"Training" co-workers

[swbsam]

There was some job drama that I had in which I was being managed by two people for very different projects, and one of the two managers was making unfair and unreasonable demands on me, prompting me to complain to HR and the SVP of my company. I was hired as a web manager for one site but they had me working as the web manager for 3 sites while editing ALL of their web videos/psas (they used to use freelancers before I started working there). I am an educated editor (film major) and I enjoyed editing some videos, but the workload was intense and I couldn't take it.

As a compromise, the SVP took me on as her employee, so that I could concentrate on working as the web manager. The problem is now that they (my old boss/department) is asking me to teach members of my old department how to edit, so that they can take over the workload.

I haven't been given a pay increase but my workload is now doable, but I'm not a teacher nor do I really want to give away the tricks and skills that took me thousands of hours and dollars to pick up. Would I be unreasonable if I said that I was not a teacher? Is there a professional way to phrase this?

Update

I suggested a solution to my boss:
-I would work as the manager of a new, small video department
-I would capture video and coordinate editing between the 2 people in that department
-I would work on major projects, and give smaller projects to those guys
-I would share some basic editing tips and tricks with them
-I would devote 25% of my time to this, so as to not jeopardize other initiatives

I insisted that quality would suffer as well time wasted if I either trained them full time or we threw projects their way without quality control.
She's thinking it over now and will get back to me later in the week.

 

[cherrytwist]

Originally posted by: swbsam
There was some job drama that I had in which I was being managed by two people for very different projects, and one of the two managers was making unfair and unreasonable demands on me, prompting me to complain to HR and the SVP of my company. I was hired as a web manager for one site but they had me working as the web manager for 3 sites while editing ALL of their web videos/psas (they used to use freelancers before I started working there). I am an educated editor (film major) and I enjoyed editing some videos, but the workload was intense and I couldn't take it.

As a compromise, the SVP took me on as her employee, so that I could concentrate on working as the web manager. The problem is now that they (my old boss/department) is asking me to teach members of my old department how to edit, so that they can take over the workload.

I haven't been given a pay increase but my workload is now doable, but I'm not a teacher nor do I really want to give away the tricks and skills that took me thousands of hours and dollars to pick up. Would I be unreasonable if I said that I was not a teacher? Is there a professional way to phrase this?

Yes. Tender your resignation.

 

[BigJ]

Have them clear it with the SVP.

 

[K1052]

my old boss/department

So they have no direct authority over you?

Toss the decision up you your current boss with a negative spin.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Let them know that you spent thousands of hours and dollars to gain that knowledge, and should be compensated for teaching others it.

Option 2 is say you have never been a trainer, and no thanks.

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: K1052

my old boss/department

So they have no direct authority over you?

Toss the decision up you your current boss with a negative spin.

That is correct, they have no direct authority over me and the request hasn't risen to my boss yet.

But I could see how my boss would see this as aiding in the "transition" - but the two people they have in mind have no experience editing, so I would be in effect teaching them Final Cut Pro, after effects, motion, etc. It took me years and quite a sum of money to get this training and.. Well.. Giving this knowledge away doesn't seem helpful to me in any way.

 

[Vette73]

Tell them that in a polite way. It took years to get where you are at. Tell them you can show them the basic's, but do not have the time to go more in depth then that with your work load not being affected.

 

[nace186]

You could also say you don't have time to do it. Or tell them to talk to you current boss about it. And if you current boss ask you to do it, tell her you will have to drop her project in order to complies.

 

[dabuddha]

When you talk to your boss, make it sound like doing this will greatly affect your work and that your productivity will go down big time.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: swbsam

Originally posted by: K1052

my old boss/department

So they have no direct authority over you?

Toss the decision up you your current boss with a negative spin.

That is correct, they have no direct authority over me and the request hasn't risen to my boss yet.

But I could see how my boss would see this as aiding in the "transition" - but the two people they have in mind have no experience editing, so I would be in effect teaching them Final Cut Pro, after effects, motion, etc. It took me years and quite a sum of money to get this training and.. Well.. Giving this knowledge away doesn't seem helpful to me in any way.

I'm sure your boss will see it the same way.


:laugh:

 

[HardcoreRobot]

if you arent happy with your work tasks, tell your manager what you want to be doing
if you arent happy with your pay, tell your manager what you think you should be earning

if it really sucks, start looking for another job

 

[skace]

Tell them these skills are extremely difficult to teach and to take someone on and show them how to do it would basically be a full time job. But remember, if you're lying be prepared to be called on your bullshit.

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Let them know that you spent thousands of hours and dollars to gain that knowledge, and should be compensated for teaching others it.

Option 2 is say you have never been a trainer, and no thanks.

 

[alkemyst]

sadly for you training is part of moving up or them replacing you...

hearing your ranting I'd assume they are looking to do the latter.

 

[spidey07]

This has the potential to be very damaging to your career. Basically you are saying in certain terms "I don't want to share knowledge", this translates to "does not work well with others".

You can look at the positive side - they're trying to decrease workload, like you asked, and hopefully you'll be able to advance by doing so. Also, being the only person that can do something is really bad - you can't be promoted. Oh, and also remember everybody can be replaced no matter what level they are so chose your direction wisely.

I wouldn't say you're being unfair in refusing to do so, but I would say it would be a serious ding on your career if you do without thinking the political ramifications of doing so.

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: spidey07
This has the potential to be very damaging to your career. Basically you are saying in certain terms "I don't want to share knowledge", this translates to "does not work well with others".

