[Rick Carver]

Was just wondering if anyone use's a mentor system within there operation?
We started one years ago, and I am about to re-enter the industry on the maint. end this spring. So I was looking for any additional cool things to add to our system.
As it is now, any newbie is brought into the operation as an employee candidate for a few weeks. One employee normally volunteers to be the newbies mentor. After spending a few weeks with the rest of the employees and completeing some BASIC assigned job duties correctly the mentor will bring to me his evaluation.
Just about what ever he says regarding bringing the newbie on full time or not will happen.

The mentor will recieve a handsome gift/bonus. The employee gets a position and job title and the company normally has a better then average new guy.

I have had the most luck by following this procedure.

We test drive new cars, so why not employees? ;-)

[cutntrim]

I guess I sort of do that. I hire on a probationary rate of $10/hr for the first month. As much as possible the new hire(s) work with me during that time. I find I don't even require more than a week to find out if they're right for the job or not.

[johnkeegan]

Perhaps it's a matter of semantics but on most crews of 2-3 men isn't the foreman in charge responsible for "mentoring," (otherwise known as "training") and reporting back on a new employee's progress? And aren't all more experienced crew members are expected to "mentor" new hirees? It's possible if I announced to all that "so-and-so"was the mentor of the new hiree, then the rest of the crew might say, "Good now we don't have to 'babysit' them." And then ignore when they see the new hiree planting a bush too deep, installing a paver upside down or working without the proper safety gear.
Perhaps in a larger organization singling out one person as a mentor makes sense. But if I need to give titles to crew membersI guess I would call the foreman the "lead mentor" and the other 1 or 2 experienced employees the "vice mentors." I expect every employee to take the time and effort to "mentor" new employees.
And I always ask more than one person for an evaluation of a new hiree. Of course, I give more weight to a foreman's opinion but remember they are all human. In fact, some may feel threatened by the abilities of some new hirees. For instance, if the new hiree has a college degree and the boss doesn't, or the new hiree is older than them, or even shows up in a nicer car than they drive etc., etc. I'd rather depend on a more overall evaluation approach that involves other crew members, as well as myself. You need checks and balances.

[Rick Carver]

John
I also listen to all input from others in operation regarding if this newbie will work out and maybe he wont etc.
But,,, when our operation started growing, and we became very systemized and efficient, it was clear that some times newbies were not having the needed attention.
Things were being missed and took a little longer for the new guy to catch on, and when looked at closely, actually, took less time from the operation/crew he was on to have a go to person ready.

Really simple things like for example,,,
where to meet in the morning,
where are the bath rooms, how to fill out your time sheet and where to turn them into, how to fill out fuel logs, where are the fuel logs and time sheets located, how to use the fuel stations, where are the keys for the flleet and who has the lock box key for the fleet keys, what is our bonus system and how does it work, where are the supplied water containers and where are they filled, what tool lockers are assigned to who and who has those keys, where to store your lunch box, how to sign up for our uniform program, etc.etc.

Explaining company policy and signing the tax forms and policy books is completed with an admin person. However it always seem to be more effective if the go to guy spent a little one on one time going over the disciplinary policy and even going over the company culture and what the new guy can expect in more detail then some of the managers had time for.
Everyone is different in his or her own way, however I always tried to make sure that the company was straight up the same for everyone, no special treatment EVER except for bringing in new folks.
Starting a new job I feel is intimidating enough, so being put under the wings of a mentor/go to guy I feel just helps the process along of becomming a new full time employee.
With all the easy stuff I listed above to learn, and with the IN FIELD job, safety first issues, and just trying to fit in,,,,
well,,,,it just works for us,,,,,,
Thanks for your input John.

[johnkeegan]

I agree I can see the need for such a person as the company grows in size. We generally are working 2-3 job sites everyday with 1-3 people at each site so, unfortunately, there is alot of "jump-in-and-swim" training.
Another problem with this industry is that it tends to attract the "strong, silent" type of employees that generally would just like to be left alone. I wish I had a sort of HR person who had the patience required to carry out those "mentoring" tasks, but it usually tends to be me. We all know it actually slows down efficency at first to train correctly, although it's essential in the long run. But, again, this goes against the grain of the personality of my most skilled, proficient employees who tend to have an attitude that says,"tell me what needs to be done, I'll do it and then I'll go the $%#@ home." My experience in all construction trades says this is the norm.
My guess is that the main attribute that seperates owners from employees in the trades is that they have a little more patience, whether its with new employees, customers or suppliers. That's why many employees that take the jump into being an owner either choose to work by themselves or are constantly hiring and firing.
So it's a "Catch-22." In a normal-sized company (that,in truth, has a glass ceiling for everyone) either find someone who can take the daily grind of landscaping (i.e. the "John Wayne" type) or someone who is patient, diplomatic, far-sighted AND hardworking and who, if they have an ounce of ambition, will go start their own company.
Sorry, if I got on a gloom and doom roll, but sometimes I have to be honest with myself about the difficult predicament we find ourselves in.

