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Western Oregon | Perhaps I should come after those blue sprayer parts, we could have a long discussion on this issue. As you know I'm having the same problem with my employee.
When mine came to work I explained to him that it was his choice to work for us. I explained that we don't pay a lot but try to make up that short coming in any other way possible. For example when his phone got disconnected with gave him a cell phone. When we butcher a cow he gets beef. Most of the time we pay for his gas or car parts. Things like that.
Over the 8-9 years he has been here I have often encouraged him to help with decisions. I tell him the more you know, the more you can make things work the more money we will make and the more chance of you making money.
As he gets older and gives in to his personal problems he does less and less of his own thinking it would seem. For example, I finally got a tractor with really good air conditioning to pull the baler. He said he was getting out and checking bale weight, this was his responsibility as I was a couple days behind with the stacker. When the truck picked up the bales they were 95lbs instead of 110lbs. This happened a number of times. So we had a talk. I discovered that one string was missing under high tension. So.... He has been baling for 6 years. There is a picture book in the baler, we both have cell phones, but I suspect instead of fixing the baler he was turning down the tension. Or the other day I brought him diesel. The infamous 2-135 was running hot and the hydraulics were making a horrible amount of noise. The temp issue was part of the reason we swapped engines so was not unexpected. The hydraulic issue was another problem. I asked him about this, he said it always made that noise and he didn't think it was a problem. No, I must say that pump did not always suck air, and after I fixed the obvious leaks that I had asked him to take care of earlier then the pump quit making noise.
Last Thursday evening we had a big talk. Again I gave his the "we are all in this together" speech. I asked him what I could do to make his job better. We went over his compensation. I suggested things he could do on his own to make more money. (he rejected those ideas as too much work) I noted that coming to work late or not showing up at all was not what I needed from him. I told him what a smart and good worker he was and how important he was to our operation. And I told him if he was not happy here or hated his job he should get another job and I would support him in any way possible.
This followed with many promises on his part and a speech about how I was a good guy and more than just a boss.
The next morning he was on time. But when I went for parts he took a nap. That afternoon he told me he needed to take off early to go to a cage fighting match with his friends.
Now, that was a long story but here is what I think.
There are people who just do a job because it is there job. They never aspire beyond just doing that job. They don't want responsiblity. They don't want to learn anything that will require them to make decisions. They will work for less money, or long hours of hard work, but they do NOT want to make decisions. They want to just go home and drink beer or watch TV or whatever. Sure they like to be part of the team, have a farmer hat, accept a company pickup but they want nothing more than the mind-numbing boredom of driving round in circles in a tractor. They may stage a small revolt if the A/C quits or there is no radio, they may even second guess a few farming decisions. That does not mean they could or Want to do better, it just means they like to complain.
Then there are the rare employees who are interested in everything. They want to learn and they will do things that are outside their job description. When you find one of those you do what it takes to keep him. Of course that fellow will probably start his own business of some kind but if you help him all you can you will end up with a colleague. You will then have to start all over with another high school kid. Or find a good hispanic and start the process again.
That's my rant.
I think the expressin is: "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." or perhaps, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I'm not sure, "you get what you pay for," always applies to employee situations.
Have more kids...? | |
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Question for you top notch hired hands, and those who employ them.