You can look at the positive side - they're trying to decrease workload, like you asked, and hopefully you'll be able to advance by doing so. Also, being the only person that can do something is really bad - you can't be promoted. Oh, and also remember everybody can be replaced no matter what level they are so chose your direction wisely.

I wouldn't say you're being unfair in refusing to do so, but I would say it would be a serious ding on your career if you do without thinking the political ramifications of doing so.

Imagine if you ran for office one day!

 

[alkemyst]

one other thing I'd like to add...many of these graphics guys are self-taught with pirated software. OP, how much have you REALLY invested and why wouldn't you want to train someone to handle the mundane tasks to let you focus on your uber skillz?

 

[kranky]

There is no professional way to refuse. But this isn't as big of a problem as you think it is. What you can do is reach an agreement with your boss in advance to determine how many hours of training you can handle. Let's say the answer is 40 hours of training spread over 4 weeks.

You work up an outline of training topics and how much time will be spent on each one. (e.g. "Changing the length of a scene - 30 minutes.") Now remember these people have no experience in editing, so you have to cover all the basics. In fact, you'll need to take about 10 hours just to go over the fundamental concepts of film editing (pacing, using background music, etc.) Editing isn't all about how to use software.

What you do is make sure you carefully outline how the 40 hours will be spent, and keep it to the basics. You don't have time to teach everything you have learned. After 40 hours, you won't have taught them even 10% of what you know. Meanwhile it will look like you prepared like a madman to help them out.

 

[waffleironhead]

The correct answer would be to bring your manager into this discussion.

 

[Squisher]

I would also think it is up to your boss to decide how much time you should take away from your present duties to teach employees in other departments. And, you need to push your boss to be specific as to where the limit is.

 

[yoda291]

It really depends on your corporations org chart. If you and the SVP are not in a subordinate role to your old boss/dept, this is really pretty simple. Grab your SVP and explain that you can train the old staff, but they will likely not be able to function as effectively as you did since there isn't really a good substitute for experience The proper course of action is simply to bring in another domain expert with experience to head up those projects and mentor those 2 folk up to speed at a controlled rate. Also, training is not a one-off duty, but a full-time task list in and of itself and that. You'd essentially be unable to do any other work and the company would be losing the value of your experience in the interim. If you're asked to justify this point, explain that in order to even establish a workable baseline skill level, you'd have to be subject to a lot of interruption and hands-on work with the trainees and have to field a lot of obvious topics that would be familiar normally to a domain expert, but not to a fresh novice. Each interruption in and of itself should make it nearly impossible to keep focused on your current task list. Hypothetical question: "How much work would the SVP get done if she had to run to a meeting or answer a question from her staff every 15 minutes?".

As far as the value of your knowledge, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's probably nowhere near as valuable as you think it is. Granted, it may have taken you thousands of hours and X someodd dollars to acquire it yourself, but if you're genuinely worried that a couple of neophytes will gain a significant amount of that information in a few months of working with you, then that just means it really isn't worth a whole lot and you just learned it really inefficiently. Unless you are a recognized field expert with instant name recognition with your peers, your knowledge is worth exactly your pay grade and your willingness to perform your duties as assigned -- which usually include mentoring.

 

[knawlejj]

Originally posted by: kranky
There is no professional way to refuse. But this isn't as big of a problem as you think it is. What you can do is reach an agreement with your boss in advance to determine how many hours of training you can handle. Let's say the answer is 40 hours of training spread over 4 weeks.

You work up an outline of training topics and how much time will be spent on each one. (e.g. "Changing the length of a scene - 30 minutes.") Now remember these people have no experience in editing, so you have to cover all the basics. In fact, you'll need to take about 10 hours just to go over the fundamental concepts of film editing (pacing, using background music, etc.) Editing isn't all about how to use software.

What you do is make sure you carefully outline how the 40 hours will be spent, and keep it to the basics. You don't have time to teach everything you have learned. After 40 hours, you won't have taught them even 10% of what you know. Meanwhile it will look like you prepared like a madman to help them out.

Pretty much summarized what I would have recommended. They can't say you didn't teach anything. But showing a few secrets here and there can't hurt.

I've been in the same type of deal here in college. I am way ahead of everyone in all my tech classes whether it has to do with Adobe software, hardware management, or video editing. I know tips and tricks others do not, I help out my fellow classmates by instructing them (private college, small classes) and my professors notice this and have recommended me to many people they know looking for student internships.

 

[swbsam]

Update

I suggested a solution to my boss:
-I would work as the manager of a new, small video department
-I would capture video and coordinate editing between the 2 people in that department
-I would work on major projects, and give smaller projects to those guys
-I would share some basic editing tips and tricks with them
-I would devote 25% of my time to this, so as to not jeopardize other initiatives

I insisted that quality would suffer as well time wasted if I either trained them full time or we threw projects their way without quality control.
She's thinking it over now and will get back to me later in the week.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: swbsam

Update

I suggested a solution to my boss:
-I would work as the manager of a new, small video department
-I would capture video and coordinate editing between the 2 people in that department
-I would work on major projects, and give smaller projects to those guys
-I would share some basic editing tips and tricks with them
-I would devote 25% of my time to this, so as to not jeopardize other initiatives

I insisted that quality would suffer as well time wasted if I either trained them full time or we threw projects their way without quality control.
She's thinking it over now and will get back to me later in the week.

Congratulations. You offered solutions and decent analysis instead of whining. You'll go far.