Quality of Help

[jmellc]

Recently did a job with my old helper. I always liked him, a good guy and all. But he could be trying. I was reminded of that with this job. Was for someone in his family. He still can't remember 6-32's for devices, 8-32's for light boxes, etc. When I mentioned patching around device boxes, his response hadn't changed, "a plate will cover that won't it?". Can't tell how many times I've told him, "that's not the issue". Explained code, 1/8 inch, flashback into wall, etc. Next time, same answer. And he wonders why he's never gotten very far or made much money. He has a good mind, or did BA (before alcohol) but doesn't use it much. And I've seen far worse help than him. Sad state of affairs.

 

[powerslave]

I had an apprentice from March 2007 to May of last year. As time went on his attendance was an issue. For the last month he was with me he was late almost every day. One time by two hours without a phone call. He was a nice enough guy but at 26 years old he acted too much like he was 18. His work was decent enough but he was too hyper. The reason I let him go (along with the poor attendance) was we were working in an attic and he put his foot throught the ceiling. I always explained to him how important it was to go slow in an attic. (I was up there with him and saw the whole thing. He was almost running.)

Anyway, the kid I have now is 19 and gets to work 10 minutes early everyday. He is very deliberate in his work and does a great job. The only issues are cleaning up after himself and texting. I went to meet a home owner at a jobsite one morning and was embarrassed by the garbage and materials lying all over the place. Also, he's addicted to texting. I don't mind if he's riding passenger with me in the truck, but I walked in on him once while he was texting. I told him it wouldn't be tolerated on the job.

 

[mkgrady]

I would allow texting whenever he is off the clock. Which means I could not hire anybody under 25. Or rather nobody under 25 would work for me. When I'm paying someone I want their full attention. How can a helper anticipate what you need if he is texting all the time?

 

[readydave8]

Just keep hiring, get rid of the undesirable ones quick, in a few years you'll be left with only the good one.

Also understand different people have different limitations, don't give a man a task he's not comfortable with if you can help it.

I act like I know what I'm talking about but I work by my self, no employees since 1990.

 

[jmellc]

Yep, that's an issue with my daughter too. We will get to the point of having to confiscate her phone. I don't often take her to work for that reason.

Part of my list of rules and common sense is:

Keep a watch, to keep yourself on time and on track, not to count down minutes to your next break or lunch.

Keep a cell phone for emergencies or to facilitate business. Not to gossip with friends or text with the world.

Keep a pen to take notes, a pencil to mark walls (& erase) and a marker to mark conduits and boxes.

 

[jmellc]

Too late for this summer, but I hope next year to find my daughter some kind of summer farm work, if anyone still hires teens to do that. I worked in tobacco every summer from age 13 to 18. Hard, hot and dirty work. But it teaches the value of work and how hard it is to earn money. I hope it will teach her why she needs to do well in school and get prepared to do something other than back breaking labor all her life.

 

[MJW]

I saw a sign on a carnival office trailer the other day that said "if you are on the phone during work hours it better be to your next employer". Even carnies have strike rules to follow these days.

 

[stevenje]

One of the worst cell phone abusers is my boss. Some days I will get over 20 calls from him. Some of them are a couple of minutes apart. It burns up a lot of time.
I remember the days that the only phone on the job was in the GC's work trailer. It sure seems like that we got a lot more work done back then.

 

[big john]

I remember the days that the only phone on the job was in the GC's work trailer. It sure seems like that we got a lot more work done back then.

I've heard a quote that it takes 10-15 minutes to completely re-engage your focus when you stop working. So, you gotta figure, for every 2 or 3 minute conversation someone takes, they're probably losing a lot more than just 2 or 3 minutes of production.

If I ran a company, I would provide a company phone for business use only, and make personal cell phone use a firable offense during work hours. I worked with a kid so addicted to his phone that after he broke his wrist, he was still trying to use his one working hand text-message and drive at the same time. :roll:

-John

 

[wawireguy]

Yep, that's an issue with my daughter too. We will get to the point of having to confiscate her phone. I don't often take her to work for that reason.

Part of my list of rules and common sense is:

Keep a watch, to keep yourself on time and on track, not to count down minutes to your next break or lunch.

Keep a cell phone for emergencies or to facilitate business. Not to gossip with friends or text with the world.

Keep a pen to take notes, a pencil to mark walls (& erase) and a marker to mark conduits and boxes.

So you expect your employees to carry their personal cell phone so you can call them but other people shouldn't? I don't carry my personal cell phone on the job. If the company wants me to have a phone they can give me one.

 

[zbang]

If the company wants me to have a phone they can give me one.

FWIW, it's gotten difficult, tax-wise, to a company to provide a cell phone, largely, as I understand it, because it's almost impossible to keep it from being used for personal calls. Many companies now provide a monthly expense-type payment to cover the cost of the employee having their own phone and using it for company business ("We're paying for it, you'd better answer our calls."). Seen this in a fair number of places with both phones and blackberrys.

A friend gets $100/month (untaxed) to cover the company use of his phone. During the day, almost all of his calls are business.

 

[Rewire]

I dont require anyone to have a personal cell phone but the ones that have them are still working.

 

[jmellc]

So you expect your employees to carry their personal cell phone so you can call them but other people shouldn't? I don't carry my personal cell phone on the job. If the company wants me to have a phone they can give me one.

I wasn't quite clear, sorry. 1st, I have no regular employees. No cash flow to pay them. I have a few friends I check with when I need some help. I get whichever one is available. When I say "rule", I mean a rule of common sense and good practice. Plus, I stated "for emergencies" or "to facilitate business". Since most people have cell phones these days, I assume most anyone working with me will have one, and most have. In my mind, emergencies means a sick child, wife in a wreck, etc. To facilitate business means to call me if he's running late or has questions about a job, etc. Or for me to call him to touch base. If he gets an occasional call on some personal business and it's brief, no problem. But if he's on the phone every time I see him or I can't get his attention for his texting, I can't have that. I'm paying him to work and stay focused on the job. I had 1 helper a few years back that gave his girlfriend my # and the boss' #. She got to where she would call several times a day to argue with him about something. Then started calling me or the boss wanting to know if he'd really worked the day before, how many hours did he have last week, she didn't believe what he'd told her, etc. Well, that got old fast. No one can focus on work with that kind of crap. I run the business and don't even answer all my calls immediately if I'm focused on something. Leave a message, I call back. Most personal calls I make are on the road between jobs or while having lunch, etc.

I use to work at a desk in a busy office with phone rollover. A girl nearby had a dozen relatives and boyfriends that called her all day long. If she was on her line, call rolled to me, etc. Sometimes 3 or 4 personal callers were on hold for her with other people, till we all wised up and told them she was not available at the moment. Phones are a great thing, but they can be overused and be counterproductive. I spent less than 15 minutes a week on personal calls there. I had issues with the bosses and they had issues with me, but no one ever accused me of abusing phone privileges or screwing off on company time.

 

[jmellc]

On the other side of the topic I ran into an old friend the other day. One of the best guys I ever worked with. Good problem solver, never rattled by anything. He moved here from NJ and came to work with us at Bryant-Durham. One of the few guys who told "back home" stories you could believe. He had run a small business there and got squeezed out by taxes and tight market. Did excellent work and was always upbeat and cheerful. Didn't know much about 3 phase high & low voltage, had done mostly residential. But in a week, he had the 6 table memorized and could rattle off any color/number being used. Top notch.

I can think of 15-20 guys I've known that I'd like to work with together on large commercial projects. Same crew one job to next, to be the core people. Guys who always managed to do good work and make the jobs more pleasant. Some were old seasoned veterans, some green, but hard workers with good attitudes, etc.

 

[LarryFine]

... the 6 table ...

'Splain, please?

 

[jmellc]

'Splain, please?

6 is blue, easy ref back to 4 red & 2 black. Same way, 5 also blue. 12 blue, ref back to 10 red, 8 black. Most of us know the lower #'s easily. Helps more when you hit the 20's, 30's & up. 36 blue ref back to 34 red and 32 black. 35 naturally blue too. 42 blue, 40 red, 38 black.

Same thing with brown, orange and yellow.

I worked a few jobs where we had setups such as Panel 1, ckts to 42, Panel 2, ckts to 84, etc. The 6's are handy the higher the #'s are, ones we don't use as much day to day.

 

[Split Bolt]

I'm sorry but I'm missing something. This explanation has done nothing but confuse me more! So you go up to the next highest C phase then count backwards? Why not go to the A phase and count upwards? Maybe it will make more sense if I do something else for a while and come back to read it! Also, I can take you to some office buildings in my area that are BYO, not BOY!

 

[jsmalone1]

I learned in the frying pan managing large projects in Chicago. It was ironic for me---When I had a new hire I always gave out all my phone numbers, instructed them that they HAD to call me if they would be late or absent. Just a call--I didn't want to hear the story. I would not allow cell phones on my jobs and fired a few for using them on my time. In the union world I paid a steep price for this policy but am extremely proud of this fact. Now you look at manpower calls at the union halls---"No cell phones, no I-Pods, No MP3 players, no tobacco products, no fingerless gloves, must be on time" Do workers have to be told these things?? Workers think they have a right to talk on their phones, listen to music, and smoke. Well I don't---and I never tolerated it. And how many times did the union pukes come to my jobs telling me "you'll have to hire him back" My answer "not in this life"----There are good workers out there

 

[Split Bolt]

No fingerless gloves?

 

[stevenje]

6 is blue, easy ref back to 4 red & 2 black. Same way, 5 also blue. 12 blue, ref back to 10 red, 8 black. Most of us know the lower #'s easily. Helps more when you hit the 20's, 30's & up. 36 blue ref back to 34 red and 32 black. 35 naturally blue too. 42 blue, 40 red, 38 black.

Same thing with brown, orange and yellow.

I worked a few jobs where we had setups such as Panel 1, ckts to 42, Panel 2, ckts to 84, etc. The 6's are handy the higher the #'s are, ones we don't use as much day to day.

Maybe this will will help out.

We all can remember on a 3? systems
1-Black, 3-Red, 5-Blue.
2-Black, 4-Red, 6-Blue.
Let's call these numbers "base numbers".

The same goes for Brown-Orange-Yellow, or any other repeatable color combination.
Just remember multiples of 6. 6,12,18,24,30,36 & 42. Let's call these numbers the "multiplier numbers".

Example:
You take the circuit number. You then subtract the largest multiplier that can be subtracted from your circuit number. It will be one of the following "multiplier numbers" (6,12,18,24,30,36 or 42). You end up with a remaining number. This number is one of the base numbers (1,2,3,4,5 or 0).
Match the found base number with the color of your system.

Example #1
What color is circuit #19 in a 208/120v system?
19-18=1 1 is Black.

What color is circuit #21 in a 208/120v system?
21-18=3 3 is Red.

What color is circuit #23 in a 208/120v system?
23-18=5 5 is Blue.

What color is circuit #20 in a 208/120v system?
20-18=2 2 is Black.

What color is circuit #22 in a 208/120v system?
22-18=2 4 is Red.

What color is circuit #24 in a 208/120v system?
24-18=0 If your number divides evenly with no remainder it is always Blue.

I personally carry a small laminated "Cheat Sheet" in my wallet. Black, Red, Blue on one side and Brown, Orange, Yellow on the other.