Owners...need your thought.

I have been thinking on what to do with this kid who is working for me. He is a friend of one of my workers he does work hard and he will use his truck for work (I have sent him out to go do pick ups and what not)

But here is my issue...last week he was late 4 times in a row and I mean late by over an hour when he KNEW there where things he had to do in the morning.

So I am very pissed and cant really trust that he will be at work when he needs to be.....

so do I give him the ax and have him walk...or try to work with him and keep him around?

P.s the kid is 18 19..i 4get and his brother who is 15 lives with him (don't know why...I just know that to be the truth...he lives in a okish trailer)



<<can be a bad boss at times as I let my feelings get tied up into some things...but what is your take on this?

Ran into the same problem up this way...Here is how I handled it.....One of the things that I did when I started hiring was develop a disciplinary plan....I came up with a "write up" form that would be used when there was a problem and also determined what my steps were to termination. In my case I allow 3 write ups before termination is considered. One thing I learned when I was working for other companies in the management field was that documentation is everything. Having a record of problems to go back to is imperative. So with the employee I had that was causing problems being late I started to write him up. When he reached the second write up I recorded on the form that one more late day would result in immediate termination. Mind you that I am speaking of lateness due to oversleeping or something like that...If they bring me a police report showing that they were in an accident or something like that then I do not start disciplinary proceedings, but if it is because they are just farting around in the morning, flirting with the girl at the gas station then they have rubbed my rhubarb the wrong way. I don't know if you should fire this guy or not but I would certainly recommend that you document things well before taking action.

Have you tried talking to him? Then ask yourself - Just how far am I willing to go with this guy? Sounds to me like he's seeing how far he can push. On the other hand - There may be a reason he can't get there in time. Maybe adjust the starting time? He might be balancing home problems (getting the brother up and off to school, etc) with getting to work. That's awful young to have the responsibility of a 15 yr old - let alone being a brother.

My opinion:

He's young and needs guidance. He will not see the world the same way as you do, and he still has growing up to do. I would take him to one side - perhaps take him on a pickup with you, then stop for a coffee and a chat. You need to try and make him understand where you are coming from without making him feel guilty. I have found that it often works better if you tell someone younger that you really respect the hard work they do and that they are a very important part of the team. Go on to say that if they show up late things don't work as smoothly as they should and that you count on them being there to help make things work well.

Try this approach first. Praise and recognition go a long way. I certainly know when I was his age you would have gotten nowhere fast if you had simply had a go at me.

The other thing, and this is just a thought and not in any way meant to say one way or other how you run your business, but how often do you thank people for doing a great job? I ask because my first management position was a very steep learning curve for me, and when I found out I wasn't saying thank you enough or giving people enough praise, it was a complete shock to me. I thought I was being very reasonable, but everyone else thought I was really hard going.

It was a shock to me to find that out!

As I said, none of that was said to reflect on you or the way you go about your business - it was just some stuff I learned the hard way.

read what you all said and I think I will be updating some of my company policy's...again

Yea he has alot on him with him taking care of his brother and keeping him in school....he drops him off and picks him up every day along paying for all the food, power and water. I have to give it to him that he has a good mind....he just cant get to work on time.

wayne I know where you are coming from and I learned this working for the "man" when a boss was hard..I slacked some...when I had a cool boss and helped me when I needed it and made me feel good about my job....I would work out in the rain when it was 40 outside and not over cover like some workers because I wanted to get as much work done..but at the same time he always had breakfast and a pot of coffee that never ran out...he was always a few weeks ahead and we had to stop or help another team because we could not do anything else until they where done doing there deal lmao

So I learned that and I keep a hot pot of coffee and drink at hand with snacks. I make sure I work them good but at the same time have "lazy' days where we do very little and we take it easy. So I try to be the boss that I would of liked to work for.

I agree documentation is everything and if you don't have documentation of write-ups and fire someone, many times they will be awarded unemployment if they file. The more you pay out in unemployment the higher your risk factor and then your rates go up.

Paperwork is not the fun part of being a business owner, but if you do not have an Employee Handbook, Posters of where to go if injured (workers comp), Safety Program, MSDS etc...sooner or later it will cost you $$.

