How would you deal with this employee???

[diltree]

We hold a year round municipal line clearance contract for a town in the Worcester area. Yesterday I received a call from the manager of the light dept. Where he requested some immediate service to clear a double Hendrix along a major commuter rt. to Boston, Ma. The Job contained about 12 sections that needed be completely ground cut, and all the major over hang was to be completely removed. We had a sign board, two police details, and two 3-man crews( one headed by my-self) with 65' aerial lifts to complete the job. The work conditions where very poor today, it rained heavy all day, and the wires are located up on a very steep hill, that needed to be completely cleared. In many areas the wires were burning( a recent outage prompted the urgency to do the Job Today) and the manager wanted the job completed in one day if possible. Due to the work conditions my crew was not very happy to say the least. Still we sucked it up and were on our way to completing the job by days end. The groundies were taking some very rough falls due to the steep incline and haggling with some tough vines and thorns. I noticed from above in the bucket that one of my employees working in the other crew was screaming and swearing. He was not calming down at all, and throwing a complete temper tantrum. When i came down from the bucket I asked him what his problem was, and he continued to scream. I told him to calm down and he said to shut the f$%#k up. I replied " listen, we are all out here dealing with the same thing, don't be the only baby on this crew." His attitude really pissed me off but getting the job done was my main objective. He seemed to calm down and we finished the area by 2:00 this after noon. This groundman is a good kid, only 20 years old, but his attitude today really bothered me. I haven't spoke with him yet, and am wondering how i should deal with this. I have never had an employee scream at me before, i am a pretty chill Boss, But i cant let something like this happen again. Should i let it go, and consider it a response to a really rough day. Or should I Give him a talk and on warning Monday.

 

[rb_in_va]

Or should I Give him a talk and on warning Monday.

That sounds good. Tell him you understand that he was not hapyy and everyone makes mistakes. The next time though, sayanora! That's what I would do.

 

[Ekka]

That sounds good. Tell him you understand that he was not hapyy and everyone makes mistakes. The next time though, sayanora! That's what I would do.

I agree, do the guys get any extra for working in the rain or hazardous conditions like that day?

Some out door awards over here say the employer must provide wet weather gear and workers may only "volunteer" to work, if so they get triple the hourly rate! Also if they get wet and soaked and have to go home you have to pay that high rate until they get home and not till they knock off!

So sometimes, the boss has to suck it up too.

 

[Treeman14]

Ditto

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's odd. I've never seen a treeguy get pissed and start cussing. What is this industry coming to?

 

[diltree]

We Knocked off at 2:00 and they got paid till 3:30, we provide wet weather gear, none of us used any today...because it was still pretty warm. Everyone is an employee at will, but when you do municipal work, your company is under contract to work on a 2 hour response time. Our employees are expected to be available in case of an emergency to service our contracts, whether it be an ice storm, or pouring rain. If they cant agree with that, I dont hire them in the first place. As far as sucking it up goes, my father and myself own the company, and we are both in the field everyday. So if there is a tough job we are right in the action, a quality our guys respect, especially considering the fact my Dad is 69 years old, and still taking down trees. Our employee retention is very good, this is the first time anyone had flipped like this.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Always allow a 24 hr "cooling off" period before performing any actions, whenever possible.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Well, IMO, you should talk to him, and find out what his problem was, then you can decide how to deal with it. be professional, and treat him as a professional.

Some people need reminding sometimes that this is a job, and they cant act like kids and throw a tantrum just because they dont like being out in this kind of weather.

 

[NWCS]

personally.. he would be out on his butt with me.. every employee must represent the company and keep the image up.. customers see that and they are not impressed.. even the lowest employee can drag an entire company down in the dirt.. i have had helpers get upset.. nothing like you described.. sounds like a very extreme case to me. even if he was one hell of a worker.. he would probly get paid and offered refrences and full details exactly why he was let go.

 

[runninghot]

That's odd. I've never seen a treeguy get pissed and start cussing. What is this industry coming to?

Yah really! Blowing his top like the guy did, well it can happen if a person is somewhat immature and the conditions are very adverse. If everyone was feeling that way and one guy lets it out, maybe it's not so bad, but if the tantrum is to the point of being disruptive, then it is not a good thing. Having a chat with the guy as has been suggested, I think it's good advice. I also can see not saying anything at all, cut him some slack on it, but if it happens again, or his performance is questionable, adios! He is old enough to know better.

 

[MasterBlaster]

But, in the final analysis, A-holes will always be A-holes.

Know whut I mean, Vern?

 

[Lumberjack]

Your the boss, he is the employee.

Ask him for an explanation, perhaps there is extra circumstances you dont understand.

If he persists to be a pain, give him the day off to think about it. Insubordination is unacceptable.

 

[runninghot]

An old Chinese proverb says that the best government is when the people will govern themselves.

 

[NeTree]

Send the lil baby packin'.

 

[runninghot]

So NeTree was never a bad boy?

 

[NeTree]

So NeTree was never a bad boy?

Daily.... but who's gonna fire the owner?

 

[NeTree]

Well said, Greg.

Having survived the horrible working conditions we had during Ice Storm '98 up in Canada... days like today ain't nuthin'.

 

[NeTree]

.... unless Greg's skeered of a few raindrops....

 

[runninghot]

The "company" approach is a good one, but "employee" is too big a word for me to get a good handle on, also haven't much had the experience. Is the person still working more or less in a training capacity? If so, compared to someone with a fair amount of experience, it requires a different approach I think. Rules are all very practical and all that, but knowing how to hold on to people with promise who may blow it sometimes, that is a great skill, both for the benefit of the company and for the future of the individual, especially if he is able to mature as time goes along. There are a lot of issues here; safety, work atmosphere, (OK) respect....and a wee bit of compassion too. My two cents.

 

[MasterBlaster]

When I was a ManPusher, my motto was "Work, Walk, or Fight!"

That probably ain't too pc, nowadays. :Eye: