Work Ethic

[rwbaldwin]

Common sense and initiative seems to be non-existant these days. New employees seen to come from an educational background where they have been spoon-fed bite-sized chucks of information. You need to tell them not only what to do, but how to do it.

[Aspman]

Common sense and initiative seems to be non-existant these days. New employees seen to come from an educational background where they have been spoon-fed bite-sized chucks of information. You need to tell them not only what to do, but how to do it.

 

Gaah! Something that drives me nuts! e.g we have 200 servers running Windows XYZ, we get a sample of 10 of them tested. Problems are reported back to teams. Team reports all fixed. Next year test again, another random 10 of that 200. Same problems as previous year come back. WTF? Thought you fixed them? They did they only fixed the 10 that were tested and it never crossed their minds that the other 190 nearly identical machines might have the same problems.

 

Now at the point of point to every machine and going have you fixed that one? Have you fixed the next one. This is to 50yr old computer science graduates with 30yrs in the job on £30 or £40k. It's not just the youngsters that are lazy, ignorant and obstructive.

 

and I don't even work in IT or manage these guys. I'm chasing their bosses who don't want to deal with the problem.

Edited 13 June, 2014 by Aspman

[DanHarper]

Common sense and initiative seems to be non-existant these days. New employees seen to come from an educational background where they have been spoon-fed bite-sized chucks of information. You need to tell them not only what to do, but how to do it.

 

On the other hand some bosses love to spoon-feed and micro manage and its a right ball ache...

[Toxicvrs]

On the other hand some bosses love to spoon-feed and micro manage and its a right ball ache...

My boss is quite a laugh! We are given the job sheets then get the work done, I think it does help that we are friendly outside of work!

[fabiamk2SE]

Tbh that says about how much of a mug you are. I'm not trying to insult you here but I wouldn't work past my contracted 40 hour week unless is was getting either time and a half or double time. Also I wouldn't work a 70-80 hour week at all as I work to live and that includes spending time with my wife and child, I don't live to work.

There's a reason why an employer can't force you to work over 48 hours a week.

Nah. As i said. I needed the experience. Without that, i wouldnt be where i am now.

I didnt enjoy it too much, but im glad i did it. I can now confidently work on my own, do my own jobs, earn my own income and decide what hours i want to work.

With the qualifications and no confidence, you dont get anywhere. And confidence doesnt come without experience.

[MattHunt]

 They did they only fixed the 10 that were tested and it never crossed their minds that the other 190 nearly identical machines might have the same problems.

 

I 've had this at two other companies - a customer would call with a problem on their account (this is in the world of stock brocking and ISAs), I or one of my collegues identify the issue, pass it to the resoloution team who would usually manually force the payment / dividend or whatever so guess what?!

 

Next month / quarter / year the same problem would occurr as the underlying error was not bl**dy fixed. Very embarrassing when Mr X phones up and asks me why the same problem has reoccurred. I usually transferred them to the relevant team and suggested they shout loudly to get their attention.

 

Sigh...

 

P.S. I should add that after my earlier post I can get the person to interview if the CV and covering letter are strong enough but after that he/she is on their own.

Edited 13 June, 2014 by MattHunt

[rwbaldwin]

Gaah! Something that drives me nuts! e.g we have 200 servers running Windows XYZ, we get a sample of 10 of them tested. Problems are reported back to teams. Team reports all fixed. Next year test again, another random 10 of that 200. Same problems as previous year come back. WTF? Thought you fixed them? They did they only fixed the 10 that were tested and it never crossed their minds that the other 190 nearly identical machines might have the same problems.

Now at the point of point to every machine and going have you fixed that one? Have you fixed the next one. This is to 50yr old computer science graduates with 30yrs in the job on £30 or £40k. It's not just the youngsters that are lazy, ignorant and obstructive.

and I don't even work in IT or manage these guys. I'm chasing their bosses who don't want to deal with the problem.

Check is a dangerous word.

I asked one guy to check the tyres on about 40 cars (the previous day I had to show him how to use the inflator).

