[Pelican]

Today my recently hired mowing foreman came to me wanting to quit. It seems my laborer is giving him a hard time. My laborer has been with me for 7 years and started when I was the mowing foreman. He's an excellent worker, but doesn't have the finesse required to be formant, nor can he back a trailer.

Apparently he's been riding both my foreman and second laborer pretty hard. I had to give them all two pep talks last week, I had gotten two complaints about bad service. I think my laborer may have taken it to heart and is busting the other guy's humps. I had another laborer walk home from a job last year saying the same thing about him, but I was able to keep them apart after-wards.

Something I just learned toady is the foreman has been a friend of the laborer for 9 years.

Part of this is my fault. I didn't have time to offer training to the foreman, I relied on my laborer to show him. In hindsight, I realize he could never succeed without me showing him my expectations.

I've come up with a possible solution. I intend to replace my laborer one day a week, in other words I'll be the mowing foreman again one day a week, alternating days until I've covered the whole route. My brick laborer has proven to me he can work a job alone, and the mowing laborer doesn't have the same attitude when working the bricks, so I'll put them together while I'm mowing.

I really want to work this out, as I said the laborer has been good to me for 7 years, and the current foreman is very conscience's. Does anyone else have suggestions that might work?

Thanks!

[cutntrim]

You've answered your own questions. You want them both to stay on, so do what you say you are planning on doing. Work with them (personally), and work it out.

[PSUscaper]

A few observations:

first of all, and something I see all the time, is for some reason people come dependent of their workforce to the point that instead of just letting them go, they try and work things out over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over (get my point) so many times, that the amount of work and time they spend on trying to change someone could of been spent just hiring someone else who will do the job.

Not for nothing, but this laborer has been with you for what, 7 years???...........why is he not a foreman?????? Now, you have a foreman who is doing his job (though that is to be seen as he apparently is unable to take charge of his crew) and are going to risk the chance of losing a skilled person for the sole reason of keeping someone who, quite frankly, is far less valuable to the company.

Its pretty simple......Foreman- hard to replace. Laborer - much easier to replace.

It's time to sit down and talk to you laborer. He's been there for seven years and it sounds like, besides showing up every day(?), has done little to improve himself.

I understand the value of a employee who has been with you for a long time.....it is very hard to let someone like that go.

But this is business.....and the numbers are what matters.

going back to maintenance seems like a poor decision for a company on the move. What you are saying is you are willing to sacrifice the growth of the other side of the business just so you don't lose one employee?

Is this employee truely worth that sacrifice????

Second, and I see it all the time, are so many guys jump into construction without really getting their maintenance crew set up to be independent. You've kind of touched on this point, and admitted that you should of spent more time with the foreman.

[Pelican]

I didn't state my intentions too clearly. I'm going to ride one day a week until I've covered every day once, to give the foreman the training I should have in the first place. I'm hoping once I do this the foreman will have the ability to direct the crew, knowing firsthand what I want.

I hear your point though. Sometimes I'm probably too nice a guy, offering every chance in the world to someone to prove themself when it's just not going to happen.

[PSUscaper]

I admit I am the same way. Its hard being the bad guy. If someone has been around for 7 years, I wouldn't want to let him go either. Hek, If someone is around for 7 days I don't want to let them go!

[GLAN]

I like your one day a week......But that will take you 5 weeks?

What happens the other days you are not there between the driver and laborer?

[dan deutekom]

Originally posted by Pelican


I didn't have time to offer training to the foreman, I relied on my laborer to show him. In hindsight, I realize he could never succeed without me showing him my expectations.

Having a labourer train his foreman could also be part of the problem.

[Stonehenge]

Originally posted by dan deutekom
Having a labourer train his foreman could also be part of the problem.

If I were the laborer, unless I had made it known that I had no interest in being a foreman, in this situation I'd probably be pretty irked that I had to train the person working above me. That's my $.02 worth, anyway.

[Pelican]

As I was typing this thread, I was realizing the mistakes I had made here. What I was looking for was a solution to the problem I created. I had hoped to salvage this mowing crew, but my foreman showed up 25 minutes late this morning and said he just couldn't do it.

I spoke to the laborer at lunch today about this and he had a different story. He said the foreman had told him he was going to quit over a disagreement I had with him last week. It wasn't much of anything, he had made a mistake and I pointed out that it needed to be corrected.

I'm starting to think there's more to this story than I'm being told, but the bottom line is I'm in need of a mowing foreman now. I also have the opportunity to correct my mistakes in training and give my new man the proper instruction that he needs.

I'd love to be able to promote mt laborer to foreman, but he's not a good driver, especially with a trailer. He also doesn't have the eye for detail work that I require, someone has to watch him and remind him to get it right. A real hard and dedicated worker, but that's where it ends.

[Bill Schwab]

Have you ever thought about investing in time to train his driving abilities and if he passes get him a ticket for the Watkins Glen race?

You really don't need to be an excellent driver when you start as long as the laborer knows that now part of his job is to get his tail out of the cab when backing and be the drivers spotter. It is a policy at Coke, Pepsi, Miler, Old Stlye and any of the beverage drivers who have tractor/trailers and use a helper.

There are subsequently an extremely low rate of back up type accidents in those companies.

[cutntrim]

Why does the foreman have to drive? My guys switch drivers all the time. As long as the foreman's always in the truck, that's all that really matters isn't it?

[Lanelle]

1. The driver is the person who is listed with the insurance company, regardless of what else they can do.
2. In this area, drivers are so hard to find that you'd never have two in one truck.
3. With high cost of insurance, you can't risk having anyone drive who isn't authorized.

[cutntrim]

My company is small - four employees plus myself and only two trucks. My insurance company has information on file for three of the four employees. The fourth is a student who just started this year and isn't required for driving.

Three of the drivers are over 25yrs old, and one is under 25. My insurance co. adds $500 to allow drivers under 25. I'm currently paying that fee, but it'll expire in October and then I'll limit the available drivers to the three of us over 25. The other guy will stick to operating the Bobcat.

Why are drivers so hard to find down there?

[Bill Schwab]

Drivers are hard to find, but work ethic is a forgotten art.

[Lanelle]

Why? 9/11 Several of the hijackers obtained their drivers licenses here in VA so now the regs for immigrants are much tougher. Since much of our workforce is Salvadorian, many of those guys have a hard time getting a license. When the majority of your crews speak mostly Spanish, its hard to get an English (only)speaking crew member to work successfully with these guys. Also, often times the guy who drives is 'responsible' for getting his brothers, family, roommates to the workplace so they can all make money to help pay the rent. Thus the street wisdom here is: There is no such thing as hiring only one Hispanic.