Justin, first let me say that I have been burned by piecework, myself. I would favor having less money at the end of the year, but having a steady paycheck throughout the year, as opposed to having big checks and then a short one. That's just the way I roll.
But, you do present an interesting opportunity to me, for two reasons. You have experience in this, and I have no desire to see you maimed in a hunting accident (unlike
other people I know with experience administering piecework
).
So, I have questions. First: Do you think you could profit more (and perhaps command better quality work) by offering quarterly bonuses, and tracking the productivity of your crews? You said yourself, that the one guy makes obscene paychecks - do you think he would work as hard if he made a normal (or better than normal) hourly wage, and then was surprised with a check for, say, 75% of what the piecework amount would have been?
(Please don't take this as me picking on you - I'd really like a conversation about this, now that a pro-pieceworker is here.
)
