Yeah,
Got that T-shirt for sure. A few times. With Retired written somewhere
at the bottom.
A soldier can still be efficient and fast in the same statement.
Efficient dosent mean cut corners to cut safety.
I have 3 guys and 2 are very top notch and efficient. The other is a
recently ETS E4 soldier. Very young and only had 4 yrs
under his belt with no mission time at all.
I had to use a different approach with this man because he also has 4
kids and young wife and 2 kids not his. He always has
alot on his mind.
He did a job I had for a few years while serving.
So, long story short I explained exactly what we expect and the
importance of time
management in order not to cause his fellow workers to pick up his slack
or the action of such continued violation to such a problem will
land him at home explaining to his wife why he isnt working that day :)
It seems to have help bunches because he is turning out at least 2 a
day with a service call or 2 in between.
Occasionally I do get a little Drill sergeant attitude with my guys when
something isnt done right or falls through the cracks.
Since Day one I have always tried to set standards in all we do which
makes life so much smoother when getting quality and quantity done once.
On 4/24/2017 10:04 AM, Josh Reynolds wrote:
Am soldier, no longer enlisted.
No one is dying by not having internet, but they could die in a ladder
accident or cordless drill accident or by sliding on ice and bashing
their head by trying to rush on the job site.
Once you get shot at and blown up a few times in a third world shit
hole, it really puts things into perspective.
Your install numbers are not worth a life. If they are, well, that's
your call and you get to live with that for better or worse.
- Josh
On Apr 24, 2017 9:46 AM, "Chuck McCown" <ch...@wbmfg.com
<mailto:ch...@wbmfg.com>> wrote:
Can you imagine telling your employer to fuck off (when asked to
hustle) in the following jobs?
Soldier
Life Guard
Fireman
EMT
Cop
Airline baggage loader, unloader
Airline fuel line operator
Personal Trainer
Flat Rate Roofer
Athlete
ER Nurse
Fast Food worker during lunch
Package sorter/truck loader UPS (I had this job once)
Ranch hand staking hay.
Subway sandwich maker during lunch.
Meat cutter.
I could be here all day listing jobs that require you to
jog/hustle/run.
I do not think it is in any way unreasonable to ask an installer
to have some spring in their step.
*From:* Chuck McCown
*Sent:* Monday, April 24, 2017 8:31 AM
*To:* af@afmug.com
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] installer hire / training process.
Not saying to rush for the sake of rushing, saying to go fast. Do
things perfectly in the least amount of time possible. That means
hustle. Why would you chose to slowly drag your ass between the
truck and the house? There is absolutely no justification for not
jogging back and forth. Not saying to sprint or full on run.
Just jog, show some hustle. Economy of movements. That includes
tool and supply organization.
At the end of the day it is now many perfect installs you do a
day. If you get more than the other guy and you drag your ass, I
would not can you, probably give you a raise.
But if you were dragging your ass, leaving the shop late, BSing
instead of working I would tell you to ‘hustle” one time...
*From:* Josh Reynolds
*Sent:* Monday, April 24, 2017 8:24 AM
*To:* af@afmug.com
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] installer hire / training process.
To tell the truth, I'd be telling you to fuck off as well.
Having an employee run is a liability for several reasons. Rushing
leads to forgotten things and shoddy work, and tying installs to
pay with cause you to end up with the install quality that DirecTV
subcontractors do, as they get paid per room/job as well. It's
absolutely shit work that looks bad and often has problems you
will have to roll a truck for.
Slow and smooth, measured work, thought out in advance with no
wasted efficiency. THAT will be fast and quality work.
"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
In the end, it's your business. I'm just some guy.
- Josh
On Apr 24, 2017 8:57 AM, "Chuck McCown" <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote:
Well then you would not be working for me. Or UPS or FedEX or
Les Schwab or Tunex or ......
Treating someone like crap is a far different thing than
treating them like an adult. You own their work output when
they are on the clock and they need to work efficiently.
It is not unreasonable at all to expect some hustle. I don’t
pay anyone to take their time.
*From:* Timothy Steele
*Sent:* Monday, April 24, 2017 7:53 AM
*To:* af@afmug.com
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] installer hire / training process.
If you treat your employees like crap like that there going to
start looking for a new boss I know if I was walking to the
house and you told me to run I would quit on the spot if
that's what you want then go for it
On Mon, Apr 24, 2017, 9:43 AM Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com>
wrote:
You cannot expect a younger person to run for any reason
until they decide that it might benefit them, and even
them real hustle will be rare.
I would put them on piece rate or daily rate and tell them
they have to do at least 3 per day to keep their job. Once
they are doing 3, then up it to 4 or keep them on piece rate.
