The Church of Tool Gods Thread (Nikiski: insurance, homes, construction)

[blueflames50]

ahhh the new-age way of business...old way was to pay to hang onto an employee that is good and beneficial to the company regardless.
It builds commitment/loyalty to a company and is worth more in the long run than running through employees and getting the reputation of quick hire. Offer the qualified person a position of many hats, to keep the person employed, most people will stay on.

[JavaPhil]

They're worried about losing what may be a good employee if the work runs thin in the next year. Our contracts are good for this year. Literally, they worry about having to let someone go after giving them a shot at a very good paying job. It's actually a holdover from the old way of business. If they were callous, they'd hire and fire as the need came up.

We've maintained a lot of people through a couple or three really dry months, because they are worth it.

[blueflames50]

if they hire and fire as the job is needed they would soon have a reputation and qualified people will not even apply for a job. the company gets the applicants who don't give a crap about their work or the company reputation. seen it happen around here and a company that has been in business for years and years goes belly up because of their "new" as need hiring practices. Hope your company doesn't go that root.

[JavaPhil]

doesn't look that way, but it makes it frustrating as all get out when the work has a deadline and I have to contract it out to other companies.

[blueflames50]

Mal...understand your frustration....hopefully you or the company taps into people who "bounce" around jobs and that is the way they work, good employees as they understand it is temp and they may come back given the job. It is hard for an employee to do that as they need some stability also. I understand and hubby...we owned a company and it is a quandary in this day.

[bkyhi]

New tools.

It's small but growing. The other day I got a 14" pipe wrench - used that to change the T&P on a water heater. The old one was leaking and corroded - not much of a safety valve if it isn't working.

A 1/2" chisel - recently for a door latch I cut out for the strike place using my pocket knife - an excellent use but darn annoying.

Finally Spenard's had claw hammers, I got a 16oz - just what I needed. Also wanted a 32oz but no where to be seen. About a week later they only had one left. After talking with a few guys I know - the trick is to get it when you see it. It won't be there for long.

I was just getting 'em as I needed 'em, but now I may start getting them when I THINK I MIGHT need them. But, the prices slow that down a bit. There ain't no Home Depot here, and you work with what you got or can get. It's amazing how many things you can't get when you need them.

Now I need to raise the washer and dryer 8 inches off the floor. Way too cold down there for those. And I came across a few old pallets, those will become a small computer table in the next couple of weeks.

As I'm coming to know ... this is Barrow.

To add the the previous discussion:
Yes the old way of doing business was the best. Honest employer and honest employee. Treat your valued employees well and take care of them. A company I used to work for had the same philosophy. We need more guys, but we don't want to hire for temp work - we want good ones. We all just worked harder to make up for the lack of manpower. It was a ***** sometimes but the company appreciated it. Also didn't want to get a reputation and start scraping the bottom of the labor barrel.

It is also a two-way street - only working short term jobs is not the best thing on your resume. Although it's OK for consulting work.

There are those who are good and willing to work short term. Some are otherwise self-employed and don't want a permanent position. But they are far and few between. A while back I was offered a short term job to bring up a VOIP system, turned it down. At the time I didn't want the work or need the money. But it's nice to be thought of and wanted.

It's actually funny looking back, when word got out I was leaving the company I had 3 good job offers within a few days.

1) engineer for a national communications company
2) running an image processing data center outside of SF in CA
3) consulting for a loan risk analysis software company in LA

Good to be diversified. But, neither needed or wanted any of it. Four years later ... times have changed. But I'd still rather be my own boss for as long as I can make it work. Sitting at a desk is not high on my list of job attractions. Rather be working with the hands as long as they hold out.

[JavaPhil]

In a lot of ways, the company is sort of paternalistic. Or sort of like the old Japanese way of doing things. You become part of this large firm that operates like a large-ish kind of family. I know most of the spouses and even some of the kids on both sides of the corporation. The people in the shop area are industrious and rightly proud of what they can do, and the customer list is impressive. I was told the other day that they want to hire more, but are afraid of the consequences of a possible layoff of long term employees if other work fails to materialize in a year or so.

But, hey, it's not all doom and gloom. The Snap-On guy shows up today, and I'll make another payment on his future kids' college fund.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by JavaPhil

I was told the other day that they want to hire more, but are afraid of the consequences of a possible layoff of long term employees if other work fails to materialize in a year or so.

Couldn't the company solicit the employees for idea for more business and/or cross train them?

Oh & tool-wise I'm waiting on a multi-purpose AR15 wrench.

[JavaPhil]

All of the employees have the right to walk into the president's office anytime, and all of them have been instrumental in growing this business this fast. Guys will talk up the company to almost everyone that they meet, and they give me phone numbers of people they have met that say they are interested in our services. Employee involvement in company growth is the best way, because then the employees have a vested interest in growth.

And as far as cross training, that's why our shop is non-union. Electricians work as plumbers helpers, or frame out modules. Laborers are trained as "oil can Henrys", to assist mechanics and gen techs on maintenance jobs. About 25 hours a week is dedicated (overall) to overhead for individuals to cross train. It's only an hour or two for a guy, but it means that when we point to a laborer or plumber or carpenter and ask him to help put a new governor on, he won't scratch his head and say, "What's a governor?"

Cross training is the only way to keep a stable of good employees. They don't grow stagnant in their own specialties, and they feel needed. They are also proud to learn and apply these things to other jobs, as it makes them more valuable to the company and thus the project managers can point to a guy and say, "he's done this before, I want him". Leadership and management go hand in hand. Letting people become better employees by training and involvement in job management create future managers and a happier environment. This in turn increases productivity and lends itself to a feeling of accomplishment. It's kind of an upward spiral. Ince the guys become involved, they "own" a piece of the project and push for the success of the project. Self-pride takes over and pushes them to drive harder. The company sees this, sees room for the individual to become a more integral part of another job, allows training. The individual feels valued, pushes harder. And so on. Money, raises and bonuses, add to the self-value assessment. You give regular raises, self esteem goes up. "They think I have value."

Any company that doesn't allow this is doomed to failure, as employees can only see how they affected by one piece of a job. If they aren't updated on where the company stands and what the project is going to accomplish, "the big picture", they have no way to improve on a plan. They don't feel valued, they are only there for a paycheck. A company's growth depends on the advancement of it's personnel. Growing a manufacturing floor by bringing in outside managament after the employees have been the root cause for the growth is a sure way to resentment. If you have been planning properly, you have been grooming people to move into management all along.

All of these are traditional management techniques which have seemed to fall by the way in the last 40 years. Shop foremen have traditionally been groomed by their predecessors. Managers look for the spark of leadership to carry on as project leads, and grow into project managers. Mentoring or training is necessary, but is looked on as an investment in the future growth of the company, not as "dead" time.

I would not like to work for a company with a different style of management. I have done it in mainstream corporate America and found it to be stultifying and capable of stagnating their workforce. Growth is a dynamic at work.

When one piece of a tree grows, and the others don't, you wind up with dead wood. Eventually the tree dies. A company that inhibits growth in their labor force is doomed. Ideas made America great. Great ideas can come from anyone, as long as people who can make a difference are willing to listen.

And that's my soapbox for this week.

Tune in next week when I disect the health care industry, or better yet, fix the financial woes of the nation.

"The Doctor is <in>"

[blueflames50]

yup I resurrected this thread 'cuz I wanna knew which one of you owns this bed???