He came back in about 30 minutes (which I new was too soon) and he said he had checked them all and most were OK.

I asked him if he had a problem with the inflator. He said he didn't realise I meant him to correct them.

I realised I hadn't been clear enough, so I bit my lip and asked him to go back and adjust any pressures that were wrong. At that point, with a blank, ape-like expression on his face, he told me that he couldn't remember which ones were wrong - he hadn't written any of the readings down :(

[gadgetman]

An employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal if you aren't careful. You can't just fire someone for being sick.

Yup.  The company handbook should cover this.  Essentially they need to be invited back to work for a one to one meeting to discuss the absence assuming doctors notes cover them.  If it deemed unacceptable to unauthorised/repeated absence then follow disciplinary procedures.  ACAS will have guidance if you don't have your own policies in place.

 

On the other hand some bosses love to spoon-feed and micro manage and its a right ball ache...

Sometimes workers need everything done for them, and for some managing to get to work with tied shoelaces is a major miracle.

 

Think of some workers these days as a sperm.  Some start heading in the right direction, all be it at varying speeds, but they get there.  Others simply go round in circles or the wrong way even if the egg was right in front of them

[James I]

An employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal if you aren't careful. You can't just fire someone for being sick.

I hasten to add he was still in his three month probationary period. So all above board as checked with our legal people.

 

 Also I need to add that most of the issues are not money related, as an example we have a cleaner, she works 37.5 hours per week, on days and earns £18k basic, overtime is available of she wants it, we offer a Gym, coffee and tea on free vend, 23 days holiday per year, pension and so on, NMW is not offered to anyone.

 

 Work is not massively strenuous, no heavy lifting or anything like that, sometimes it can be monotonous and repetitive but easy enough. Did I mention an annual Christmas bonus along with a hamper worth approx £150.  It really is a decent place to work.

 

 Oh, on a positive note, we have one employee who has completed his 25 years service without ever being off sick! Well done him.

[trundlenut]

Sometimes people surprise you. We have had a number of new staff in the last year. One was very much in at a 9 out at 5 and do only the bare minimum in that time. A few months later and totally different story, they are now shaping up to be one of the best of the new batch.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Binzie]

I had a contractor who we pay 1 hour a week for email collection and admin; sit around for 40 mins and really **** me off distracting other workers today 

 

I gave him a nod and asked if he had all his paperwork all up to date to which he leaned back in the chair and laughed "of course" 

 

I waited until he looked like he had logged out of his pc and was getting ready to go out in the sunshine while we all carried on grafting and nonchalantly asked if his months timesheet had gone in as today is the last day for baccs ?

 

25 mins later he jogged over with his timesheet "here you go, if off" 

 

a brief inspection showed he claimed an hour to sort his timesheet out, so I ripped it up and asked for a more realistic view of his months work or "are you taking the ****, you can do that again"

 

Its cost him 3 days work next week

 

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem !

[DaKKs_152]

'An acceptable zone of thermal comfort for most people in the UK lies roughly between 13°C (56°F)

Pussies... I was operating a brush cutter in minus 10-15 Celsius this winter. And we were doing 120:10 minutes shifts.

[mac11irl]

16C and below = go home?!

I work outdoors a lot - on nights.

back during that extra cold winter of 2010/11,

i was working nights in -15C getting drainage installed to keep tracks from flooding come the big thaw.

 

Also, as an aside, while i am an engineer, i still happily get stuck in with the gangs and work the shovels etc...

its keeps you warm on a cold night and it boosts the morale of the other guys that your prepared to lead by example.

 

however, there is a large number of people i work with who are hopeless when it comes to doing anything.

engineer colleagues who could barely change a bulb, never mind do the rewiring/plumbing fixes that i knock about with at home of a weekend...

i dunno, it staggers me sometimes!!!

[gadgetman]

I hasten to add he was still in his three month probationary period. So all above board as checked with our legal people.