Have you actually said “RUN!” when they were walking from
truck to house? Have them watch the first half of full
metal jacket and give them a bit of drill sergeant treatment.
I believe in “management by telling” you actually have to
tell them, in simple and clear terms exactly what you want.
*From:* Brandon Yuchasz
*Sent:* Sunday, April 23, 2017 5:37 PM
*To:* af@afmug.com
*Subject:* [AFMUG] installer hire / training process.
I was going to type a long PC type post about this (which
I did anyway sorry) . But instead I am going to just ask
how you guys go about trying to teach / train a new
installer to work faster?
We have a guy right now that was hired to be an installer
with other duties as assigned. He is good at the other
duties and has a good understanding of networking,
computers and even RF. The problem is that he is very slow
on installs and the primary job he was hired to do.
I spent quite a bit of time with him last week trying to
figure out where the speed issues were coming from. So I
took him on site surveys ahead of time with me and we laid
out the entire installs during the survey. Install here,
wire down here, across here in through wall here and
terminate. You could see the tower from these sites so
hanging and tuning the radio was a breeze.
I sent him out on two installs the day after that. First
one I considered a hard install. The second one easy.
They took him over 10 hours not counting drive time.
I spent the next morning doing site checks on them with
the customers permission. Both customers were happy with
him and his install and not a single thing on the install
was done incorrectly I took another installer with me and
asked him to run the time frame in his head. He came up to
3 hours for each install. So had I but we are both
experienced.
So I talked really briefly with the new guy about getting
faster and then took him to an install I had surveyed
myself. Ran him through the entire install. Radio here,
wire down here….. in and terminate. Install router. I left
the more experienced guy with him to answer questions but
told him to not physically help and explained to the new
guy that if he had questions to ask because the other guy
is there to help him figure out a faster process and
would be talking with me after the install about ways to
speed up the process so we can help him. I should mention
the experienced guy is a supervisor so no hard feelings
should be had here. I left him at 9:00
I was thinking that maybe I was being unrealistic in my
time frames on installs since normally I have a helper on
my installs and we knock out three to four a day. I felt
like I got my installs done in 3 hours max when I was
alone but never really timed them. So when I left the new
guy I drove a half hour to what I considered a hard
install and did it alone. Was done at 12:30 and driving
back to check on the new guy. When I got there he was
just about done with the install but the truck was spread
around the driveway ( not throwing stones I have been
known to do this). So he was going past hour 4 at this
point with paperwork and packing the truck he was going to
be at 5 for sure. I stepped in did the paperwork and
quietly asked the other guy to pack up the truck some.
This was done for selfish reasons ( its Friday and I have
a family) and also because we had a between 1 and 3 to
hit for the final install of the day.
Grabbed subway. Scoffed it down. I bought and we headed to
the last job.
I had the supervisor guy in my truck and we have worked
together a lot 100s of installs together. So on the way to
the install which he had never seen I prep him on it. Big
ladder ( 32”) up on the gable on the back of the house.
Take the little giant around to the deck so I can access
the roof. And it’s a tripod install. So when we pull into
the drive I point to the back of the house “that’s the
back” he says okay and I go to ring the doorbell and say
hello. He has the new guy with him so he told him to help
with the ladder and then instructed him to start an rj45
on a wire. When I walked out the ladder was up and the
supervisor was at the top screwing down the tripod. I
grabbed the mast, mounted the antenna and put the wireless
unit on it to tune and scurried up the small ladder and up
the roof. Ill make this short. We hung the gear and tuned
and marked the tripod and I went down and he had just
finished the RJ45. In his defense he had put one on a 3
foot scrap piece that he had confused with the rest of the
wire in the box( I don’t know) so this was his second
end. Anyway we just ran the job and he stayed out of the
way. This was a hard roof, tall and not LOS and we were
done in the truck heading home in just under two hours.
But that was two guys and we ran.
Ok so this is getting long sorry about that but I just am
at a loss with this guy. I did realize on that last job I
run on job sites. I always run to the truck back from the
truck and I think ahead. This guy defiantly does not run
and nothing is done with any sense of urgency. He is
certainly smart and I hate to let him go because he has
other values but I don’t know what I can do to help him.
He was hired to take the load off of me and I realize at
the beginning new guys are work but its been over two
months now he just recently took on jobs alone and he is
not taking the load off. He is adding to it.
Thoughts?
Is to wrong to say, your slow I don’t know why but I am
going to fire you if you don’t get fast. I wish I could
tell you how to get fast but Its lots of little things.
Start with running everywhere you go and see if that helps?
Seriously…. I do want to know from those of you that have
hired lots of guys what are your thoughts? Should I not be
running one man crews with the expectation of two installs
in an 8 hour day with an hour of drive time in there?
Thanks,
Brandon
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