Where is the best place for a newbie?

[South Texan]

So, manager, you hired someone who wanted to work. I respect both of you.

Your franchise is in a very "white" section of town, and she only speaks a little English. This could be a problem, but by itself does not mean anything as a particular language is not necessary for all stations in a food establishment.

You put her on drive through. One of the most difficult stations even for those fluent in the area's main language as she only will be able to hear the probably distorted and mumbled words of customers over engine and stereo noise. She cannot understand the orders. She does not know the words to ask customers to repeat the orders she did not understand. She cannot repeat the orders to check accuracy. She is frustrated. Customers are beyond frustrated. Orders are taken incorrectly. She has trouble even giving change. She is on the verge of tears, poor woman. Customers come in with their screwed up orders and complain.

Your response? An indifferent "She's new."
Nothing more.

When one customer informs you that it is not smart to put someone on drive through who cannot understand the main language of the area, you get defensive and imply that he is racist.
Yeah, you just lost my respect, manager.

[Aria]

Way to set up that poor woman for failure. What a complete and utter dick.

[eltf177]

Way to set up that poor woman for failure. What a complete and utter dick.

Agreed, it sounds like he's deliberately doing this to get an excuse to get rid of her...

[KellyHabersham]

I've mentioned a few times before on here about an incident back when I worked at Macy's, and having trouble ordering from a place in the food court because they put people on the register who didn't understand much English.....makes me wonder if the situation in this post was what was going on for them.

[Teefies2]

First of all, no matter what your home language is, the drive-thru is NOT the place for a newbie!!! There is too much external noise for them to be able to correctly hear and respond to orders. If I was the manager placing a newbie in a fast food place (which it sounds like this is), I would start them in the back. Learning how to make the food takes way less language skills - and I mean being able to understand the language - than something like drive-thru. Plus you have the added benefit of them knowing the ingredients in the food, so that they can more likely understand what people are ordering.

But put a non-native speaker in the drive-thru when they're new? FAIL

[Catwoman2965]

Wow. I feel badly for the woman, esp since you say she wants to work. We had someone once, in our cafeteria, who spoke NOR understood a word of English. Not one. To order something as simply as a bagel and cc required lots of pointing and hand gestures. I don't care if someone comes here and doesn't want to learn English, but I do believe, if you work in any kind of job with the public, you need to, and should.

[XCashier]

Learning a new language takes time, especially a complicated language like English. I agree with Teefies that the woman should've been put on the food prep line first. She probably already has some cooking skills, and it's a good opportunity to learn English terms for familiar items.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

When one customer informs you that it is not smart to put someone on drive through who cannot understand the main language of the area, you get defensive and imply that he is racist.

Personally, I'd think it more racist to put that woman on drive-thru because it sets her up for failure and quick dismissal.

But that's just me.

[Thana]

O.O You NEVER stick a newbie on back cash/drive thru!! NEVER! Even if said newbie has experience with back cash/drive thru! You give them a chance to learn your system first THEN you introduce them to the special-ness that is drive! If they're completely new then prep is the best place to start. It allows a person to not only become familiar with the ingredients but also the proportions and how everything gets put together.

[Monterey Jack]

Wow. I feel badly for the woman, esp since you say she wants to work. We had someone once, in our cafeteria, who spoke NOR understood a word of English. Not one. To order something as simply as a bagel and cc required lots of pointing and hand gestures. I don't care if someone comes here and doesn't want to learn English, but I do believe, if you work in any kind of job with the public, you need to, and should.

Exactly...there was this woman who used to shop at my store. Sweet little old lady, but I honestly could not understand a WORD she was saying (some vaguely Russian-ish dialect), so trying to communicate with her was always a trial. If you cannot understand the local language, you need someone there who can serve as a translator. Which is why it's a bad idea to take a job when you cannot communicate with either your co-workers or the customers. That's not "racism", it's just common sense.

[Kiwi]

I lasted 3 hours at mcdicks, they started me on drive through..... did I mention I am deaf in one ear (well I have 30% hearing but still) I could not hear anything. At the very end of the shift, the manager explained to me that I could switch the ear piece to the other ear, you know the one with normal hearing. Gee thanks for that.

They could not believe it when I called in to quit. They had NO idea why I wouldn't want to sign up for endless shifts.