So I have a couple of Tweeners I have to address

[Desk Jockey]

So I have a couple of Tweeners I have to address


Two guys that have been with us for a good bit of time, both excellent technicians but both have short comings as far as customer communications. Both have always been assistant tech’s never true crew leaders. Now one of them has on occasion when stretched been left in charge of others. So he has some experience in managing people but speaking to the customer for either is not their strong suit.

What happens guys like this get caught in a no man’s land. Ton’s better than a new employee, they know and have experienced some shit here. Yet can I hand them a job folder and say go to work…..not so much.
There is a class just down the road and part of them being able to step up to the next level here would be for them to become certified. Some background training like a cert school will help round them out, they have a lot of field experience. It with some in house training just might elevate them up a a level or two.


Soooo here is the question. Should I tie a raise to an upcoming school?

You pass an IICRC test (any 6[SUP]th[/SUP] grader should be able to) and you get an hourly boost? Or You go to the course, complete some in house training and they we will talk about getting you some more money.


Whatcha think?

 

[Clean Response]

For sure give them some intensive to pass. Even better put the raise on the score % they get I doubt they will get 100%

 

[GCCLee]

You Hiring?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'm sure they will pass, we will do inhouse training days before the class to make sure they are prepared for the class and the test. We just sent a pair of guys two weeks ago to an AMRT class, neither works with mold much. One was a carpet guy the other a water guy both said the pre-training before the class made the real class easy.

With the cost of the class, tests, wages and several days loss of production, I don't want anyone failing. The AMRT they were in class for 4-days plus travel to and from, it cost a week of billable time.

 

[Desk Jockey]

You Hiring?

LOL you'd hate the weather here!

 

[Royal Man]

Some people can never be taught people/communicative skills while others are naturals at it from the start. It's just the way it is. Use them for their strong suits (Areas that don't need as much interaction)and let the ones that "Get it" move ahead.

 

[Desk Jockey]

These are those people and we do use them within their capacity. These guys know who to clean and have been involved in every facet of restoration from large projects to everyday residentail work. You just have to pry the personality out of them. If you talk to them about music or videos, they come alive but everyday conversation with homeowners will take some work even to be bad at it.

They work well at leading commercial work or can do residential on their own if someone goes to the jobsite and sets them up and then leaves them. We will work them to make them the best they can be but they will never be as good as the majority of guys who just interact easily with customers.


Anyway people have passed them in position for years but I want to pay them more however we usually only pay more as you take on more responsibility. So I though tag pay to certification for these two. We usually don't give raises for passing tests, it's more for leading people.

 

[Hoody]

Have you ever asked them if they wanted to take a leadership role ?

I would tell them they've been assistant techs for a long while and dabbled into a bit of leadership roles and you want to move them into more of a permanent leadership role. To do that there will be more training, more responsibility, and chances for wage growth along with that. You'll be able to tell if they are really interested. The ones that give an immediate yes are going to be winners. Because they've wanted the opportunity and just have been waiting to be asked. The ones that tire kick at the idea already have their mind made up they don't want that, but are afraid to give a direct no, because they're afraid you'll be disappointed or think they'll get in trouble for saying no. Or they could be afraid of failure and disappointment. Many people don't take an opportunity because they're afraid they'll fail.

As Dave said, there are some that are great laborers/workers, and they can knock it out of the park all day long doing that. And there are some that are detail oriented, but slower workers that would ensure communication, paperwork and loose ends were tied up by managing those who can do it faster for better production.

 

[Royal Man]

Have them take the test & give them the raise. It's important to keep reliable talent (Even if they are not Mr personality.)and it will give them an ego boost and give you years more of production. From my experience those MR personality types can be more demanding and more of a problem than the low key reliable types.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hoody one of them is a slower worker, he one does fire & mold, air ducts and water work very detail oriented, the other a carpet cleaner and water guy, helps on fire or ducts when needed, he does a great job but quite.

Yes Dave the biggest thing is they need a pay raise, they are good employees and it would take a while to replace either. I need to secure them before the get their daubber down and beging to look elsewhere.

 

[hogjowl]

Give them the raise you cheap bastard!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I will but I NEED value, this isn't the City, County, State or Federal. I can't pay them more for just being here, they need to actually earn it to get it.

 

[Mikey P]

Give them the raise you cheap bastard!

lol, how many times did you it refresh today?


Now behave or you'll be on the tmf Crawl next time.

 

[Mardie]

Their value depends on what you value.Reconize their strengths and make them the best at that.This will make them feel comfortable and fullfilled. Ya cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
My brother runs his own tool truck in the oil feild.He never wanted all the hassels of being a ticketed pipe fitter so he never got his ticket, but he makes the same as any ticketed pipefitter in the canadian oil feild and is classified as a labourer ( $1000.00 per day plus ).With his years of expeirience he has much more knowledge than a lot of ticketed pipe fitters and is never out of work.

