Staff woes, getting ready to chuck it all in

[Gary Prentice]

4 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

Are you not working with your BiL now?

 

No. Jacked it a few weeks back, although I'll be undertaking (and billing for) planning submissions.

[eggsarascal]

2 hours ago, Gary Prentice said:

No. Jacked it a few weeks back, although I'll be undertaking (and billing for) planning submissions.

Why haven't I been kept upto date on the matter?

 

Cuz it's got bugger all to do with you isn't good enough...

[Christopher Schroeter]

In an attempt to help some of our staff, I printed information out once a month for them to read and learn, with a short test after a few weeks. Top scorer got a choice of a crate of beer/bottle of spirits, which I was paying for out of my own pocket. The first test for winter tree ID, ten twigs to identify. Bear in mind that they'd been provided with printouts of photo's, drawings and key identifying features. Top scorer was my missus (secretary in the office) with 7/10. Next best was 3. One identified five twigs as common ash, but not the common ash sample!
 
One excuse was that they could always use Google...
 
Maybe I've got a competitive nature, but if I was offered beer or Jack Daniels to learn something (that I needed to learn anyway) I'd put the effort in and would want to win.
 
After the second go with similar results, I binned the idea and stopped wasting my time [emoji20]

When I was studying we had pest and disease identification tests. 10 different pests or diseases. 30 points total for common name, scientific name, and how they caused a problem. One kid got 1 out of 30. He even got the common name of a wasp wrong. And he passed the course!

[adam_86]

I've been in this game now for 15 years and am now making serious consideration to packing it all in and starting a new business.  I love this job, pretty much everything about it but there has been one constant throughout the entire time running my business that has given me the same issues.  STAFF!
 
I like to think i'm a reasonable easy going boss.  I never rant and rave, I pay my staff well, let them have early days most weeks, and regularly buy them lunch or a pint after work.  Despite that they come and go.  Most of the time they are asked to leave as they simply are not up to the job despite coming out of colleges with all the tickets and thinking they know the job.  They could learn it for sure but it seems no one has the desire to really be the best they can these days and simply want an easy life.  I am thinking a lot of this is due to the training courses not giving a realistic expectation of what the job truly entails.  I think it should all go back to where it began with the old YTS schemes, with trainees working on £30 a week but getting hands on training as they go.  Everyone on those schemes got a true taste of what the job was and also knew that if they performed, not only would they get their tickets but would come out of it with a job for life.  Fast forward to now where everyone completes a 1 or 2 year course and automatically assumes they have earned a job for life.  Why were these schemes abolished?
 
As I said, I am literally on the verge of packing it all in.  Just can't handle the stress anymore and despite what I do its pretty obvious that its something thats out of my control.  I know i'm not the only one as I see the same companies repeatedly posting on here and elsewhere for staff.  I feel their pain!
 
Despite saying earlier I never rant and rave, I guess thats more or less what i'm doing as I don't believe there is an answer out there to solve this problem!

In my honest opinion the problem isn't always the "youths" (granted some are lazy cunts). You need a shit deflector, I'm not talking about a manager but a first step line manager like a lead climber who has the right attitude and a good sense of leadership. Leadership isn't the ability to tell someone what to do or how to do it, it's the ability to get someone to want to do something they ordinarily wouldn't do, in this case earn their wage and graft.

Having this person in your company will ease your work load and make your life simpler. However you have to find him/her.

[Gary Prentice]

2 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

Why haven't I been kept upto date on the matter?

 

Cuz it's got bugger all to do with you isn't good enough...

I did mention it in another thread on the twelfth, but I can't find it now. Try to keep up.

[Gary Prentice]

1 hour ago, Christopher Schroeter said:

11 hours ago, Gary Prentice said:

In an attempt to help some of our staff, I printed information out once a month for them to read and learn, with a short test after a few weeks. Top scorer got a choice of a crate of beer/bottle of spirits, which I was paying for out of my own pocket. The first test for winter tree ID, ten twigs to identify. Bear in mind that they'd been provided with printouts of photo's, drawings and key identifying features. Top scorer was my missus (secretary in the office) with 7/10. Next best was 3. One identified five twigs as common ash, but not the common ash sample!
 
