What is your help situation? How are you getting new employees?

[ActionDave]

Didn't know that. Thanks.

You must not work on your own cars.

 

[mgookin]

You must not work on your own cars.

I did until I became old and crippled. I don't even change my own oil now.

But I'll change out an O2 sensor for $40 before I'll spend $300 at a shop.

 

[iwire]

I did until I became old and crippled. I don't even change my own oil now.

But I'll change out an O2 sensor for $40 before I'll spend $300 at a shop.

I used to do it all, engines swaps, rebuilds, all new suspension etc, last week my wife car went in the shop for rear brakes. I am done working on cars.

 

[JFletcher]

From an employee perspective, there are three basic things that need to be present for any long-term stability at a job:

~ Like what you do
~ Like/get along with co-workers
~ Sufficient pay

You need two of the three to make it at any job. You see people scraping by at low wage jobs, often happy because they love what they do as well as mgmt/co-workers. And those who hate what they do but get great pay and have a good work environment.

Me, personally, I like job satisfaction over money. A "that was a good idea", "that looks really nice', or "hey, we appreciate you going the extra mile this week" comment, things that make employees feel appreciated, will earn their loyalty, hard work, and dedication much more than an extra $20/week pre-tax (50c/hr raise) will.

And, imo as an employer, its much easier to give motivated employees a raise, especially when you see your actions translate into noticeable work output from those under you.

 

[ActionDave]

I used to do it all, engines swaps, rebuilds, all new suspension etc, last week my wife car went in the shop for rear brakes. I am done working on cars.

My method of working on cars is to pop the hood and keep my head under there long enough for my neighbours to come over and see what I am up to.

I taught my daughter how to change a flat. Ironic thing is she figured out how to use jumper cables all by herself.

 

[Fulthrotl]

If you are having trouble finding good men (and women), I suggest you call the local IBEW hall and have a discussion. You might be very surprised how flexible they can be.

most folks on here are familiar, and in online sparky forums, it can
be the third rail of discussions, sad to say. there seems to be
a feeling here, regardless of your persuasion, to check this
topic at the door....

it's a topic that brings out heated and strident opinions, and imho
it's damn near impossible to bring the subject up where by the end
of page two, people aren't shooting at each other from behind parked
keyboards.

btw, yes, i agree. but don't quote me on that. better yet, i never even said
that. musta been a typo.

 

[liquidtite]

The market has strong desire. Desire is everything you can imagine. I want a 400 sf new kitchen but it has to fit into a 90 sf space. There's a ton of crap work and more being done every day. Every customer has the desire their wiring will be installed or brought up to professional standards. Someone skilled enough, an empath, will see what needs to be done and start working, get it done, without being told every detail necessary to meet the customer's desires.

The market has weak demand. Demand is the money the customer takes out of their pocket and pays to the workman to get the job done. The customer demands cheap crap work (then complains of the expensive low quality of the workforce problem). Understanding the difference between desire and demand is beyond the customer's comprehension.

Unfortunately this weak customer demand trains the workforce to give the customer what they are willing to pay for, the cheap crap unprofessional work.

There is no shortage of skilled labor. In the old days, if they ever existed, labor would be supervised by layers of more experienced tradespeople, license holders and contractors. If labor could not produce quality work, they would be doing the job over and over again until the conduit ran straight and plumb, the wiring and terminations did not look like some bird's nest, the bad choice of materials and implementation did not fall off the wall two or three years out ...

Now, the market pays for a worker with two years experience and the supervisor is some temp labor administrator who has never done skilled trade labor and is himself two years or less as an administrative manager.

There is not and will never be a shortage of this unskilled labor pool the market chooses from to perform their skilled labor trade.

The problem is the market demands low price low quality work. When the market demands in their calculation the job with the lowest cost over the life of the install, the higher quality better performing installation, they will need to hire and demand professionals who can produce that.

