Employee Poor Performance

handyhoppe

I would like your input. we have an employee that has been with us for about a year and one half. He is very dependable, and we were very happy with his work until recently. The problems is over the past 6 months his quality has went down hill. We have stressed to him that first time quality and clean up is very important. We are a small remodeling and home repair company, so there are times when he may need to do 2 or 3 smaller jobs in a day. We are having to go back and correct things that should have been done right the first time and these are thing he knows how to do. We have told him we want it done right and if it takes a little extra time so be it. If you have questions ask!

We also stress keeping the job site clean and make sure to clean everything up when complete. If that means vaccuming and dusting do it! He seems to have a problem with this.

He is young 23, have about 5 yrs experience and 2 yrs trade school.
He has a huge ego and thinks he knows everthing. We can deal with the ego, but in remodeling there is always something unforeseen that has to be worked out on the job. Instead of thinking this through or asking for help he just barrels through ( use a bigger hammer) or gets all bent out of shape because things are not going his way. He has cried wolf so many times when he calls with a problem we do not know if it is a serious thing or he is just venting again.

As stated before he has 2 yrs trade school, a couple of years as a union framer, and a couple yrs working with another remodeler.

We have talked to him a couple of times and things improved for a while, then regress.

He is dependable , honest and a hard worker and has aspirations to manage projects and crews in the future.

Have you ever had an employee like this. What are the chances of getting him where he needs to be. We need to be able to send him to a job and get it done right the first time without baby sitting.

Are we beating a dead horse or do you think we can get him where he needs to be with coaching. as the saying goes we do not want to through the baby out with the bath water.

What has your experience been with some one like this?

We like the guy and to complicate things he is a relative.

Sorry for the long post, just not sure how to handle this.

Driftwood

He's broke ,and You can't fix Him. Start interviewing. There's and old saying " whenever possible,hire for attitude,train for skill"

dougchips

"When you__________we feel"

When you _fail to clean up__ we feel embarrassed and concerned that we will not have a repeat customer. When you __rush jobs and leave a few things undone we feel that it reflects on our standards.

Not enough time on here to teach counseling classes.

"slow to hire quick to fire" use this if the above does not work.

Good luck either way, sucks to be in a position of losing production in order to maintain standards. In the long run you will be stronger if you have team players that exceed your standards.

__________________
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handyhoppe

Thanks,

Your inputs are reinforcing our gut feelings. We are new to the employee thing and I know alot of you have been in business along time
and probably have encountered this type before.

This guy worked for us part time before we hired him full time and eveything was fine until recently.

Ed the Roofer

As a rule in general, we all hire too quick and we fire too slow. Our optimistic attitudes tend to twist our thinking that we can get the situation to improve. That is usually not the case. If you have one bad apple in the barrel, the others will begin to spoil as well.

Follow DougChips guiding questions, as it may make him see the ramifications, or not. Make a written agreement of the discussion and what actions need to be taken to correct the problem. Then follpw through with whatever agreed upon consequences in writing. If nothing changes, then nothing changes.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.

Ed

fez-head

I have seen this scenario several times before. HAVE HIM SUBMIT TO A DRUG TEST. Hopefully he is not using.

What he does on his own time is his business but when it effects his job then it becomes the employers business also. I have personaly watched good men go down in flames rather quickly due to Cocaine and Meth.

Sometimes we just need someone to step in and give us a good swift kick in the ass to get us back on track. I know from experience. You may even save him from some prison time if he is headed down that road.

boman47k

Have to wonder what happened, women, substance abuse, gambling...? Whatever, he needs to be advised to set priorities. Being kinfolk can make it a little more ....difficult for some.
By the way, if you are having callbacks on his work, he is no longer "dependable".

fez-head

I agree.

If he comes from Good Family Stock as you say; and if he is using; the LAST thing he wants is for his parents and relatives to think he is a druggie. Keep the pressure on if you believe he is and let him know how disappointed in him you would be.

handyhoppe

I do not think he is on drugs. He never has been a partying kind of kid and we are around him enough that we would of picked up on it. Like you Jesse we have seen drugs ruin alot of good people. I think Jefferson county is the meth capitol of America. The woman thing maybe, he is recently engaged and is in the process of trying to buy a house, but he has been dating her for a couple of years.

mdshunk

Everyone's entitled to a bad day or a screwup every once in a while. This guy seems like it's more than once in a while. Another vote for firing him.

Slow to hire, quick to fire.

handyhoppe

Thanks, everyone

I am leaning toward get your sh** together, ass kick approach or your fired. We will probably meet with him Monday morning.

Please keep the comments coming its great to get an unbiased objective opion.

obxdeck

I had a guy like this a while back. I finally told him that the next time he messed up, and potentially cost me money, it was coming out of his pocket. He had to go back on a job for a few free hours...Then he quit!
Problem solved.

WNYcarpenter

I'm dealing with a similar situation and am also struggling for a fix. My question is if your employee's poor performance started when he was given more responsiblity? Over confidence is a sign of a lack of, and when stressed funny things come out.

