As I was leaving the parking lot of our local Lowe’s yesterday, I noticed a couple of sherriff’s cruisers parked strategically near the exit. Looking across to the other exit, I noticed another one. Obviously they were waiting for some guy who works in the trades and had outstanding warrants or summons to be served or some other godawful legal problem.
It spoke volumes about the difficulties of being successful in the construction business today. The gap between the guy I’m looking to hire and the guy I’ll probably end up with keeps widening. Most guys I know in the trades are now one or two-man shows because either a) nobody can find reliable employees or b) working for someone else with unreliable help is too taxing both mentally and physically.
Is there reliable labor pool out there other than the usual melange of drunks, losers, idiot brothers-in-law and other assorted riff-raff? How did you all come by your best employees? How do you keep them from going out on their own?
BTW – Blue, I sympathize with you. Your “it’s official” thread is an all too common situation. Good luck.
DCS Inc.
“He who xxxxs nuns will later join the church.” –The Clash
Replies
"Obviously they were waiting for some guy who works in the trades and had outstanding warrants or summons to be served or some other godawful legal problem."
Doubtful. There are hundreds of places that he might have been going.
Much more likely that it had something to do with that specific store.
A threat from an exemployee.
A threat from an upset customer.
A threat to a spouse/expouse/signfiicant other that works at the store.
But even if it was a trademans, mostly it was not just for outstnading warrants. They usually don't have the resources to camp out like that.
It would have been for some current and possibly violant activity that has nothing to do with the fact that it was a trademans.
And it might have been that they have had problems with people stealing tools out of trademans trucks and they got a call that the theft was back.
Shoplifting is very common, has been and will be. There is also nothing that says the person they were looking for is in the trades, either. The security cameras may have shown someone to the security crew in the back room or someone on the floor may have seen something suspicious. It may have been an employee giving something away, whatever. If you hire people, have them checked out. It's not that expensive and if they tell the truth when asked about criminal history, you can make the decision to give them another chance. Or not, if they don't tell the truth. Criminal history can be gotten from a variety of places and rental/credit reporting/investigation agencies is one resource. I use one for getting info on prospective renters for my duplex. Remember, any time you want to get this kind of info, you need to have their permission in writing.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Hired my son..........Ace, numero uno hombre.
He's the man and then some!
Eric
I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
[email protected]
It goes both ways, I'm a young 24, punctual, responsible, avid about learning, etc.. and I feel that the difficulty is finding an employer who meets certain criteria that I need.
______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Ya skycore,
you so rock!
be right"Live Free, not Die"
is that you rez? Rock is my middle name______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Was it BachmanTurner Overdrive that said, to quote,
'Rock is my life'?
be drywallin'"Live Free, not Die"
I was about to start a thread about looking for you ! This morning !
Whats with the handle?
Tim Mooney
The barn got torn down."Live Free, not Die"
The barn got torn down.
Thats the second time Ive read that and it still doesnt mean anything to me .
Me thinks you been hangin with Imerg too long and picked up condensing.
Tim Mooney
I didn't have anything to do with it....
It was still standing when I left....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Noticed a number of folks changing their name over the past several months and thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.be a bandwagon"Live Free, not Die"
I grew up right off of Metairie Ridge, now Metairie Road.
Hooray for me.
Well hey, jump on the bandwagon then.
Your name now must be changed from 'mrsteve' to 'Metairie'.
You may now change your profile. "o)"Live Free, not Die"
Well, as a matter of FACT,
One morning I came on and I didnt exist . Then I noticed several others didnt either . A few of us got to thinking it might grow on us because we could still post . I started a thread on it asking "why". A few nobodies came in to post that had my problem. Anyway , I went to work and came back later and "I " had a new name . Seems they attached a "52" to the end . Well,..... Mike asked me about it and I told him I didnt want to rock the boat . So,
it came to pass that my age is attached to my name . So be it. Let it pass .
On the other hand , I have no idea how they came up with it , but sometimes a man has to just let it go............................
Tim Mooney
Edited 2/11/2005 7:36 pm ET by TIMMOONEY52
"Live Free, not Die"
Man, that was one beautiful structure once upon a time!Rich BeckmanAnother day, another tool.
Bet you're talking about #2."Live Free, not Die"
"Bet you're talking about #2."Yeah. Are those four different barns? Three and five are so far gone you can't tell if they were beautiful or not!Rich BeckmanAnother day, another tool.
Ya, all dif. Got them off the net.
I have a couple of old photo books where someone made a photo collection of old buildings in their heyday that had been torn down.
They'd chased down old photos of the buildings for a type of record so the memories of the old architecture wouldn't be lost.
Kinda dismal feeling seeing the then pics of demoed once beautiful buildings.
be a question of progress."Live Free, not Die"
Nonsense.....us employers are not only honorable, but wholly above reproach!
