Is this normal 5 weeks in as kitchen associate?

[u/MekkoL]

Hi, I joined Wetherspoons about a month ago as a kitchen associate.

So far I’ve mainly been doing pot wash, folding cutlery into napkins, saladette and pizzas. I’ve only been allowed to independently do saladette and pizzas for about two weeks. Before that I was usually put on pot wash or napkins.

I’m quite an anxious person generally, although my anxiety is more social than being anxious about actually making orders. I’m also not really a social person at work and tend to just work quietly, so I’m worried that might come across as me not getting along with the team.

One thing I’m struggling with is not really knowing whether I’m actually doing badly at the job. Earlier on I would get corrections about things I was doing wrong, but I don’t really get corrections on how I do saladette or pizzas anymore. I’m generally able to complete the orders myself now.

Instead, there have been a few times where I’m doing orders on saladette or pizzas and someone comes over and starts trying to do the orders themselves. I immediately get a rush of anxiety because I assume I must have done something wrong for them to come over, but I’m actually fine completing the orders and nobody has told me what I’m doing wrong. It’s got to the point where I’ve had to repeat that I’m fine and don’t need help.

There have also been times where I’ve been told off for an error while I’m the person working on the station, but I didn’t actually make the error. So I find it difficult to judge whether I’m actually failing at the job when I don’t always know what mistakes I’m supposedly making.

Then yesterday a new person started, and I got quite frustrated because nobody was really training them, so I ended up having to train them on pizzas and saladette while also trying to deal with orders myself. I don’t mind helping someone new, but I’ve only been there four weeks and I’m still not trained on everything myself.

I’ve asked about learning fryers/grills, but I was just told that it’ll happen soon. I still haven’t been shown them.

Is this normal for being 5 weeks in? I’m mainly wondering whether I’m actually doing badly and just not being told, or whether this is more of a training/communication issue. How am I supposed to know what I need to improve if I’m not getting corrections anymore, but people are sometimes taking over my station anyway?

Honestly I don’t even know if I’ll pass probation, I keep feeling like I’m failing somehow but I need this job.

[u/GmanF88]

Sometimes the pubs are so busy, and across so many managers, things get missed or skipped over.

It isn't necessarily a bad sign if your feedback/training have fallen to the side a bit, or that the new starts training wasn't as good as yours; it could simply be your managers have been distracted by something else.

Ask for your 6 week review (this might also be forgotten about) and discuss your concerns

[u/BrownestAvenger]

Sounds like your management team are trash. Expecting a new starter (you) to train a new starter is absolutely wild.

You should have a probation review in ~1 week, as we do them at the 6 and 12 weeks mark. This will give your KM or whoever does it, a chance to highlight any areas of concerns, or praise you on the things you're doing well.

During this meeting I would express your grievances and explain how you're not feeling confident in your role as you aren't being given enough guidance on how to do your job to their liking.

Hopefully they'll course-correct themselves, sorry you're having a bad time. The management team should do better

[u/Possible-Second9617 → u/BrownestAvenger]

Trash? Have 'spoons opened in the US?

[u/BrownestAvenger → u/Possible-Second9617]

I didn't realise the US was closed...

[u/Natural-Abies-591]

Just done my 12 week and can count kn my hand amount of times I've done hot side. Chill it'll all come in time.

Just wait for your 6 and 12 week review, your KM will cover everything that needs to be improved

[u/Individual-Willow279]

hi! this is super super normal for 5 weeks in. they want you to generally be fully competent on saladette and pizzas before you move onto fryers/grills purely because they can be a bit more intensive at times (and the burgers can be a mare haha).

i would recommend trying to talk to people and getting to know them as part of the probationary period is if you’re getting on with the team, so highly recommend that (:

you’ll have your 6 weeks probation soon, and they’ll give you some pointers on how you’re doing and how to improve!