Also I need to add that most of the issues are not money related, as an example we have a cleaner, she works 37.5 hours per week, on days and earns £18k basic, overtime is available of she wants it, we offer a Gym, coffee and tea on free vend, 23 days holiday per year, pension and so on, NMW is not offered to anyone.

Work is not massively strenuous, no heavy lifting or anything like that, sometimes it can be monotonous and repetitive but easy enough. Did I mention an annual Christmas bonus along with a hamper worth approx £150. It really is a decent place to work.

Oh, on a positive note, we have one employee who has completed his 25 years service without ever being off sick! Well done him.

£18k for a cleaner?

Wow. Swmbo says sign her up!

[blueR36]

Indeed.

When you find them you have to protect them from being corrupted by other staff.

Yes I work 4 days on 4 off and leave the other "Chef" I use that term loosely, with a veg meat order, menus planned, prep done for 1st days lunch and all baking done biscuits scones flapjack choc brownies etc ., and he does not do for me, well he puts a veg order in the same as I got him even though he has not used some of the items, ie butternut squash is too hard for him to do , so come in to find loads of fruit and veg in the warm kitchen instead of the chilled cold room downstairs as he cant be arsed going downstairs! The other staff and my mates say why don't you do the same but why should I be a slacker because he is. If employment law was easier to get rid he would be long gone, but as he is retirement age bosses will bide their time as they have their hands full with another who has been off sick for 4 weeks after two weeks  off because she faced a disciplinary for 4 serious cases 

[blueR36]

Check is a dangerous word.

I asked one guy to check the tyres on about 40 cars (the previous day I had to show him how to use the inflator).

He came back in about 30 minutes (which I new was too soon) and he said he had checked them all and most were OK.

I asked him if he had a problem with the inflator. He said he didn't realise I meant him to correct them.

I realised I hadn't been clear enough, so I bit my lip and asked him to go back and adjust any pressures that were wrong. At that point, with a blank, ape-like expression on his face, he told me that he couldn't remember which ones were wrong - he hadn't written any of the readings down :(

Oh yes I call it the Asda tick,( toilets) tick to say you have cleaned something or check temperatures , which you haven't done , the other guy got a verbal warning for this as we lost a star from hygiene inspector as he had ticked but not cleaned!  

[MartynVRS]

Work ethic. With some I don't know whether to laugh or cry sometimes.

I've worked since I was 12, doing gardening for family, got to 16 and got a part time job in a warehouse where I'd be flatout all day and I'd work harder and longer than anyone. I'm 25 and the same applies today. I'm now an IT Supervisor and to get the factory up and running I've worked almost every day since March. It's now stable but I've put some bonkers in to do it. But I didn't think any differently about it. If I didn't do it then it wouldn't have happened. I didn't get to 5pm and walk out and then not work weekends either. There are people I've worked with in the past who clock in and out bang on time everyday. No more and no less. If there's a special project to do that's urgent they don't care. They do the bare minimum to coast along whereas I've always been the type to be flatout all day. People do rely too much on this though and the coasters get away with murder.
 

[BJM]

One of my clearest memories from my previous career was carrying out a H&S audit of the old Massey Ferguson factory in Banner Lane, Coventry.

 

My colleague and I were working 07.00 - 19.00 in an attempt to complete the job in 2 instead of 3 weeks, and also to see both the day and twilight shifts in operation.

 

At around 16.17 (they worked weird Union negotiated hours to allow for washing hands, walking from the time clock to the gate etc.etc.) the hooter went off. I was standing by the assembly track, by a bloke fitting the front wheels, using a 5 head, air powered, torque wrench. As the hooter rang he opened both hands, dropped the wheel, the wrench, the nuts in the wrench sockets, turned on his heel and just walked away as it all bounced across the floor.

That was clocking in and out bang on time.

[Can]

Interestingly that last comment sounds like the kind of opinion passed on from fellow workers.

Which was kind of my point.  Then them and us mentality that makes a productive valued worker someone that just seems to be doing what they have to.

 

If there is one thing I've learned, it's that there is a divide between management and staff.

They may be nice to your face, but will criticise etc.. behind you back.

Which has never bothered me because that's just part of the job.