One excuse was that they could always use Google...
 
Maybe I've got a competitive nature, but if I was offered beer or Jack Daniels to learn something (that I needed to learn anyway) I'd put the effort in and would want to win.
 
After the second go with similar results, I binned the idea and stopped wasting my time 

Read more  

When I was studying we had pest and disease identification tests. 10 different pests or diseases. 30 points total for common name, scientific name, and how they caused a problem. One kid got 1 out of 30. He even got the common name of a wasp wrong. And he passed the course!

But you didn't get rewarded with alcohol for the highest marks 

[spuddog0507]

14 hours ago, Gary Prentice said:

In an attempt to help some of our staff, I printed information out once a month for them to read and learn, with a short test after a few weeks. Top scorer got a choice of a crate of beer/bottle of spirits, which I was paying for out of my own pocket. The first test for winter tree ID, ten twigs to identify. Bear in mind that they'd been provided with printouts of photo's, drawings and key identifying features. Top scorer was my missus (secretary in the office) with 7/10. Next best was 3. One identified five twigs as common ash, but not the common ash sample!

 

One excuse was that they could always use Google...

 

Maybe I've got a competitive nature, but if I was offered beer or Jack Daniels to learn something (that I needed to learn anyway) I'd put the effort in and would want to win.

 

After the second go with similar results, I binned the idea and stopped wasting my time 

they would proberbly more interested in getting home and getting out for a beer or two and a odd spliff, the lad with me went and got him self a book after i pointed out to him that if some one asked him to go and price a job, asking him to quote for removing a birch, ash and a elm and reducing a beech and a maple but customer wont be there, i asked him how he was going to price it if he did not know what he was looking at ? answer i don,t know, so then asked him if he priced it and got the job then went to do and again customer was not there and he removed the birch ash and maple and reduced the beech and elm and thats not what the customer asked for and when customer returns from holiday and finds his prize maple that his late wife planted has gone he more than likely wont be very happy, so i pointed out that as a professional tree surgeon and he did some thing like the above, he would proberbly not get paid and all so he would look a right prick, so knowing your trees is quite an important part of the job and lets face it in this day and age bad news travels faster than good news ,

[Ty Korrigan]

Any-one interested in working in Brittany?

 2 local firms have contacted me to ask if I know any suitable candidates.

An experienced person required for a landscape and maintenance company and a climber is required to join a tree firm.

You need to speak some French though.

 Stuart

[eggsarascal]

36 minutes ago, spuddog0507 said:

they would proberbly more interested in getting home and getting out for a beer or two and a odd spliff, the lad with me went and got him self a book after i pointed out to him that if some one asked him to go and price a job, asking him to quote for removing a birch, ash and a elm and reducing a beech and a maple but customer wont be there, i asked him how he was going to price it if he did not know what he was looking at ? answer i don,t know, so then asked him if he priced it and got the job then went to do and again customer was not there and he removed the birch ash and maple and reduced the beech and elm and thats not what the customer asked for and when customer returns from holiday and finds his prize maple that his late wife planted has gone he more than likely wont be very happy, so i pointed out that as a professional tree surgeon and he did some thing like the above, he would proberbly not get paid and all so he would look a right prick, so knowing your trees is quite an important part of the job and lets face it in this day and age bad news travels faster than good news ,

And you employ someone like this, or do you just work with him?

[spuddog0507]

20 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

And you employ someone like this, or do you just work with him?

he was in his last year of 3 at myerscough collage and he came to me to learn a little bit faster than he was doing at collage and he openly admitted that he was board and pissed off with the speed things happened at collage, like in a mini bus at 10am 1 hour drive get kit out then dinner then talk for 1/2 an hour then 2 hrs split between 8 of them and then set off back to collage at 3pm, so he was not getting much hands on, he worked on site 2 days a wk for 6 mths with me, had him felling trees snedding off and cutting to length and he came on in leaps n bounds first month or so i would not of thought of employing him but at the end i would of, but i dont employ any body only subbies , i did,nt pay him much as he had to come up to speed and he wanted to learn but since have had him do a couple of climbing jobs and he has done well and got on with it swiftly and safely and he is good to get on with as well, next one that comes from collage will either be US or a right clever prick, lets see what happens,