You are so right . I've worked for company's that just care about geting the job done as cheap
and fast as possible ,

guys ys were puting eMt up that wasn't level and crooked.

Installing mc that looks like rat nest and it was totally except able ,

No pride in work bc it was allowed to do Piss poor wrk bc boss wants it done fast and dosnt want to pay for skilled wrkers .

having mc exposed in panel rooms and gear rooms

instead of having a skilled guy bend pipe and make it look good .

It made me sick luckily I already was trained from an actual mechanic who taught

how to bend conduit and take pride in wrk ,

So I new that their wrk was bs other wise I would've been a product of my invironment.


And the owners I bet don't care bc they got a cheap price.

and now the apprentices are being trained to do crap wrk bc they don't want to pay for

a good install

 

[petersonra]

From an employee perspective, there are three basic things that need to be present for any long-term stability at a job:

~ Like what you do
~ Like/get along with co-workers
~ Sufficient pay

You need two of the three to make it at any job. You see people scraping by at low wage jobs, often happy because they love what they do as well as mgmt/co-workers. And those who hate what they do but get great pay and have a good work environment.

Me, personally, I like job satisfaction over money. A "that was a good idea", "that looks really nice', or "hey, we appreciate you going the extra mile this week" comment, things that make employees feel appreciated, will earn their loyalty, hard work, and dedication much more than an extra $20/week pre-tax (50c/hr raise) will.

And, imo as an employer, its much easier to give motivated employees a raise, especially when you see your actions translate into noticeable work output from those under you.

Not real long ago i read an article that explored why some companies and some departments have high turnover rates while others paying similar wages and similar work did not.

It turned out the the primary difference in turnover rates was related to having toxic people as supervisors and managers. People just do not want to work for them so they move on.

 

[brantmacga]

I agree on the money issue, but when no ads are being answered, there is no discussion of money to be had.

That said, we also pay well above the average here.

As for being a union shop, not getting into that debate, but there is no IBEW here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[brantmacga]

If you pull into Auto Zone they will pull the codes for free.

But yes I understand what you are getting at.

I bought an OBDII wifi adapter on eBay for $13, and downloaded an app on my phone that can read the trouble codes. They also make a Bluetooth version of this adapter.

I bought it to use with an app called Dash Command that will tell you all sorts of things about what your vehicle is doing.

The trouble code app is something separate, but it was free on the App Store.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[peter d]

I used to do it all, engines swaps, rebuilds, all new suspension etc, last week my wife car went in the shop for rear brakes. I am done working on cars.

As an electrician, I'm certain I posses the mechanical aptitude to understand and repair vehicles. The problem is I don't have the patience, the desire or the tools to actually do it. My friend is a trained mechanic turned engineer and he has helped me many times with vehicle issues. Every time I have watched him work on my vehicle or his own, I actually can't comprehend how maddening it must be to be a full time mechanic. :lol:

 

[GoldDigger]

I bought an OBDII wifi adapter on eBay for $13, and downloaded an app on my phone that can read the trouble codes. They also make a Bluetooth version of this adapter.

I bought it to use with an app called Dash Command that will tell you all sorts of things about what your vehicle is doing.

The trouble code app is something separate, but it was free on the App Store.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Torque app on Android has a good reputation and a lot of user contributions and customizations. The free version only explains the basic standard codes while additional model specific code info (such as traction battery info and throttle angle for Prius) can be downloaded into the pay version.
It works well with Bluetooth OBDII adapters.

 

[zbang]

It turned out the the primary difference in turnover rates was related to having toxic people as supervisors and managers. People just do not want to work for them so they move on.

Yep http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/ceo-employees-dont-quit-their-job-they-quit-their-boss (and a pile of other web sites)


There's also the magic triangle of Good/Fast/Cheap.

 

[Coppersmith]

Fulthrotl, thanks for responding. The silence was deafening.