Not an owner but a past supervisor. Why does he show up late and not seek you out to tell you why? That alone needs to be clarified. Written notice or counseling needs to be signed by the employee and alowed to commented on in writting by the employee. Clear rules established and followed. Mike.

One other thing that I learned from working for other companies is having someone else in the room when you do have to do a termination...I don't know if you have a second in command, floor manager or something like that but it is best to have a second person there along with all the documentation. That way nothing can come back and bite you like "well he said this when he fired me" so lets sue him for millions of dollars. Having someone else there that you can trust and who would be willing to testify if necessary is a very good idea. This is also the case when having any kind of meeting with an employee of the opposite gender.

Originally Posted by miked

Not an owner but a past supervisor. Why does he show up late and not seek you out to tell you why? That alone needs to be clarified. Written notice or counseling needs to be signed by the employee and alowed to commented on in writting by the employee. Clear rules established and followed. Mike.

He told me he was not able to wake up and get to work on time...its either he sleeping in or was held up when taking his brother to school.

Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

One other thing that I learned from working for other companies is having someone else in the room when you do have to do a termination...I don't know if you have a second in command, floor manager or something like that but it is best to have a second person there along with all the documentation. That way nothing can come back and bite you like "well he said this when he fired me" so lets sue him for millions of dollars. Having someone else there that you can trust and who would be willing to testify if necessary is a very good idea. This is also the case when having any kind of meeting with an employee of the opposite gender.

Good idea on the opposite gender but at this time I have no female workers but will keep that in mind for when we do.

Originally Posted by RustyDollars

I mean this with full respect:

The number one thing you can do for this young man is start being a boss. There is no excuse for your employee to be late 4 days in a row and you haven't had a talk with him. You are doing him no good whatsoever by avoiding this and in the meantime you are losing sleep over it.

He's young and probably has not had a good employer yet. You need to take that role so he starts developing good work habits that he carries forward for the rest of his life. If he doesn't take your advice then let him go.

I don't mean to preach but I've seen this happen far too many times lately.

Jim

I have had a talk with him about it now and that's what he had told me. That is why I am asking what you all would do if in my shoes and why I explained the deal so you all see if from my point of view.

What I think I will do is see if he shows up to work on time tomorrow and if he does I will have a long talk with him and explain how this cant keep this going and that I would have to let him go.

I hired a young man in my shop that had been a good neighbor and friend. The first year was ok but after he got a girlfriend he started coming in late regularly and missing a day about every other week. After keeping quiet for quite a while I had my first talk with him, things got better for a little while then went right back to where they were. I put off way to long to have the last talk for two reasons; #1 he was a friend #2 dreading the disciplinary actions I would have to take. During "the talk" he threw it back at me for his reasons for being late (not enough raises-not constantly praising). After I let him go I had a few of my good customers come to me and tell me the different ways the employee was ripping me off money wise. It's really hard to balance a friendship with a working relationship. They tend to take advantage because of that friendship. But business is business. Employees (friends) don't always see that.

all good advice: I think the take along and coffee chat thing is where to start, employees feel very special and proud to have coffee with the boss. there are some mitigating circomstances here. !. he is young, most of youth today are not like you, and just dont have the disipline you have. 2. obviously if he is caring for a younger sibling there is a parental problem an he was probably never taught any responsability, and has learned some on his own, i.e. he does work he does take care of his brother. all of that said, you do have a company to run. A company depends on its employees to succede, one broken cog in the gears of the machine slow the whole machine, other employees see his tardiness and it will not have a good affect on them if it continues. I had multi copy dissaplin report pads made for such things. over the years I have had to let go some employees who had become very good friends, some who had problems not of their own making, and relitivs who were very close. this was the toughest part of being an owner for me. Have the talk with him, maybe have a talk with the other employees, but in the end ya gotta do what ya gotta do. to me the worst part of being a boss.

Before we hire anyone we let them know our rules, if broken they will no longer be with us. It is important to let them know that they are replaceable in this day in age. There is someone on every street corner looking for a job. If you are going slack of on my time and money or not going to show up on time, your gone. Truancy is one of the worst in my books. I would suggest laying down the law before you hire anyone else. I know that real problems come up and we do take that into account, but a reoccurring problem does not suffice as an excuse.