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New Accounts Clerk


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Citizen Erased

My office has a very small Finance department of 3 people. I also help out when I can...you know, when I am not on here :laugh:

 

Our last Accounts Clerk is on leave, and her position has been filled by a temp. Not entirely sure just how temporary it is. Anyway. I was unlucky enough to start when the last Head of Finance left, and then two months later the Accounts Clerk had to take leave for personal reasons. So we are all pretty new at this, and I have had to rely heavily on the procedures manual the person who was last in my position put together.

 

I am all for procedure. Especially in our situation at the moment. Unfortunately the current Accounts Clerk feels there is a need to change pretty much every procedure there is. I would not have a problem with making changes, if she wasn't making things even more complicated, which just gives me more work. Why fix it if it isn't broken? ;) Not to mention, I report to the Executive Manager, and she is not being advised by accounts of any changes, and she dislikes being out of the loop, which I then have to smooth over.

 

I am having a terrible time expressing all of this to the AC. She is about 30-40 years older then me, a major generational gap ;) She is very "old school" so to speak, and we are clashing a fair bit. She will not take any input I give, simply dismisses me. I really have no idea on how to deal with this. I am still in my probationary period and it does not look good to management if I am not doing a part of my job because the AC decides she can do it better, or changing something, taking on a new role etc when I am not authorised to do so. I doubt speaking to my boss will do any good, I think it will be seen as I am makig a fuss about nothing, and will only provide further problems with the AC. And how can I approach the AC if whatever I say is dismissed as if I am a 12 year old :rolleyes:

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Make your feelings known. even document them with email, but be diplomatic.

 

If she makes a mess, you are ok.

If things work well under her, well , it proves her way still works.

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That's unusual that a temporary employee is allowed to make procedural changes that impact on other staff members.

 

I'm a little confused about what setup is, in reference to why and how you're impacted by these changes. I'm guessing that you're helping out in the Accounts job and her changes are disrupting your routine.

 

Are you certain there aren't any compliance or regulatory implications to these changes that she's been making, in that there might be improvements within these areas or potential for future liability?

 

Most people don't make enmasse changes like that unless it's for personal job security reasons or for improvements in work flow efficiencies, etc. If this is a matter of ensuring job security for her, it makes perfect sense for you to learn what she's doing, so when the original Accounts clerk comes back, you can pass on the information.

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HokeyReligions

Document everything and keep it to cover yourself if needed. Be polite and tell the new AC that you are trying to help, and that you need her help to understand so that you can support the department, and her, better. It will smooth things with her a bit and that will hopefully help you in the long run. People tend to respond better when they are asked for help, rather than only questioning. It's still a question - you are still in a round about way questioning her - but putting it in such a way that its not a direct question - only one of seeking her experienceand advice. Make her a mentor, or atleast think she's one. You'll have your journal of documentation to rely on later.

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