dealing with employee issues

I'm tired of training tinters and about when they get good they get an attitude.We all know its been a long slow winter.I keep them on with full pay and extra's but they don't want to help do extra's for the good of the company.I need help setting up for the home show and tearing down in eve's but they don't think they should have to work after 5 even if they get some other time off.I'm ready to fire a good tinter because we have been arguing about this for 2 months now and I'm at the end of my rope.They also think they shouldn't do other work around the shop if it doesn't have to do with tinting.(its not in the job description)My response is "your job discription is anything I ask you to do"Do other shops have these issues and how do you deal with it.

,One man show here!
Sounds like a pain in the ass,,good luck!

Prima Dona tinta's??? NEVER

put him/her on commission only then that'll get them thinking about the long slow winter eh ??

I've never owned a tint shop but I have managed many people before and it sounds to me that something wasn't handled right in the beginning.

The tone and job description need to be established from day one. Don't waiver or bad attitudes and poor work ethic will creep up on you.




Did you explain this to him when you hired this person?

Send 'em packin' if you can. Hire a new trainee and have him shadow your current tinter. If your current tinter asked WTF is that about tell him he's been hired to help around the shop and learn how to tint. Once the new guy learns to tint then you can tell Mr. attitude that he's been replaced.

Sounds like every tinter I have ever met

Been there done that too many times.

If you pay the person for being there, they are to work, even if that means sweeping floors

The term "Adios Amigo" comes to mind

The job is spelled out before I hire them and they sign a contract and a noncompete and yes I can replace him but I seem to have then a new issue whether they have a hangover and party all night and day or losing there liscense,its always something.I pay salary plus commision and a guarantee highr than a base salary.I can't train someone else because it's so slow theres nothing to train on.I have a back up man thats been tinting but needs fine tuned.Any recommendations for training advanced and touch on some basics.I don't know the reputation of some on this site.When I had this guy trained I said that he had to know how to do a 2 piece back window and they didn't show him so I had to then do more training here.If I didn't know how to tint we would have been in a jam.So I won't use that guy again even though he is very good.He spent to much time on his problems and not working with my guy.

Might me less trouble to fire and retrain someone. Sucks to have personal problems interfere with productivity. Tough call, good luck.

I just fired a girl because of her negative unprofessional attitude. She thought she was too good for doing anything other than tinting. Now.....she not tinting either.

next time you ask one to do something and they reply it's not in there job discription send them home, give them 3 days off without pay to take some time to decide if they want there job or not

3 days? your too kind..send em on the way and be done with em

Basically the salary part of their pay is for the "other stuff"! IMO... If the jackass doesn't want to do the whole job, then the jackass doesn't get the whole pay! I bet they take the "whole paycheck" even when you let them leave early when things are slow or they have a doctor appt or have to run an errand.

Could be time to restructure the way you pay them !

Just food for thought.

TTC

That's what I always did Squeege. Right from the get go. When we're not tinting you're doing something. Even if it was helping me on one of my Winter home improvement projects. They all learned to be pretty handy.

I have never seen a nice drill instructor. Yet the army seems to have good morale. I tried the social worker routine for a while, but with young men who aren't experienced outside the tint bay, a firm control is a must.

I'd tell this fligeon to flock off.
Devil

Legally if you want to can someone you should give them a verbal and awritten warning. Then they cant come back and get unemployment or claim that they were fired without cause.
You can buy pre made written warnings at any office store. I have filled many out, It helps people undrstand that they are about to get canned. Most problems are fixed one way or the other veryquickly.

I agree carwasher

Job discriptions are great but you cant just say "anything I tell you to do". I am a Shop manager but every employee feels like they should get paid more for work and other Extra Jobs.

A tinter is a dispensable thing, but having a man on hold is great but the prob you run into with that is the "tinter" not showing the apprentice the right way or all of the important facts.

Build a relationship on job ethics and duties in the begining, of course it is to late for that but youve gotta start somewhere. If you hire the "new guy" call a comp. meeting and explaine it to them all. Whoever likes it likes it and who doesnt can "Walk".

Good luck

here's an idea tell them to

I've got my workshop set up with a mechanical bay with hoist, outside hoist over way bay, Stereo Installing/Detailing bay and the Tint bay. Makes it pretty popular for out of work hours projects.
Ay problems with attitude and the workshop key gets handed back and all after hours work is suspended.

All shops with more than 1 person have these problems. I work at a glass shop. It is semi-segmented into Auto, Residential/Commercial, and me(Tint).

The Auto guys don't like helping the Tint guy(me), the Res/Comm guys don't help Auto or Tint. But I am expected to help both when I am slow. Bunch of BS, but what can you do??? Fire 22 people? No.

I personally like to have stuff to do. I can't stand to sit on my butt.

It might be time to test out the non-compete clause. I know here(SC) they don't stand up in court though.

Also sounds like you should dig up some R & R work, or dealer work to keep the guy busy.

Not in my neck of the woods!

I agree with most (from personal experience as the guy on the other end), you should stick his ace on commission!!

IMO tell him whats on your mind, and also he,s not getting paid to sit on his ass, if he dosent step up to the plate and get his @#$% straight HIT THE ROAD JACK! Your no there to make friends but a living!

I have had these types of problems ever since we opened 11 years ago. I found that a good deal of the problem was with the way we were managing the employees from the get go. People will push you as far as they can to see how much they can get away with. You need to establish clear boundaries upon hiring an employee and put it in writing and have the employee sign that they understand. I also implemented a progressive discipline policy which involves one verbal warning, one written warning and then termination. This alleviates a lot of the problems you will face with employees that will be a consistant pain in the ass about everything.

we are not business owners, we a big babysitters... commission keeps them working. higher a helper for peanuts to do the grunt work while the tinters make you money.

Tell him to can the ego trip. Make sure he remembers who gave him the knowledge of the trade. I dont forget where I came from.

Doing things around the shop if their on salary should be expected from day one, but the home show stuff if its before or after regular work hours then thats different. 8-5 reg. pay whatever I say, After hours is family time and that cost more money.

I've done 6 home shows in the last few months, and I've been paid for all of them. Not once however have I had to ask for it. That being said though, I stayed for the entire show; setup, the working of the show and the break-down. I happen to understand the importance of the show though and I know that these are the people that are paying me when there is work and when there is not! I just had to let a guy go because he wasn't reliable enough to come to work. Never had a complaint about his work, just his work ethic. I made a compromise though and just started giving him a lil' bit of work each week instead of having him booked for weeks. Working out pretty well, and I can only hope it puts a lil' bit of hunger back in 'em! Good luck!

It is for this reason that I closed my multiple locations and only take on work that I alone can handle. I got REAL tired of scheduling work for the crew, only to have the crew no show. I tried to train a few, but inventory went missing, cash jobs went into other pockets, not the register, and finally, they figured that the grass was greener on thier own.
It REALLY sucks when you see the amount of money going away because you don't have the help to get it, but considering the losses I have incurred over the years, , F' em all.
IMHO, there is a reason a tinter is unemployed/looking for greener pastures. Someone let them go for either unreliability, or substance abuse interfering with reliability, or theft.
MOST itinerent tinters (I call them "floaters") are substance addicted, and looking to make quick money to feed the habit. Don't get me wrong.... I LOVE my busch, but it doesn't interfere with work. Work=Money=ability to buy Busch/launch rockets/have house etc.
Any tinter worth a damn is already employed, and taken well care of by his/her employer. Any employer who has a good/reliable tinter is a fool not to take care of them. I don't mean subsidize, but pay them well.
All you have to do is look at the employment forum here and see the same names over and over looking for work.

These addicted "floaters"/tinters are whats ruining our business. They will tint a car for next to nothing. And what really chaps my azz is that customers will go to them just to save a few bucks And it's the "Hack" shops that employ them. I have seen some REALLY good tinters that are in this category, but would not take them on, because of the accompanying baggage.

Sorry for the rant

Don't know how you recruit employees, but if you check the employment pages,
you will see ads for say a receptionist, with a description of the job duties which
outlines all the duties they are responsible for.
Before anyone ever puts in an application, they know it will NOT be just answering
phones.
I am a 1 person operation, but if I was to run an ad for a tinter at a retail location,
it would read something like this (I'm doing this on the fly so if I miss something, sorry)
AUTO TINTER WANTED
DUties will consist of, but not limited to:
Tinting customers cars.
Greeting customers.
Answering phones
General shop cleanup
Other duties which will entail working as directed.
This should eliminate the "why should I do that, I was hired to tint"
Now, just being me, anyone can come in and claim anything, I would make it clear before
they come in that I am going to test them .
I will expect the Applicant to strip and retint my back window, along with 1 side window.
Only way to find what I am getting before hiring.
They will also have a 30 working day Probationary time.

not a bad plan of action when hiring. Cover whatever basis you want and it is up to you to make your rules happen.

Put'em back in the cheese line and they will come around. let it be know anyone including yourself is expendable.