[Rick Carver]

I wish I had a sort of HR person who had the patience required to carry out those "mentoring" tasks, but it usually tends to be me.

Hey John nothing wrong with this. :-)

No doom and gloom about it,,,,, not a lot of owners really have the insight and honesty you do, or maybe at least I can say it took me A REAL LONG TIME to get to where you are now, with understanding your operation this good.
I always say this,,,,, if we can see,hear and touch what any issue in operation is then we can and will correct it,,,, you my friend seem to be on top.WHY do I say that?

IMHO,,,,,,
You are honest and VERY OBJECTIVE,,, (this is maybe the hardest thing for all of us to become) so allowing for this objectivity will also bring resolve to issues much faster normally and especially to those issues we may ourselves be involved in, or caused.
Thanks again!

[Dale Wiley]

As owners of the business, we set the rules, we determine the culture and we determine the karma the company has or presents.

If we have systems and procedures, established and tested, that allow us to plug in the various elements of running a contracting business, then we are a step ahead.

I use the same hiring and human resources process trhat Rick does. It works much better than the "mirror" test used by a lot of companies. Hold a mirror up to prospective employees mouth, and if they are breathing , hire them.

I hire attitude over skill. I can teach anybody to work in this business, wheter it is mowing grass, wiring valves or operating equipment. If the employee candidate has a bad attitude, he won't make it past the first interview with me. If he has a good attitude, but does not know a thing about the business, we probably have a new employee.

If we hire wrong, then we have no one to blame except ourselves. If we hire wrong and do not deal with if real fast, it is my fault, not the employees, or any of the other employees.

Our system seeks to hire and grow employees to a journeyman status in the business. This requires a number of years experience in all areas, and some advancement into managerial habits and activities. If the employee reach's all these levels, they are probably a very valuable employee and probably in the $ 20 per hour range or more.

By having a structured system these employees can grow and prosper in a system that places the opportunity for growth squarely on the employee and their desires and ambition, the company creates a standard for hiring, operations and advancement. By having the standards and system, the company creates an effective structure to operate in, and to replicate operations successfully time and time again, with consistent results.

In a lot of landscape companies, the Latino has taken over most of the production positions. When I have reliable Latinos working for me, most of my hiring problems go away in the production area, and now into the foreman level as well. We have 2 Guatemalan guys that are crew foremen for rhtis next year. They will be responsible for bringing their own laborer candidates to me in about a month. I will interview them, but they are basically hired for seasonal workers based upon the recommendation of Frank and Tony. They are usually relatives or very close friends, so they tend to be very qualified and last. With Frank being the group "uncle", he pretty much calls the shots with them, and gets very good production and quality out of them. Conversely, if they meet the bonus qualifications, they all get bonus.

[johnkeegan]

The longer I'm in this business and the more advice I hear from experienced people such as Dale, I realize that there's alot of talk about "systems and structures" but that the real answer is simply to hire immigrant labor. You could probably perfectly implement alot of these "systems" but the real problem is the (domestic) workforce we have to choose from. Sad but true. I guess even the best elephant trainer in the world can't make one do a backflip.
I know we have to move in this direction as well. My two foreman have been with me for a long time (8 & 11 years) and even though I've had a few college kids return for 3-4 years straight, I struggle to bring in "newbies" that are willing to stay long enough to get to where they are worth the $18-20/ hour (plus benefits). We all know the routine, so I won't repeat it here.

[Dale Wiley]

Part of the solution is to hire the corect prodcution work forces, and at the present time that tends to lean towards Latinos, for a number of reasons.

A lot of it is culture, and we can thank our USA "M TV" culutre for a lot of it. Times and economics change and your business simply has to change with them or be cast aside.

Systems and procedures are necessaery in any business to have a set standard and process of doing things, the same way every time, every day, every week, every month, every year. Not to say that you do not have to look at these systems and procedures from time to time for modification purposes, but having the sturcture is always better than trying to invent the square wheel.

Having the correct production work force in place is one part of that process. It is not a cure all, but having stability in all portions of your company operations assures stability in net profits, and there fore means stability for the ownership in life, which is ultimatley what we are all after as well.

Moving to a Latino work force will not cure your problems unless you have a structure for both them and the more Americanzed portions of your work force to work within. Out of 6 field employees expected for this season, 5 will be Latino, in one family and great workers. I expect this model to perform very well this year.

You have to have a career path laid out to show potential long term employees where they can go with your business, what they can make and what the future holds. This will require that you have a structured Human Resources program, Company and Disciplinary Policies, and a solid financial grounding for operations. I know some people who can help you out on that ...