JimLewis
05-23-2002, 05:48 PM
Hey, as we grow even larger I am running into a challenge I was hoping to get some guidance on. This question is specifically to those of you who have companies with several hundred accounts, 6+ employees, and / or multiple crews (3 or more).
Currently we have 7 employees. 2 - 2 man crews and 1 - 3 man crew. The first two are just maintenance and the 3rd is comprised of my foreman and two laborers. The 3rd crew is very seasonal and does all of our irrigation, installations, clean-ups, pruning, etc. jobs.
Lately, my foreman has been thinking of leaving. This would happen sometime in the next year. He wants to look for something less physically strenuous. He works his butt off for our company (does 2x the work of a normal guy) and is just getting very worn out with all of it. Currently he's out on a back injury. He's phenomenal with what he does. He knows the business up and down and is worth a fortune as a foreman to me because he can start and complete any job with zero guidance from me and he'll do it right every time.
I was considering replacing him with another crew lead / foreman person and then promoting him to a position where he'd just be offering guidance to the 3rd crew but not really working with them all the time. Instead, I'd have him out drumming up new business (flyers, etc.) and giving 75% of my estimates for me. He already gives some of our estimates for us and is great at it.
My thinking is that if he were out constantly drumming up new business for us, I'd have plenty of money to pay for this new person to replace him.
Then, during the winter we'd keep him on doing more hands-on work. We only need 3 people during the winter. And winter work is not strenuous. Just leaf raking usually. Then, the next season he'd go back to doing estimates, overseeing certain jobs, etc.
One reason this would be good is because I often get overwhelmed with all of my duties. I have tons of office work and tons of estimates to give. If he were giving some of the easier estimates, I would be relieved and be able to keep the office and schedule more organized.
What'd'ya'all think? Good idea?
Currently we have 7 employees. 2 - 2 man crews and 1 - 3 man crew. The first two are just maintenance and the 3rd is comprised of my foreman and two laborers. The 3rd crew is very seasonal and does all of our irrigation, installations, clean-ups, pruning, etc. jobs.
Lately, my foreman has been thinking of leaving. This would happen sometime in the next year. He wants to look for something less physically strenuous. He works his butt off for our company (does 2x the work of a normal guy) and is just getting very worn out with all of it. Currently he's out on a back injury. He's phenomenal with what he does. He knows the business up and down and is worth a fortune as a foreman to me because he can start and complete any job with zero guidance from me and he'll do it right every time.
I was considering replacing him with another crew lead / foreman person and then promoting him to a position where he'd just be offering guidance to the 3rd crew but not really working with them all the time. Instead, I'd have him out drumming up new business (flyers, etc.) and giving 75% of my estimates for me. He already gives some of our estimates for us and is great at it.
My thinking is that if he were out constantly drumming up new business for us, I'd have plenty of money to pay for this new person to replace him.
Then, during the winter we'd keep him on doing more hands-on work. We only need 3 people during the winter. And winter work is not strenuous. Just leaf raking usually. Then, the next season he'd go back to doing estimates, overseeing certain jobs, etc.
One reason this would be good is because I often get overwhelmed with all of my duties. I have tons of office work and tons of estimates to give. If he were giving some of the easier estimates, I would be relieved and be able to keep the office and schedule more organized.
What'd'ya'all think? Good idea?