I heard one time that most people get promoted untill they end up with the position that they totally suck at.

I agree with the pig

 

[Ken Snow]

I'm reading conflicting things richard- gimme a holler tomorrow if u want to talk about the guy. I know ur pain.

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[Desk Jockey]

I'm reading conflicting things richard- gimme a holler tomorrow if u want to talk about the guy. I know ur pain.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

will do, whats good time for you?

 

[Ken Snow]

Anytime after 8 est. I'm busy with a mani/pedi from 10-11 but that's only conflict lol.

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[Able 1]

I think the real problem with this age group is that the mostly communicate though Facebook or text, so talking to people face to face is awkward to them.. I've tried to couch a few along.... No help! Totally "normal" guys too..

 

[Hoody]

The only thing I think is weird about this is, it seems you're trying to find value that isn't there(yet?) Being the great humanitarian you are, you want to do more for them financially.

I would listen to Ken before me LOL. But having been in a similar situation I've had to learn what makes people 'tick'. I have a pretty good sense of intuition and finding the potential of people. We all have something that really drives us. I had a guy that was HUGE into music, always downloading music off itunes. So to push him out of his comfort zone I told him if he reached the goal we attained I'd buy him an I-Tunes gift card for x amount of dollars. Eventually the amount I spent in the gift card, I found a way to work it into his regular pay and he got a raise. He took my place when I left, and hes doing really well.

Some people are worth the coaching to put under your wing, and some nothing you will do will inspire them to do better than they're doing now.

 

[Ken Snow]

That was great management Steven! Thanks for sharing.

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[Newman]

IMHO - In this world there are Soldiers, Sargents and Generals. Some Soldiers take much longer than others to become Sargents, and some are Soldiers for life. Just be patient and do not force your expectations of true leadership on one who is not yet ready or you may loose that fine soldier for good. Therein is your catch 22. Loose that Soldier to a competitor for a wage increase or loose him to a competitor because he is uncomfortable with leadership responsibilities forced upon him before he is ready.

All of the training in the world will not make a leader out of one who does not desire the responsibility. Every Soldier knows that their labor is worth more than they are being paid. Continue the nurturing and training, give the annual wage increases as deserved. Create leadership opportunities within and beyond their comfort zone. be sure they know the details of the rewards of a permanent leadership position in your growing company.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink... as Rich thinks drink, you damn horse – drink!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Chris I don't care if they drink or not just don't step on my foot again!

Funny you mention soldiers, that what I told Ken when I talked to him this AM. Theses are Soldier Ants, excellent at what they do and would have moved up years ago but they lack the communication skills. We can train them to be better at it, but a shy person will mostly likely always be a shy person.

 

[hogjowl]

If any of you expert personnel managers understand that Mikeys last post to me meant, please explain it to me.

 

[jcooper]

"but speaking to the customer for either is not their strong suit."

Richard, IICRC classes ain't going to help with that issue. If you want them to someday be a lead(talk w/people), I'd send them out with one of your ringers for a few weeks. If you have done this allready, then hmmmmmmm.

Have a script for them inside the home(things to speak w/custys about- thing to not speak about).

 

[hogjowl]

Take heart ... Island Boy will be along with a video about this shortly.

 

[TomKing]

Richard
Here is what we do.
1. We have a base pay that every new employees starts at.

2. We want employees to have 3 basic IICRC certifications. For every cert they pass we give them $1 hour raise. We try to get them in classes as soon as possible.

3. After the initial 3 classes more money is determined by skill and contribution to making profits. Residential guys get their base plus commissions for any add on sales. Commercial guys get bonus from add on sales and I add in production bonus from time to time. I do not have a formula that is hard and fast for commercial techs.

4. Customer communication skill development.
We have practice days where we have techs pair up and work on the sales script to help them develop. There is an old sales rep exercise called "Bull in the ring" that might work. You have a manager stand in the middle or circle of techs. Start the sales presentation with one tech as you move through the sales conversation you move to another tech and have them pick up the conversation. You continue to do this. The great things about this while it can be intimidating the fact that techs can listen to better techs helps them give words and phrases that might make their customer interactions improve.

I would also consider using a couple books to help in the development process
Now discover your strengths. This helps people see each team member’s abilities.
Emotional Intelligence - Helps with soft skills

Finding good techs who want to do the work is not easy. If they just need development I would be long suffering on helping them grow. If what they are doing is not negative but just not a 9-10 performance I'd stick with them.

Looking forward to talking with you in Vegas. I have some questions for you.

 

[XTREME1]

it is a good time to put together a training on sales and customer interactions. A general script and guidelines on what is expected in the interaction with the consumer. Most professional businesses do this. Go to the bank, car wash, supermarket fast food chain etc etc they all have guidelines.