I was recently promoted to job foreman and my partner came with me since we made a good team working together. Now that I have more responsibilities dealing with subs, drawings, ordering etc....I thought I could rely on him to step up and do for me what I'd been doing for my previous foreman. He's been dragging his feet and involving me in some of the simplest projects. Even the superintendant has noticed and talked with me. I explained that I spend more time teaching, coaching, babysitting than I do working. The superintendant wanted to talk to my helper but I took the responsibility and told my helper what I told my boss. Everyone gripes about no-one saying these things to their face, but He was pissed. I think his attitude has gotten worse. He's fully capable but it seams, like you said, he's regressing.

In response, I think my helper wasn't ready for the increased responsibility and it's showing through his attitude since he's too prideful to admit maybe he isn't ready and needs someone to help him along. Could this be the case?

handyhoppe

Yes, this could be the case. His ego does get in his way. Helping him along I do not mind doing, but with this type of person is that even possible. We are not slave drivers we don't yell and scream. We try to treat people with respect and have told him numerous times " if you don't understand somthing ask".

His responsibilities on the job have not changed, he thinks he should have more responsibilities. He thinks he should be the foreman. I think this maybe where the attituded comes into play. He is not moving up as fast as he thinks he should. (raise and promotion every few months).

mdshunk

If you like to read, the book "Up Your Business!: 7 Steps to Fix, Build, or Stretch Your Organization" by Dave Anderson addresses your exact issue pretty clearly. The book is a quick, easy read.

handyhoppe

Thanks,
I will have to see about getting that book.

Mud Master

I have never personally had an employee like that, however my father had a guy like that for almost 10 years. He started out as a helper but always had the attitude, just didn't show to much in the begining. I can remember some instances..We poured a huge amount of concrete one day for the government(I think it was around 30,000sf. We had all our guys plus a sub and his crew in there to help finish) and when your pouring that much it is stressful as you only get one chance to get it right. So after it was over everyone was cleaning up and my fathers foreman told him to go clean off some tools. Well he didn't like that one bit so on his way he just started kicking buckets all over the place and throwing tools, it was awful. However my father was so relieved that pour went off without a problem he didn't do anything. Than another time we were core drilling a speed rail for the old F&M's, and he ran the hose right through the store, instead of walking a little extra farther and hooking it up to the empty warehouse next door. When my father's foreman told him to re route it, as it would not only be a tripping hazard to the customers, but that there would be water all over the floor from the hose hook ups, he threw a fit and started cursing at the foreman, refusing to work and making a ruckus with customers around. My father's foreman told him to sit in the van, that he didn't want him around,that if he wasnt in the van when they were done, he was leaving him there. Than ANOTHER time we were doing some demo to a conveinent store and were taking out the drop ceiling, instead of taking them it safely he just took a cross tee and started wacking everything, we all just got out of the way, it was way to dangerous. When we told him to stop, he said it would take to long to do it safely. There are other incedents but those are just a few So many times we would all tell my father he needed to go, but he was busy and he thought he needed him, because he did have a general grasp of what to do.

Than he was doing some work on his house and asked my father to purchase a roll off for him and he would pay him for it. He did but he never finished paying for it.So he breaks his toe and goes out on leave, than one day were riding down the road and see him carrying sheetrock into a house. Which really pissed my father off and he let him have it. He said "why do you even want to work for me if all you do is b***h and moan about how you hate it" he said "I don't want to, but it's all I can get" my father said it's cause of your attitude. So he lets him go, than he tries to get my father for unemployment. So after my father let's them know about him and gives them proof of his attitude and the way he was, they rejected his request for unemployment. So the last problem we had with him is that he had my fathers gang box, and my father, myself, and my fathers foreman all went over there one day, and because of his attitude and temper, I stayed by the truck to call the cops in case something happend. Luckily nothing did.

Point of the lonnng post is that sometimes if you wait and wait hoping things will improve, it will only get worse. Yeah your work load may warrent having him and he may have the knowledge, but none of that matters if his attitude is sh***y. Don't let it go on, maybe give him a warning letting him know if it continues he is gone. But don't keep giving him the benefit of the doubt, cause everything will continue to go downhill.

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dayspring

I just recently went through this same ordeal.

Employee that was very dependable, done good work, all of a sudden starts not showing up on time or at all.

He told me he was going through some rough times with his wife. I tried to be understanding. Eventually he and wife split up and she took the only vehicle. I had an old van, and I sold it to him on time so he would have a way to work.

I trusted him and signed the van over to him, like a fool, so I would not be liable legally. Haven't seen or heard from him since.

From now on... I'll talk to them once and second time they'll be gone. Guess you can't have compassion and run a business. People seem to mistake kindness as weakness.

Keep the good name of your company first, cause most that work for you will not be around in a year or two.

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marc

You've given him verbal warnings. Now you need to give him a written warning with action steps to improve. Give him a time frame. Let's say 1 month and schedule another sit down with him to discuss how he is doing since the written warning. You need to stick with what you write. Let's say you write that if we get 1 more complaint within the 1 month period it will be means for termination. You must terminate if you get a complaint. Doesn't matter if he's family or not, you need to cover your ass and put everything in writing.

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Marc

Ted W

He's taking advantage of your kindness. Time to let hime go. It's that simple.

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Carpentry and Woodworking - Chicago / North Shore - Ted's Carpentry

"I don't know everything but at least I think I do, and that's what really matters."