 

This isn't a personal criticism by the way.

 

When you go from a worker to a manager you rapidly go from being an alright bloke to an utter arse in the eyes of the regular staff.

 

Fact is, there is usually a reason why things are done a certain way.

But because regular staff are only aware of what they do (and not the full picture including management decisions and the reasons for them) they get a blinkered view and can't understand the decisions.

But even though you are paying them to do what you want them to do, they automatically seem to get a right to moan and criticise all decisions they don't understand because they are not right in their eyes, where they only know a small part of the puzzle.

 

I think it realy depends on the company and even sometimes manager you work for.

I've been told off by a manager because I fixed a couple of loose bolts etc on some test equipment because we should have called out the test equipment group to come and do it instead.

I just saved you from having 3 engineers standing around waiting for over an hour by doing a simple job myself and your complaining about that.

I know from talking to some of our managers about cars mainly because they can't undertand how someone who's paid half of what they are has a nicer car, that one of them has called the AA out because he didn't want to change a tyre. I don't get why he spent two hours waiting for someone else to do it when it wouldn't have taken more than half an hour to do it himself.

[James I]

One thing I ALWAYS do as a manger is to ASK my staff I never TELL them, I only tell them when I have asked twice.

 

 Another thing that really gets my goat is when somebody agrees to work extra hours, for example off a 6-2 shift, they may stay until 18:00 to cover or do something that needs doing on the odd occasion. They agree because they want to work and will earn extra, when the day arrives they come up with bull excuse that they can't stay back. Why volunteer in the first place?

 

 Maybe I will have to stop asking why and just learn to live with the fact.

[grr666]

 At that point, with a blank, ape-like expression on his face...

I've just been to sports direct and all 3 of the staff that it took to do a simple 

exchange had that blank ape like look and you see it right across the retail sector

so often that I've given up with shops for the most part and self research and buy more

or less everything online.  .

One (young girl with St Georges crosses painted on her face ) seemed genuinely

aggrieved that she had been asked to do anything at all, the young lad that was trying to

serve me hadn't had the required till training to do a return and exchange and the manageress 

who came to assist him wasn't much better. 

 

Last week I needed a laptop, and quickly so I went to PC world to get one same day. 

Asked if they price matched, they said 'depends on who with!!??' to which I replied

'What difference does it make?' showed them on one of their own PCs who I'd like a

price match with and surprise surprise it was one of the organisations they

don't compete with. They let a 500 quid sale walk out of the door for the sake of

a twenty quid reduction to price match Amazon. Idiots! No wonder the high street is

dying, Poorly trained and barely motivated staff, zero product knowledge and a complete

disregard that people can get things cheaper online and unwillingness to compete. 

 

The other bonus of buying online is that you don't have to deal with the in store

knuckle dragging, window lickers either. I won't call them shop assistants as that

suggests the thought that they are useful or helpful in any way which 99% of the time 

they are not. If I'm honest I'd actually pay a premium for not having to deal with them. 

 

. 

[jgcsteve13]

had the same ages ago when looking to buy sky went into currys / comet cant quite remember & said i would like to buy sky please tell me all about it . was told the person who does that is on lunch . i said get somebody else  . a right muppet turned up who knew less than i already knew . corrected them twice that the info was wrong & at that point walked out. went into toysrus for something & they had a sky stand asked  about it & a guy came over who knew everything there was to know about it ( he did say he didnt leave his house all weekend & went through everything . ended up buying sky from them just because of this guy

[StevesTruck]

No wonder the high street is

dying, Poorly trained and barely motivated staff, zero product knowledge

. 

 

Got to be fair, the problem there normally boils down to bad management at least as much as it does bad staff. 

 

If the guy at the bottom doesn't think the guy at the top gives a **** about them, then the guy at the bottom follows the example. 

[grr666]

^^^

Not arguing that point but that still doesn't make it okay. 

[James I]

Not true here, we have a great working relationship, even the owner gets on with everybody.  We have today advertised the vacancies, lets see if we can start ten and keep two..