Help….Meeeeee
Sorry for the lack of posts. Between taking over the world in Civ 4 and having to get all my data together to defend my year end review I barely have any time to get on here. Oh yeah, also throw in what looks like an impending civil war within my mechanics ranks. One of them is just a cranky old man who thinks the world is out to get him and says that I have preferential treatment to the mechanics who are taking their “classes” (we have programs for mechanics to make more money if they finish courses). His cohort, who is probably the best mechanic I have, is being corrupted by his bitching and little games he plays. These two have taken up with each other in toeing the line as close as possible without me walking them out of the plant. They also play the “take everything the boss says as literrally as possible” game and I basically have to tell them to wipe their own ass. These two have decided that I am treating the other 4 mechanics with preferential treatment and make them work more than the other four. They also say that I am looking over their shoulders more than the others. I am on the warpath now to get the old cranky ass off my shift and even out of the plant as he refuses to learn new technology and thinks that we will keep him on the sole idea that he knows alot about our old crappy machines. What he doesn’t realize is that, although he is corrupting the young mechanic, he is also training his replacement. muahahahahahaha *rubs hands*. Now the other mechanics finally voiced their opinion of what is going on and they are pissed at the other two and the games they are playing as the rules and regulations that I am imposing to control the other two are affecting them as well. They are not mad at me and understand why I am doing things, they are mad at the other two for forcing this on the group. So I will probably have a shift meeting soon to get the whole session on the floor and deal with a bunch of crap while setting new expectations to deal with the old fart. Basically he is the tumor in my shift and needs to be removed, I have a new mission and actually look forward to the challenge. Too bad for him my boss already wants him out of the plant yesterday and is planning on meeting with him about some things another mechanic reported to him earlier this week. I may be an ass for doing so but the mechanics work is the reflection of my managing skills and when one or two mechanics screw around and make me look bad I need to take care of them. So next week, on my vacation, I will be studying every loophole in my head on our company employee policies just looking for ways to write the guy up as his actions are habitual. Another supervisor who has winessed his assenine actions says that I already have him on insubordination as well as failure to perform work in a timely manner.  Oh and here is the kicker: after calling him out last night after holding up a table for 3 hours and failing to fill out his timesheet, a 15 minute job, he came to me today with a sheet of paper, threw it on my desk and told me that I needed to go to the training on the piece of paper to learn how to do my job. The paper was from a class for first time supervisors, and his name was on it. I guess back in the stone ages he was a supervisor at a plant……a plant I found out later was so bass ackwards that it closed a long time ago. Now all I have to do is wait for him to get off his good behavior after confronting the boss stage and get the papers flowing.  JOY!
November 18th, 2005 at 8:24 am
Be careful about pissing off the other mechanics. All of them can get together and get you fired. On the other hand, you need to be the one to fire this guy. That will show that upper management supports your decisions and authority. So, the rest of your mechanics will work like hell to not get fired. Oh, and don’t leave your food/drink out in the open. He’s probably peeing on it.
November 18th, 2005 at 2:04 pm
Oh the joys of management.
I agree with Funk that you should be the one walking him out the door. And to watch your mug…
As to the rest of the team – I think you have shown an understanding of the dynamic and how it is being affected. Your biggest issue is going to be with the “replacement” he is training – Cancer spreads. Nip it in the butt now. You may get the unintended benefit of not only getting him on board again, but also having him go to the cancer and convincing him to either fly right or fly away. As horrible as this sounds, it’s cheaper to have someone quit then to walk them.
We are going through Kaisan improvement processes right now (We are calling them PIT crews for Process Improvement Teams, as well as the obvious subliminal tie-in to NASCAR nation), and we are purposely seeking out the “squeeky wheels” and involving them in these events. We are seeing dramatic turn-arounds in their efforts once we show them that we not only hear their complaints, but want them to help implement changes. It’s harder to do when the issues are in a single dept, but you may be able to scratch out a one-hour timeslot where all could be in the same room and understandings could be reached…
November 18th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
AndyOne is all over this one. We hit on this during my Organizational Behavior class this past summer. First, I would recommend sitting down with all of them for a 30min-hour tme period either special, prior to the shift starting, or at the beginning of a shift. Bring up the fact that it has become obvious some people have become discontent with the current set-up and because of this the entire productivity of the group is suffering. With that in mind, you want ot get the issues of the entire group on the table and find a solution. You may find problems they are encountering that you are unaware of that in the process. It’s very Kaizen like Andy mentioned and allows everyone to be part of the solution. One thing that has been foudn is that money is often one of the lesser reasons for happy employees. It’s work satisfaction, feeling of empowerment/responsibility and a good working environment that makes people happy. Get my copy of Rivethead sometime and read it between conquering computer countries. It hits on all this stuff and especially the psyche of the people on the floor.
As for watching your ass Mr. Postman, that would be a good idea until you get things straightened out. Try parking in a different spot too. It’s amazing how much harder it will be to find a flat tire or two.
If worse does come to worse, be the man and walk his ass out, for all the reasons they already listed regrading management and other stuff, then have a private convo with his underling. You are management and they are not, and you have to put emotion and friendship behind you and business first at some point. A little asshole now hopefully will prevent being a bigger asshole later.
November 19th, 2005 at 10:16 am
Take me out the penalty box!
November 19th, 2005 at 11:02 am
At least you don’t have to deal with unions!
November 20th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
” One thing that has been foudn is that money is often one of the lesser reasons for happy employees. It’s work satisfaction, feeling of empowerment/responsibility and a good working environment that makes people happy.” -Wha
On that note, when my manager gives a a deadline that I meet, then changes the scope such that I get to work this weekend, and then, walks out at 2:00 to start her weekend, I’m not very happy. I am responsible for making drawing changes. However, she isn’t going to give me the mark ups in time to make the changes. So, I’ll work long weekdays and weekends, and in the end, get chasticed for not making the deadline. At the end of the day, I’m still making 8 grand less than I was 18 months ago. That’s when the money thing starts to matter.
November 21st, 2005 at 10:10 am
But you are really pissed she crapped on you and now you are working terrbile hours to meet a deadline that isn’t feasible. If not for this, you wouldn’t stop to think about how you are working more/harder/crappier hours and making less money. You would probably be saying “I make less, but I don’t have the stress/crappy hours/etc.” that you didn’t like in Augusta.