Employee Evaluations

WNYcarpenter

There's been a couple interesting threads about employee/employer relationships. Made me think...

I'm an employee, and I am in favor of regular evaluations for midsize to large corps. I like to know straight up how my performance is being judged and what are seen as my strong points and weaknesses.

Scheduled private meetings with the employees (I think) are very constructive. Both parties have the opportunity to come to the table with issues they want to discuss...

I see in my own company (mid. 15 fulltime tradesmen) that it becomes sketchy since the employer relies on the foremen/PMs for progress reports. Some foremen are honest and professional, some aren't. In my case, the president is around, but not enough to see everything going on. He sets the wages, writes the checks, and oversees all operations.

I don't always count on my PM to speak for me so once or twice a year I sit down with the "money" man to talk (on my personal time). I take the intitiative, but I wish the company as a whole communicated better (so much drama would be solved). I hate A$$kissers and I don't talk about other employees, I take pride in my job and want to always be on the "level" professionally!

I can only speak for myself and my own situation.....so how do the rest of you feel about evaluations.

jtpro

I worked for a company who had 3 equal partners.

One showed up on site to sign papers etc. It took me a year before he was identified as my boss.

One was their for closings and such.

One ran the construction side.

The latter made the $$ decisions as far as pay etc. In order for me to have face time with him I would have had to stop production and "hang out". The 2 other supers did this. I didn't. I don't feel he hired me to BS with him when work needed to be done

The $$$ man in that company, your company, ANY company does NOT care about you for the most part. He has his time consumed with other things. He placed PMs and Supers in between you and him for this reason.

If they are Aholes YOU'RE SCREWED. If they get performance bonuses based on under #s YOU WILL NOT be getting ANYTHING.

Stick with your course of action. SELDOM do boses give a crap about your money situation. So hoping he will set up meetings to discuss him cutting into his profits AIN'T gonna happen. Respectfully on your time (as you pointed out) talking to a PM or boss draws his attention to your needs.

He can choose to reward you or ignore you. You then can choose to stay or look else where.

Good luck either way!

finaltouchfloor

As an employer i can only tell you what i base my pay and rate of raise increase is.

1- Reliability: How often you miss work regardless of the reason . If you ain't there you worth much to the jobsite. We work on a tight schedule so if we're short one skilled tradesman, it could screw up the entire month. Plus, your making the entire crew suffer.

2- Speed: The rate at which you perform skilled work which a cheap helper can't do. If i have a fast trim carpenter who can cut 500 linear ft in a day perfectly , i'm going to pay him alot more than a slower guy. If your good at a certain task, showcase it, make the people right notice.

3- Versatility: How many skilled trades are you truly knowable about? Some guys know a little about many things & a few guys know alot about many things. The latter of the two will get noticed.

4- Problem Solving/Adaptability: In contruction theres always going to be foreseen problems. Whether its defective materials, crack in the slab, busted water line, etc. Some guys just scratch their heads for a bit , smoke a cig , then go tell the forman/GC. Instead either fix it immediatly, or go to the foreman/GC with a informed solution. In the case material defects, i used to 1st call the supplier and check the availbility of new material.

5-Leadership-Whatever step you are on the ladder, there will be someone on a lower step. Keep helpers busy if they are without a productive task. If you can teach the helpers more skills without disrupting your work duties is great also. If you are a helper, read books, watch/listen skilled the guys & study sites like this. If you can manage a crew you will be running your own company someday.

The rest is common sense.

WNYcarpenter

I totally agree. I just threw it out from my situation and experiences.

Some large companies, not limited to construction, have HR sectors to deal with employees so the officers aren't bothered.

Regardless of who's willing to listen, someone should (IMO) that's more of the point.

In a more general sense...Everyone questions if their work is appreciated. "I'm doing as much as this guy, but he's making more..."etc.. Sole proprietors see profits as a measure of success, (well, we all do I guess) but still need feed back to know where they stand.

An evaluation (on the books or off IMO) prevents unrest. Doesn't have to be by the partners, but by the person who's responsibility it is to deal with it.

Sure no one wants to pay for time that isn't 100% production, but I think the little amount of time it takes to do some maintainance on the employees pays for itself. 1/2 hr per employee per year....don't you think nipping a bad attitude in the bud without confrontation and reassuring a few guys will increase production enough to justify it?

I don't know...I think so that's why I asked.

WNYcarpenter

Yeah, I get it, but do you ever take your slower guy aside and tell him he's slow and explain how he could be more efficient without making an A$$ out of him? print what you just wrote and give it to your employees. It's easy to list expectations, but stick to them and use it as a gauge of performance. Then evaluate, and critique each employee accordingly. That's what I'm talking about. Everyone's expectations are different but how would anyone ever know unless you show them?

George Z

We have evaluations every 6 months.
I also make it a point to have a quick "how are you doing"
type meeting with everyone individually.

__________________
Toronto Painters Commercial Painting Commercial Painting Toronto Toronto Office Painters
Painting Toronto Blog

Wolfgang

I have a sit down with each employee every quarter. Should problems arise with some, I handle it promptly so nothing gets out of hand.

While I do rely on my foremen to keep tabs I also realize that there will always be personality differences between them and a few of the employees, so I tend to balance my judgements with that in mind.

Usually a word in private handles any problems, if not, I cut them loose. I cant afford to waste time/money on sub-par employees. Thankfully I've only had one in the past two years. Told him there would be a 90 day evaluation, but after a week and a half it was time to let him go. He wanted to know what happened to the 90 days....

jtpro

Well it looks like George Z & Wolfgang fall in a rare category of bosses who understanding the importance of evaluating and rewarding as warranted without coddling!
I hope your businesses continue to flourish using this approach and that your employees value this characteristic and appreciate it!

DeckMan77

Anybody recommend a good worksheet for doing yearly evaluations with your employees? I just review the basics like time missed, overall attitude at work, & amount of work they consistently get done. Are their other questions I could be asking from my employees to get some truth about what they are doing for our company?

__________________
I'm now a big believer in Tiger Claw fasteners. Knocked out my last project quicker than expected thanks to the install gun. Hope other hidden deck manufacturers learn somethin from them.

Wolfgang

Very rarely do I hire new employees, I detest the whole process...mainly being lied to. I tend to view any hires as long term investments in my business and they are rewarded as such.

Usually if I have the time I will have the new hires work with me for the first few days. While there are differences in the way my company handles certain procedures, it doesnt take long to find out whether they have what it takes or not.

Trainees are obviously rated differently. If they have the desire to learn and follow directions, along with a good deal of common sense and motivation, I'll invest the time/money in them.