 

[K8MHZ]

As an electrician, I'm certain I posses the mechanical aptitude to understand and repair vehicles. The problem is I don't have the patience, the desire or the tools to actually do it. My friend is a trained mechanic turned engineer and he has helped me many times with vehicle issues. Every time I have watched him work on my vehicle or his own, I actually can't comprehend how maddening it must be to be a full time mechanic. :lol:

I used to LOVE working on cars. Then I became a licensed mechanic, ASE certified, full time for Chrysler. After a few years of that, I HATED to work on cars. When I got out of the business and went into machine maintenance, then licensed electrician, I had about $20,000 worth of tools to work on cars with. I still have them and do my own stuff, but I don't like it one bit.

Maddening wasn't the word. Especially when you worked 45 hours, but only 'turned' 26, and the 26 is what you got paid for. Diagnostics paid 1/2 hour, even if it took half a day.

Working on cars for a living sucks.

 

[GLSA]

I agree on the money issue, but when no ads are being answered, there is no discussion of money to be had.

That said, we also pay well above the average here.

As for being a union shop, not getting into that debate, but there is no IBEW here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do not know how other people feel but if there isn't a pay range listed then I would pass on the ad. I know many contractors do not want to show their cards, but right now may be the time to do it. Have you considered having something informal like an "industry night or meet and greet" so you can introduce your company in a more casual way.

Also if your current employees are not satisfied then you are killing your best resource for finding more employees.

 

[rippledipple]

cars

cars

My method of working on cars is to pop the hood and keep my head under there long enough for my neighbours to come over and see what I am up to.

I taught my daughter how to change a flat. Ironic thing is she figured out how to use jumper cables all by herself.

I like your method ActionDave!!!!!!

 

[ptonsparky]

I used to LOVE working on cars. Then I became a licensed mechanic, ASE certified, full time for Chrysler. After a few years of that, I HATED to work on cars. When I got out of the business and went into machine maintenance, then licensed electrician, I had about $20,000 worth of tools to work on cars with. I still have them and do my own stuff, but I don't like it one bit.

Maddening wasn't the word. Especially when you worked 45 hours, but only 'turned' 26, and the 26 is what you got paid for. Diagnostics paid 1/2 hour, even if it took half a day.

Working on cars for a living sucks.

I was a shade tree mechanic back when you could actually work on a vehicle. I quit working on my own once I realized it was not cost efficient to spend two hours getting my truck to run for 1/2 hour service calls. That got me my first new pickup. New or good used ever since and haven't regretted it once. Well except maybe the Dodge Diesel, which is still in for repair with no diagnosis.

 

[brantmacga]

I do not know how other people feel but if there isn't a pay range listed then I would pass on the ad. I know many contractors do not want to show their cards, but right now may be the time to do it. . .

I understand, I just don't know quite how to feel about that..... Its always been DOE here. The last 3 guys I've hired on, I just asked them to name their price and gave it. Its definitely something that's been in the back of my mind though. Right now, we just put something like, 'competitive pay based on experience, PTO, holidays, insurance, other benefits, etc.....'

Have you considered having something informal like an "industry night or meet and greet" so you can introduce your company in a more casual way. .

No.... How would you go about doing this? Like a catered dinner and a public invite? I'm intrigued .....

Also if your current employees are not satisfied then you are killing your best resource for finding more employees.

Yeh I would agree there. Obviously i'm not going to hear everything, but I think for the most part, people are happy. Most of the guys have been here for a few years now. We don't have a problem with turnover, we have a problem with growth.

thanks

 

[iwire]

Fulthrotl, thanks for responding. The silence was deafening.

Welcome Coppersmith,

Don't take it personal, I am willing to bet it had a lot to do with bringing the union up.

We are not anti or pro union here, but we try not to even go there. As Randy says in no time at all shots are fired and the thread ends up closed.

That said, your post had good info in it and certainly is one way to go in areas with an IBEW presence.