thought about all the things Geoff would have to do alone while I was gone, and I figured that he cannot go on vacation because I couldn't do it without him. But the time has come for Geoff's vacation. I won't be doing the job alone like he was - I'll have Jared - but in Geoff's absence, I have to be the expert. I'll have to do all the really hard things, and I'll come across all sorts of questions that he won't be there to answer. I guess this will be my chance to get acquainted with the Payroll lady at Head Office! I'm nervous, but I know it won't be a disaster. That shows me how much I've grown both in the Payroll role and in my confidence about it.

The other girl is expected to return from her leave next week. I'm not really looking forward to that, for many reasons. First, it means that eventually I will have to return to Front End. Especially after the disaster of my recent review I am dreading that. She will return while Geoff is on holidays so I'll stay in Payroll until he is back, but she is not a pleasant person and I'm not excited to work with her. Also, it will be awkward. She knows me as someone who knows nothing about Payroll (I'd only been in there ten days when she left); now Geoff tells me I know more than she does. I'll still be the expert, but she has done it for much longer than I have. Several things have changed since she's been gone, and I don't know how to tactfully introduce those things to her. That will be a strange balance of power.