Finding and keeping good help seems to be the hardest part of my job. What are the initial requirements you look for and what techniques do you use to keep them focused and motivated? Also, do you let them mess up, then tell them how to fix it or do you stop them before they mess up and tell them what to avoid, and then stop them again, and then stop them again and then stop them again?
Matt
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I'm interested enough to reply, but I'll tell you up front I feel like a rookie. I've not had an employee for years. I just took a guy on within the last month. So I'm thinking of these things all over again.
Initial requirements, I look at attitude over aptitude. Talent is great, but if the outlook is shoddy, there's not far to go with it. A guy who doesn't know which end of the screwdriver goes away from the body can learn with the right mindset.
I try to let people gain their freedom (from me peeriong over the shoulder) in stages. At first, I don't always know what to expect, so I want to see and assess what they know, what they dont. And initially, some people rather prefer a higher level of oversight. Its a new job, a new place, a new boss, even if you know what you're doing, there could be variances in how things get done at the new place. Finding how we all fit into the puzzle is a trait we all have.
Then I work on finding the real assets. I try, (and try is a very operative term here) to find tasks that meld well with those. Example. You hire a trim guy. He's good. Honestly, he's very detail oriented, methodical, attentive. The downside is he's so tuned in to details that he's spending time on things that frankly aren't economical. He'll show up to work and undo a joint he did yesterday because he lost sleep over it last night. I'm making this up, but work with me. That kind of guy, there's an asset there. Think of all the things that just take time, no matter which way you cut them. I'd have him on stair rails in a heartbeat. You just can't rush that and have it turn out well. In the meantime, I'd be looking at the things he does just plain well and trying to teach ways to increase the speed without diminishing the quality of the end result. If he gets faster and the end result gets worse, I just cut my own throat.
Flip side, guy doesn't know much, but he's 18 and rarin to go. I assume from the start that I'm going to stick him in my pocket and he's going to be a pair of hands for awhile. Short leash. I'm probably more directive with him, as in telling what to do, and a little less supportive, as in "don't question it right now. Lets see you do it first." He just has to watch and learn and help wherever, whenever possible. I don't want him cutting joints. He can sand, nail, sweep, whatever. And we'll talk. And he'll try things in small steps. If he can hack it, he'll learn and we'll get somewhere. If not, we'll both know it, shake hands, and he'll go find something else to do that he's better at.
Let them mess up? Good question. Great question really. I don't think you can let them make a mistake if you see it coming. It's not fair unless you've tried to tell them and the ears are just closed. And then you still have to stop it because it's a disservice to both you and the client. Mistakes will happen enough when you turn your head for a second. Then, its situational to me. Some are kind of big deals, some not. I do have to make a concerted effort to not make mountains out of molehills in my mind before my jaw engages.
Good example there. I have a little pet project of making a sofa table. Nobody is paying me for this, it's just going to be a gimme. If I get a day where we finish up at 3, well theres still time on the clock, so good opportunity to teach a little about furniture joinery. The other day we had such a chance, and my guy put a biscuit slot in a totally wrong place. He knew it, I knew it, and he was just beside himself. Ok, it stunk. I have a table with a biscuit in the back of the leg. But I can't really be mad. So I look at what we can learn. Here's how you sort through your scraps and look for a good grain match. Heres how to shape and fit a patch so it will be invisible. And when we get more time, if there's anything left to fix after finishing, we'll work on how shellac burn in sticks work wonders on little things like this.
Your stop them again and again comment though, that's a different ballgame, dealing with someone who just doesn't learn, and that goes back to attitude. I'm really tolerant of small things the first couple of times. But it does have its limits. I don't know that I've been in a position of having to beat an idea into someone before, least not in this trade, so I can only say somewhere before my top erupted the culprit would probably be looking for other work.
I do think you have a lot of control over that in how you manage and relate to the people who work for you. Everything they do keys off of you and your responses. If the guy isn't getting it, most of the time the guy in charge is the one goofing it up. I honestly believe that. I've only encountered one time in recent history where the employee was really just that thick headed. The boss had patience, he showed him, there were opportunities again and again to get the idea . . . just no connection in the brain. He'd flush it all at the end of each day. So he was let go.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain