resistance at work....advice is much appreciated

i dont think they realize how easy they have it.
primo shift for sure. easy work.
they can have drinks. they can have food. they can have music. they can talk with each other. there is no dress code.

the last foundry i was at man the gm didnt play.
no phones on the floor and that meant no phones on the floor. busted with a phone and youre suspended. thats it.
busted again and youre out.
no music. no food. no drinks. hard hat. met boots. safety glasses. ear plugs. long sleeve fire retardant shirts even though it was hot as balls.
1 minute late from break. thats your ass.
1 minute late from lunch. thats your ass.

here though. lunch is over at 12:30. to me that means back on station at 12:30.
they still walk back to station slow as hell at a few minutes past that. phone in front of them texting.

the other day the one dude got back to his station just a couple minutes after 12:30. he sat on the table and then proceeded to eat his hot wings. then he went back to work.

boss didnt say anything.

i get so frustrated because the job is easy and they have it damn good. i have it damn good. not making it out like i dont.
another thing they bitch about is wage and like i said in the grand scheme of things they make short money...absolutely.
still though even though it is short money it is 100% for what their duties and responsibilities are.

originally posted by: TiredofControlFreaks
a reply to: TinySickTears

First - you are not going to like my answer but it is based on 30 years experience.

Are you a woman working with men?

no. the whole crew is guys. there are a couple ladies in the front office and a lady on the other side of the shop in the tool cage.

and im a guy

a reply to: TinySickTears

I know where you are coming from.

But, think of it this way. Supervisors only want one thing, for no one to get seriously injured, and to meet incentive at the end of the order. They get a fat bonus if they meet the company's goals. Just keep that in mind.

I can bet you all the money I have if production speed slows down or comes to a halt, that supervisor will be yelling commands, taking away phones, and calling on an extra QA to come down and rat on people who are not making good.

Just some food for thought.

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: thesaneone
a reply to: TinySickTears

There is no easy answer when it come to working for others.

Just remember your family comes first and I truly wish you and your family all the luck, health and good fortune.

thanks man
nice to hear from you.
i know we have a difference of opinion on some things....
thank you though

No problem, I know I'm a ass in certain threads but when it comes to family I try to keep it real.

originally posted by: strongfp


I can bet you all the money I have if production speed slows down or comes to a halt, that supervisor will be yelling commands, taking away phones, and calling on an extra QA to come down and rat on people who are not making good.

Just some food for thought.

i could always stop production...
see how that goes over.
my supervisor told me if i feel i need to then i should.

i could justify it as i found issues and since i get resistance all the time i needed to stop production to get it sorted. i could cite what happened with the dude slipping one on the skid.
not my goal to stop production though

a reply to: TinySickTears

oh good then my advice gets easier for you to understand.

Find the biggest bully. Yes he is there! there is always at least one. The others defer to him and follow his example.

Find him.....then take him out! Ruthlessly! That will establish your credit far more than being nice!

Then you will have replaced the strongest man and you will not find it so hard to get cooperation.

Some of the best work related advice on the webs.

www.askamanager.org...

Part of these guys jobs IS working cooperatively with you. It sounds like their Boss has your back, so more good news.
Asking them "Could you do me a favor" only solidify's your position as weaker than. It's better to instruct them on what you need and say "Can you do that from now on?"

It's a yes or no question.

Most of work is actually doing your job when you're there. They accepted the wages, hours and job when they signed on. Bitching about it and screwing up pretty much negates the agreement on their end. I know it's not popular to be the only adult on the production floor, but on the other hand it's not you acting the fool.

You don't have to be a petty tyrant or micro-manager to be firm and expect results. I fact the best Bosses I've had were crystal clear in their expectations and put up with no nonsense from slackers. It made our moral go thru the roof to see it was truly a level playing field and if you did your job well it was noticed.

Hope this helps?

originally posted by: Caver78

Part of these guys jobs IS working cooperatively with you. It sounds like their Boss has your back, so more good news.
Asking them "Could you do me a favor" only solidify's your position as weaker than. It's better to instruct them on what you need and say "Can you do that from now on?"



Hope this helps?

it does help. thank you
ive just never been in this spot before and dont want to be a dick to people....
im not their supervisor but some of the responsibility is falling on me. quality wise.
their boss and mine definitely has my back. it has been made clear to me and to them that if they do not cooperate they will be gone. maybe it is my fault to a point for approaching it like mr nice and asking for a favor....
i will make some adjustments.

story about the guy that got let go.
him and his partner had a bunch of stuff on the skid and it was wrong. i did the whole can you do me a favor thing and asked them to fix it and of course he started bitching. im talking bitching. i asked him what the big deal was cause it was a fast fix and we had to be there till 2:30 anyway.
of course he had comments about that.
then it was "oh you aint bitching cause you aint the one that has to do it"

i was pretty calm and i said to him
"in the end even after all the bitching which one of us is going to lose in the end....just do it man"

5 minutes later he is on break.

while he is on break i did it.
no bull# it took me 2 minutes. i did it to prove a point...the bitching was not warranted
their boss was asking me why and i told him.
boss had a chat with him.

2 days later he is giving me # again.
that was his last day

I don't know if this post is exactly in the realm of advice, but when I was in your shoes...
when getting # from line workers, gently remind them that those who work with you will work again tomorrow.

Give 'em the no nonsense heads up that # changes, work methods change - it's adapt or move on for everyone.

Of course, when it came to actual subordinates, I refused to allow them to address me other than as
"Your Ass-Holiness".

Seriously, if you can pull off an all-business, fair and demanding (especially quality) attitude with co-workers, it can go a long way towards cutting the b/s and moving on with the job.

ganjoa

originally posted by: TinySickTears

not their fault they dont know this as they have no reason to. the fact remains it is not their call to deviate from procedure and definitely not their call to slip # onto a skid that i have on hold

You are right, it's not their fault, it's yours, it is your fault if you think they have no reason to know not to amend the design
It seems strange, you are employed to set a build standard, keep the employees working up to that standard and you sound like you don't want to do your job

If they don't do their job to the standard expected let them go, terminate their employment.
They are working to do a job, if they can't do it or won't, sack them and find someone who will.
If you can't do your fob, leave and let someone else who can do your job do it.

You are affecting the product, the product is designed to a standard for a reason, probably even safety standard.
If the product fails you are all out of work.


Get the standard up to what is required, once the bench mark is met then go easier on the,

a reply to: Raggedyman

thanks for your opinion and all but i dont agree with any of it.
as i said i am not their job and i can not terminate them. technically.
i can most likely make it happen but it is not my call.

i agree with this

Get the standard up to what is required, once the bench mark is met then go easier on them

and im working on it

I can't even read your posts. Why no capitalization at the beginning of a sentence? I'm not a grammar nazi, but this is just so damn distracting I can't read more than a sentence or two. Is there a reason for this?

originally posted by: TobyFlenderson
I can't even read your posts. Why no capitalization at the beginning of a sentence? I'm not a grammar nazi, but this is just so damn distracting I can't read more than a sentence or two. Is there a reason for this?

not really. just not something i care about

I'd say quit being passive aggressive, and be assertive.

I hear a lot about your feelings, their feelings, everyone's feelings.

You need to be able to project what you want and keep the feelings out of it in biz.

"GD it why can't you listen, you retard? I told you four times, this makes me mad"

or

"Steve, if part number 4 has a burr here the entire product goes in the trash, it is your job responsibility to de-burr it to x spec.
If you need some more training, let me know, the company will let you go with 3 written complaints, so let me know if you want some help from me."

State complaint, state warning, state consequences, fire, and re-hire

You can threaten their loss of job and close by offering help, but don't make it about them, make it about the rule being broken. Avoid "you did this" and "I already told you"

"We need to make some changes, are you on board?"
-is another good one

"If you can't get this done, I need to be notified immediately so we can get something else figured out. OK?"

Good luck

a reply to: TinySickTears

It's just the way I see it, cool.
Hope you can help them perform and then get along with them
We spend more time at work than with our family's so getting along with them is important

a reply to: TinySickTears

When you terminate someone, you are sending them home to their wife and kids as a failure. Thats tough. Its a decision you don't take lightly because a man shouldn't have to tell his family he's failed them without really, seriously earning it.

You don't fire someone for a single screw up. They need to be made clear that their failure is putting their job at risk. THey need to understand this clearly, and be given a few chances. In a proper environment, this is called "corrective action" and involves signing papers. In trade work, its not quite as stringent, and is done more verbally. Nonetheless, be clear with your people and let them know when their failures are putting their job at risk by warning them directly.

Your people will respect you for being firm, fair, and honest. People want to know you shoot straight, and will repect you if you do, while making them better. Most people want leadership, whether they know it or not. Once you get through their "status quo" wall, theyll appreciate good, principled leadership as they will see how it benefits them in their work.

But don't let them push you around to make you the "status quo" of the half assed boss they used to have.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Thanks for chiming in. I always listen to the # you say. Technically I am not going to be the one firing people but it will be on my call. That's what bothers me cause as frustrated as I get with their # I don't want anyone out of a job. Thing is though I need these guys to do # right. I need to be able to depend on them. I'm only required to check 25% of product but I more often than not check more. Sometimes I can't though.
On a 200 piece order I may only get to check the 50 cause I was busy with something else. I have paperwork to do and I'm in constant contact with fab so I can't always check more. That leaves potential for 150 parts to have something wrong. In the end I have to answer for it if it gets out. Not them.
Thing is I don't trust them. Only a couple. I tell them if you have any questions or are not sure to stop and come get me and I will help them figure it out.
They don't though. They try to get it on the skid so they can finish their parts and # off for the rest of the time. If they get me involved it slows that down so they don't and that pisses me off.

a reply to: TinySickTears

If you think that is how its going, something an old coach used to tell me may help: Do it right, do it light. Do it wrong, do it long.

He would make us redo stuff ad nauseum until our execution was perfect. He used our natural human laziness as the carrot and stick. It worked.

My son is doing welding classes, and his welding instructor is that way. They'll spend 2 weeks doing and redoing maybe a dozen beads until he's happy with what they do. Sometimes he rejects it just because he wants them to do it again for repetition.

Never worked in machining (i'd love to try....im interested in the work), so can't tell you how you make that philosophy work (time = money, afterall). But doubling down on rejects may be one answer.

The thing is, respect (in a job) is half love and half fear. Tyrants are only feared, and doormats are only loved. A true leader is respected. People love you because you shoot straight and make them better. People fear you because they know you won't accept anyting but their best effort, and they don't want to let you down. If you get them to where they respect you, life will get much easier. Unfortunately, some will refuse. And those are the ones who made the choice to leave. They may be "fired", but they actually resigned. Because the choice is theirs.

One last thing: if you're not unionized, cutting people loose who don't have enough to do is a way to help deal with them doing crappy work to finish early. Be careful, though, as if you bring their 13 week average below 30 hours, you will end up with an unemployment claim to cover those hours (at least, in Texas)

One more thing, and I personally hate doing this....but it sometimes is needed. Micromanaging.

It does a few things for you:

- maximizes contact.
- puts them on notice
- may encourage them to resign (people who want to milk to clock wont stand for being made to work)

Id recommend picking 1 or 2 screw ups and making them get each piece approved before it leaves their desk. 3 failures to do this = termination. Its easy, it ensures you get to evaluate their work, and it sets the tone (you are going to make sure their work takes a full shift, even if you have to stand with one foot in their ass to do it)

a reply to: TinySickTears

Everyone bitches about NCRs, they take them personally. You need to be strategic so they don't take it personally.

Your supervisors are not unreasonable, they are doing their job. But don't tell the guys on the shopfloor that your supervisors are reasonable in their requests. Tell them the supervisors are jobsworths/arseholes who make you raise the NCRs.

I don't know your situation so that last paragraph may not be relevant.

I would always say, get the moaners on your side and life is easy.

Or get another job.

Or stay at home and drink and smoke.

Hope you get sorted.