Ya whipper-snapper ya!J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Guys who work in the trades shop at Lowe's? Wow, that's news to me.
only when it's closer then HD.....(I miss TW Perrys now that i'm not in D.C. anymore.....)
I'm thinking they were probably putting out the drag net to find a good trades type.
You think maybe they where looking for some one to paint the squad room?
Whatever the reason the police were there doesn't really matter too much. It's very true that getting reliable employees is hugely difficult and that without them it's difficult to move a business forward.
John
One place to start would be with colleges that offer degrees in construction. If someone is willing to go to college to learn a skill, and successfully graduate, that already separates them from the pack. You could speak to faculty members and get recommendations as well. You may not get some faculty to name right off the bat who is "good" and who is "bad", but if you begin by outlining specific skills you want (e.g. good at finish work, good with customers, sloppy by really fast) you could start to work around to some names that would be good candidates for interview.
Also, research has shown time and again that the single most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance. So checking references, work history, and so forth is invaluable in weeding out trouble.
Hell, one out of ever three trips to the Satanmart supercenter I can see the Sate police waiting to nab some guy on his way out the door. I'm betting it had something to do with an event that happened in the store. Might be 50-50 that it's a tradesman.
Robert... definitely wasn't a contractor- musta been a sub ;o)
What exactly is a good employee?
1. Don't hire yourself.
2. Don't let them lull you into tolerance. (progressively getting worse)
3. Don't make them your friend.
4. Cut them in on profit to keep the good ones.
5. Train them to do something well... not everything.
6. If they don't fit, are toxic or lazy, or don't know anything... Fire them quick.
When I was working on site the only time I made money was when myself or lead hand was on site driving them. And my lead hand was a slacker and spoiled them-I still made money. I always made more money when I was there driving them.
Here's the important part.
Decide which job you do best... and do that job only...maybe 2, not 5.
If you think you are going to design, market, sell, organize and build and do any of it well... you are deluding yourselves.
I've run crews of 2 and 120... it's always the same.
L
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. One reason it's hard to find good workers here is that the labor market is very tight. Good people don't stay unemployed for long here, if at all. It's almost dumb luck to hook up with someone good when you need another guy. There's also tons of work so workers go out on their own quickly once they make a few connections.
What might be nice is a non-union apprenticeship program (not that i'm all against unions, there just isn't a large union presence here) for carpentry/remodeling and such. i joined a plumber's union when i was 19 and although i thought paying the dues sucked, the structure was nice for someone who didn't have a clue.
Also, the reason i thought the cops were looking for someone was the fact that they were sherriff's cars, if it was shoplifting or something the town cops would have been there.
DCS Inc.
"He who xxxxs nuns will later join the church." -The Clash
When there's organized labor what percentage of cases do you suppose an employer loses in arbitration? Let's see we've had slave owners, zillions killed or maimned in coal mines and railroads, and child labor in sweat shops of the garment districts.
I can only believe OSHA and the age discrimination acts were passed on evidence of blatant abuse.
Everyday you see some note worthy employer being slapped on the wrist for breaking the law. Usually it's only when they have the nerve to try screwing the government of one of their peers.
When a worker needs to fire an employer he should give two weeks notice. When the man gives you the dump on Friday after lunch he won't even pay the full day.
Half of all employers are below average and the average ain't too high.
Shouldn't this all be in the tavern?
Big Macs - 99 cents
<<<Half of all employers are below average and the average ain't too high.>>>I hear ya, FarmerDave. I've been in the trades for over 30 years, so I know how hard it is to find good employees. I know how valuable I've been to the folks I've worked for, and how valuable good employees have been to me. But it's just as hard to find a good employer. I'm in a new town, only been here 2 1/2 years. Contractors here hire people to do a particular job, and most don't try to keep regular employees. I've worked for probably 10-12 contractors during that time. Of that number, maybe 3 did top-quality work, treated their people fairly, and were people you could feel good about working for. And maybe 5 or 6 did OK work, and it was a place to make a little money. The rest of them were straight-up hacks, and I told a couple of them that before I left.Just as their are a huge number of us who are great craftsmen, but don't know anything about business, there are also a bunch who also don't know anything about supervising employees. In what other industry can a boss get away with yelling and cursing at his employees? We've all worked for guys like that. I don't anymore. Finding good employees is hard, and so is finding good employers.Allen in Santa Cruz
Thank you God for Life, Love, and Music
Earl,
Had you gone inside the store, you would have discovered the source of the commotion...
Lowe's opened up a coffee and donut kiosk for the early morning crowd.
You want good employees, you must be a good employer first. Though I got paid pretty well,I had to run away once just because the big boss thought we stole material (later found out that she forgot to order).