Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum banner

Does Your Company do Employee Reviews?

4K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  cabinetsnj 
#1 ·
When was your last employee review? Now, I'm not talking about some pat on the back for a job well done, or a passive aggressive comment from your boss at the water cooler, I'm talking about a sit down, face-to-face, knock-down, drag-out, employee review. I doubt it was anytime soon.

In my brief (but eventful) tour through the working World, I have found that construction and engineering folk would rather slice off their fingertips with a diamond-blade grinder than give an employee review. I even had a six month review written into the offer letters with one of my employers and when six months was up they kept saying that they'll get to it next week until they finally told someone else in the office to tell me, "I didn't have to worry about getting fired". Incidentally, I was fired five months later but they told me I was getting laid off. That was so nice of them.

I personally love employee reviews. I like sitting around having discussion about improvement - it's so much damn better than sticking your face in an Excel spreadsheet or counting square feet of drywall. I think of it as more of a discussion about how the operation is going and what improvement can be made to the situation.

So why are bosses so deathly afraid of giving employee reviews? Well, I don't know. Perhaps they are afraid of what is going to come out in the review, if they'll be painted into a corner about something they said during the year which will make them look bad in front of their boss. Seriously, this is the crazy stuff that runs through people's minds. Regardless, employee reviews are also a rare opportunity for employees to look their bosses in the eyes, ask some real questions and come up with a plan about where things will be heading.

It may also be because they simply don't know what to say. I've seen far too often the modus operandi for companies is to hire someone, give them little direction and no feedback and then fire them when they decide they don't like them. This is by far the laziest style of management possible. It's really not that hard to list ten to fifteen bullet point responsibilities of a particular job. Then, at the annual employee review, go over the bullet points and talk about what is going well and what needs improvement. It's also good to try to make the positives outweigh the negatives. Some people think there should be three positives to every negative, but in construction, when young employees are treated like chimpanzees who just escaped from the zoo, a fifty-fifty split will suffice.

Employers and employees both benefit from reviews, it's a win-win and people avoid them like a room full of airborne asbestos. Reviews also act as good opportunity to document performance in case of a necessary dismissal, and also keeps someone from firing an employee just because they don't like them (at least it can help). So let's be men, and women about this and give your employees reviews. If you have a job then ask your boss for a review.

It's a win-win.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
With my established employees, I do a review every six months. Those who have 18 months or less, it is every 4 months. I have found that having a "sit down self-critique" with the crew on larger jobs works real well.

I have a 21 yo female apprentice with about 9 mos experience and have been teaching her to spray finishes. We are in the process of doing a 4500sf custom home, and I turned her loose on spraying the woodwork primer. After she was done I asked her to critique herself, and she was dead on. There were a few other things I noticed but figured once she improved on what she said, they would correct themselves.

A review sometimes has the connotations of either being a ***** session or pay review, when it really doesnt have to be either.
 
#3 ·
at the last place I worked there was review's- sort of. One of the foreman is a buddy of mine, and several months after I "left" he clued me in to what the process was. They have a chart, rate you from 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent.
Apparently I got a 4, but the senior forman didn't like me much (mutual) and so he changed the rating to a 2, then "laid me off for lack of work" uh yea.

but what the heck, it was the universe telling me to quit being so damn miserable working in conditions that I hated. (freezing rain, very poor equipment, 1 1/2hr drive home at night) so I guess it worked out for the best.
He wasn't completely wrong, I have no patience with BS, and sometimes you have to play that game- I refuse. Stupid is stupid and I am at that age where games hold no interest for me, or worksite politics.

funny enough I've recieved two hints to re-apply! LOL nope, never go backwards.

Working for myself, not making a lot right now, but its so much fun!

and yes I review what I did every job. Where can I do it better? how can I be more efficient? quicker while maintaining quality? doe's every customer HAVE to have coped corners? most don't even know what that is, and I'm competing with "chop and fill" hacks so that affects my bids.

I did a quote yesterday, baseboards- I knew right away that I was there to just back check someone else's quote. The HO wasn't really interested in showing me in detail all what had to be done, and they were busy watching tv etc. Also just a feeling I got :) I guess that part of it though.

Gotta ask more questions on the phone first, something like are you a pain in the a@#? are you wasting my time? or some sort of refinement like that :D

Most of the clients though are nice folks, and the checks are good.


Laurie

www.lauriescustomfinishing.ca
 
#5 ·
I'm all for 'scheduled' employee evaluations!

Like someone said earlier, it doesn't have to be a ***** session or a pay analysis,....but those are the two main issues we have in the field, and it's inevitable one or two employees are gonna go in that direction!

IMO, it shows that the employer is making an effort to get to know Me. The more conversations, the more trust is built on both sides. I want to know the door is always open to discuss personal and business issues discretely.

I would be comfortable with the bullet point approach...That way I know what topics are being discussed....Some of you guys are running small shops and you're in the field so your expectations are clear. In my situation, the guy who signs my check is looking at the bottom line and relying on the PMs and foremen for performance reports....I work in a school girl, rumor mill with a lot of personalities....we'd have a more solid, efficient team if everyone knows where they stand! Just MPO...
 
#6 ·
Total waste of time. I had to deal with evals for 20 plus years in the military and they can be played by either side. If you know how to manipulate people, you own the session rather you be the employee or the employer. If they were good, after I scanned over the written portion, I'd just ask for the pen to sign off on it. If anything negative was on it, I'd argue until I had that negative comment switched to my favor or to the raters disfavor.

Total friggin' waste of time. But that's just my thoughts.;)
 
#11 ·
HUH!?

"Every day is a review in my book" !?!

you pulled this thread out of archive to add this gem? is it some Hawaiian logic?

poy poy, feed yourself to pele pele bra cousin!

Are you saying: " hey, if your still here you must be doing good?"


Have tailgate reviews and formal meetings often folks, it makes a difference...

happy crew, happy you.
 
#13 ·
We will if we can ever get an employee to stick around long enough.

This was one of the things I absolutely insisted on before we started our company. My husband has worked in the Construction industry for 25 years for both large and small firms and was rarely given any feedback regarding his performance. It was difficult on him, particularly when things went south at one company and he couldn't figure out why. His supervisor and the owner absolutely refused to sit down with him and explain the situation. It was rude and unprofessional and we decided that we will not treat our employees that way. Our policy is a review after 30 days at which time we either let the employee go (haven't had to do that) or give a $1.00 hour raise. Then, we have another review every six months until they've been with us 2 years. However, we have not had an employee last six months yet, so we haven't been able to see how this works. We're new, so hopefully, we'll find someone who really does want to work for more than a few months and we can try this out soon.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Saw this under Similar threads on another thread. Interesting topic.

I hold informal reviews at random times(driving in the truck with ONE employee is my favorite time!). We can discuss the current & past jobs as well as company direction, employee goals, short and long, get inside their heads a little.

It's a nice change because the ball busting, loud, good times joking around isn't present in the truck and we can talk like adults for a moment. They feel like they're just conversing with the boss and it's stress free. There isn't constant direct eye contact like there would be if I was sitting across from them, which could be perceived as intimidating to some employees.

I've gained excellent feedback about work procedures and I encourage employees to offer ways to increase efficiency. I bring up issues in a relaxed manner and follow them with what they excel at and that comes with praise. I've also found that in this business, very few guys ever hear "Really nice work, Joe! Man, that came out beautiful, huh?". A statement so simple that goes a long, long way.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top