How can I tell my assistant their social skills suck?

[skooooo]

Ok, this is a rhetorical question since the person I have in mind no longer works at the same place I do. But 1gobluedem's thread did remind me of something I was thinking about the other day - this particular person in question had a college and professional degree, and complained that she could never find a decent job.

Tragic, I thought!! How sad!!

Then we hired her, and over the course of a few months figured out why she never could get more than temporary jobs even with her education. Her. Social. Skills. Sucked. Passive aggressive, refusal to take direction or even direct orders from supervisors who were more than "understanding" and patient.

It made me realize that some people who complain that their education never helped them may have other problems that they haven't dealt with. If you have no social skills, and don't know how to work with people, education may not help you.

(Don't extrapolate and claim that I'm saying this applies to everyone who can't get a decent job these days. I'm not saying that, but the experience did open me to the fact that there can be other explanations for failure.)

[behave]

1. Tell 'em they stink

[raccoon]

2. Whoever tells him/her, you or somebody else, I suggest you give

SPECIFIC examples of what you find objectionable. Such as, "When I asked you yesterday to replace the toner cartridge on the printer, you said, So on and so forth....."

She sounds like she's clueless. And it's annoying and unhelpful for somebody to give you vague criticisms that tell you nothing.

[datasuspect]

3. how can you help this person?

what would helping this person accomplish?

[Chan790]

4. she proabably already knows...

I certainly know that mine aren't always up to snuff. But even if your social skills suck, what are you going to do? It's not like anybody offers "Social Skills Improvement" courses.