ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Paid Enemies

Virgil,
How is Jimmy? I remember he completed some milestone a few weeks back. Is he turning into foreman material??? Maybe you could loan him to Tsolanto

Interesting topic. I am printing copies of your comments to share with my electrical class. They really think that the world owes them something.

Pros
1. You get some work done.

Cons
1. Damage your reputation as a contractor.

2. Your other employees will quickly get an attitude because others are getting away with a poor work ethic.

PearlFish, youu made me laugh. First time in awile. Thanks...

Tsolanto,

Man, when I first read the thread, just thinking about what is going on made me P@!#ED OFF!!! Too many situations of similar baloney under my belt!

I too am a "Tool Sportin', Ladder Jockey'en" Supervisor / designer / Engineer / Contractor / Broom Pusher / Document Preparer / etc.
Not the fastest worker around - and have the same "bad days" as anyone else does.
Just can't understand how some people can enjoy going to work and doing as little as possible!!! Don't even want to go into my personal dislike of excessive phone useage! Worst case scenario on the phones is when the person is walking around acting VIP, and demanding the trades people be quiet!!!


My least favorite time on projects (the turn-key projects) is that time just prior to final walk through. This is when a few spec contractors and vendors come in and do what ever is left on their part. I normally get the job of supervision and contractor consultant / rep. Gets so boring ,some times, I have come close to breaking things, just to have something to do!!!

Phone calls (for me) just go to voice mail, unless I am sitting on a job like the situations above (boring closeouts!), then I'll happily greet the incoming call!
At last, something to do!!!

I agree with Nick - dump the wandering, chair warming clown and finish the projects yourself. Something needs to be done about boneheads in the field, and non tolerance is the first step!
At least wait until the crucial projects are near end, then hand Senior Bozo a Pink Termination check!

Have my own "Wishues" regarding field personnel, but that's another story!

BTW, where are you located? Wondering if this problem is widespread or regional

Also, the "Jimmy Theory" is null and void on my end. Had a guy named Jimmy working with us at my old company (G.C.) that knew alot, ran jobs perfectly, worked while running jobs, and had a great personality / sense of humor!!!
The "Target Image" for design / Engineering of the model worker
(actually, what I would consider the best qualified to run jobs).

Virgil,

Glad to hear your Helper is doing good!!!
Even happier to know you have taken the time and trained this person well!!!
Give yourself $1,000.00 out of Petty Cash!

Dturner,

That's a great idea for classes!!! Making it known that people D**KING OFF at work will not be tolerated.

I personally would like to incorporate this into my own training plans - and use scenarios with technical lessons!

Making fun of "Job Nazis" and "Chair Warmers" will make an extreme impact!

Must stop before keyboard catches fire!

Scott35 S.E.T.

Tsolanto, Is there any way you can pay these guys on a percentage basis, and then maybe a bonus if the job if finished by a certain date that you specify? I know when I worked for a company that did this just about everyone was taking a quick lunch and working harder. It seems when the jobs I was on were paying hourly everyone just did the bare minimum. With the percentage program you dont even keep track of the hours an employee works, just give them a percentage of the final job costs.

Scott35, I will as soon as "petty cash" has $1000 in it!

lol

Wildturkey101
I have thought about incentives but it is difficult to keep the same people on the jobs all the time. If we move people around how do they get their bonus. Who gets the bonus, helpers, mechanics, juniors everyone? If everyone how do you divide it up. I was thinking 10% of the profit if we made 20% or more. How much for helpers juniors and lead men?

Sounds like this would make a good topic for another post...

[This message has been edited by tsolanto (edited 02-11-2003).]

[This message has been edited by tsolanto (edited 02-11-2003).]

Slightly off-topic aside…accuracy unknown — The fifties/sixties were the “Us” generation. Seventies/eighties brought the “Me” generation. Nineties and on it’s the “You Owe Me” generation.

I guess that I work for a small enough, yet large enough company that (with a few exceptions) bad/lazy foreman get s**t canned ASAP, and someone running another job is pulled to due double duty and get the job finished, or a very good mid level person is given a chance to finish it. That’s how I got my chance with the company. A guy made a bunch of big mistakes and was let go, and I got the chance to jump in and try to finish (with great backup on another job that I could call up) Assuming that something is not seriously messed up a good foreman can figure out what has been done and finish the work.

tsolanto: Get that guy out of there! You’ll lose a lot more money due to bad work than you will by paying someone overtime to get the job done on time! Had a helper who said something to the effect of “Well, I was looking for a job when I got this one”. That kind of attitude does not fly!

As for the tools on person subject I have spent months at a time putting my tools on and never pulling them out since I was too busy making sure that the guys were working (it actually sucks, but hey… it’s my job to run a bunch of guys), but every damn time I needed a damn pair on Kleins, I had them on me. A foreman without tools is just a sad sad site. I hate seeing guys from other trades walk on site without a tool of any type. You don’t even know what the hell they do until they talk to someone from their company. Anyways, enough from my big mouth. This is a subject that people could talk about for years over coffee.