Employee Rant

DRC

Do your employees become retarded when you leave? Mine does. He has been with me for 3 years. I had this fantasy that I could train someone so that I could leave them on a large job while I go knock a little one or two. The idea being that production would continue while I go snag some quick cash.

This week I left him alone for two days to go paint a bathroom. I cleared $1100 on it. Not to shabby but it was not to be enjoyed because my man ran into a small problem. Instead of calling me for advice or moving on to something else, he fiddles with it for 2 days. So my nice hit on the bathroom is lost because the big job has shut down.

I wish this was a one time event. It happens almost every time I'm gone for more than a few of hours. I'm not going to replace him. He is always on time, never complains, works hard all day long. He just get retarded when I leave.

Mike Finley

Well, if the guy is a retard as you put it, you shouldn't let the mentally handicapped alone for 2 full days.

At least have him call you at the end of each day if nothing else.

Better would be to beat into him the idea of calling you if he runs into anything that bogs him down any longer than it should. I'm sure he knows that spending 2 days f*&king around on some ridiculous issue is bullsh*t.

Greg Di

I'm no painter, but what is so hard about painting ANYTHING that could stump a guy for that long?

"Hey Boss, I just kept staring at the brush and the paint, but I couldn't get it to work"

There's no measuring, no building, just painting. Maybe he IS retarded.

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Mike Finley

I think step one is remove the lid from the paint can. After that things will go a lot smoother.

wizendwizard

IMO, this is not a case of mental retardation. It seems to be more of a case of fat lazy arse when not the boss ain't watching.

Simple solution, threaten to free up his employment opportunities if he doesn't tighten up. I had this same problem recently.

Needless to say, this to may have it's own set of drawbacks.

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Warren

He was watching it dry and smelling the fumes.

ProWallGuy

Sorry for the thread hijack, but here goes. I get tired of hearing other so-called professionals in other trades think that a high-quality paint job is easy, because it isn't. It is a learned skill or craft just like the rest of them. Maybe that is why every time I see something that is painted by a carpenter/plumber/roofer/electrician/deck guy, it looks like a retard did it. You couldn't do the caliber of work I do if you had 5 years of OTJ training or more. Get over yourself already.

As for the OP, I have no idea what would occupy someone long enough to bring a job-site to a standstill for 2 days. Maybe he is retarded? All I know is if I lost $1100 in 2 days because someone who works for me d1cked around long enough to cost me that, he wouldn't have a job with me for long. I don't care if he is on time, pleasant, and hard working, this is business, and if he costs you $$$, it would be stupid to keep letting him get away with that.

MHO says maybe your guy isn't a retard, but you haven't trained him well enough to leave him alone. Take a look at how you run your business regarding employees duties along with particular scopes of work, and you will find the root problem.

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Chris Johnson

Today I was at the job on the way home, my crew is framing (Steel) a car barn, in the past week they have been doing the roof and said today they needed another box of screws...I want to know where 8000+ screws went in the past 3 days on this roof. They are self tappers for steel only, #10 x 3/4 so it's not like they are steeling them as there isn't that big a black market for them.

So yea, I often wonder what happens when I leave.

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Greg Di

Not to be a pain, but you just said the same thing I said, or at least what I meant. No?

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willworkforbeer

My guy is thrown off by the slightest deviation in work, materials etc, he didnt know he says. I put up with it because when everything is straightforward he hauls ass. Maybe your dude is smoking some herb while youre not around? My guess.

deckndave

If you can't count on your guy to be productive while you are away then the easy answer is to find someone you can count on. I know it's tough to part ways with a guy that you have "trained" and had for 3 yrs, but bottom line is he has to make money for you!

ProWallGuy

Sorry, you are right. Please disregard my last post. Carry on.

Seriously, unless they are doing some heavy prep/patch/repair work, nothing in painting should bring the job to a standstill for a very long time other than running out of materials. And I can't think of anything that a phone call couldn't rectify.

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WarnerConstInc.

The prep, patch, and repair work is the hard part of anything, if not done right whatever you do will fail sooner than later. Painting makes this more obvious than other things.

I do agree that it is not that hard to just paint.

It is the old addage, when the cat is away, the mice will play.

Celtic

Friggin' bogart.

The only thing worse than a bogart is a lazy bogart.


These two need to work out their supply and demand issues

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rbsremodeling

The sad thing is that most guys have never seen an EXCELLENT paint job before.

It is truly rare that I even see a good paint job anymore unless its one of my A+ guys or a sub that has his a game.

Home owners don't know they have never seen one before either. They have lived in tract home, after builder built for years that they have no clue

80% of the paint jobs I see are average at best.

I did not see a really paint job until 1992.

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DRC

I went for a run to get my brain off of it a while. I was exaggerating a bit out of frustration. I think he gets overwhelmed. He looks around and sees everything that needs to be done but can't decide which to do first. I leave him with instructions but he seems to lose focus and strays. I need to be more specific.


I wish this was as black and white as some of the responses want it to be. a lot of time and money go into hiring and training one man. My guy is 90% where I want him. I'm not going to throw that away. It may be that I never get the other 10%. I can live with that.

willworkforbeer

If you ever got the last 10% out of him you might be calling him competition.

ModernStyle

It all starts with quality Behr paint from the Home Depot.
1992 was the year Behr came out right Rory?

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DRC

Home Depot sells paint? Good now I can stop buying it a Walmart.

rbsremodeling

Correct. Let just say since I started using Behr paint my life has not been the same

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