The Green Industry's Resource Center

lawnlandscape · #31 02-17-2010, 01:42 PM

per yard = bye bye quality.

lawnlandscape · #32 02-17-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maintenanceman

Here's an idea. pay a low hourly wage, but also pay a good "quality bonus" each week. Maybe $4-5 per hour bonus. To qualify for the bonus work must be completed on time, no complaints, and no damaged equipment. Or something similar. Of course if your help can't hit the "quality bonus" regularly they will leave on their own because of the low pay, or you will need to replace them with better people since you want them to collect the bonus.

At first this sounded like a good idea. I do this with my snow removal guys in winter. If they show up for every snow fall and are still with me at the end of the season, and have not been fired for a preformance issue, they get $5 for every hour they worked on snow removal for the entire winter season.

The ONLY problem I see with this is.. What if something happens, like train blocks road for 20 min, or something breaks and they fixed it on-site. Then your own bonus, turns into your employees going as fast as they can to finish, not doing a quality job.

If I was an employee with a system like this, I would feel like someone i always on top of me also.

OrganicsMaine · #33 02-17-2010, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawnlandscape

At first this sounded like a good idea. I do this with my snow removal guys in winter. If they show up for every snow fall and are still with me at the end of the season, and have not been fired for a preformance issue, they get $5 for every hour they worked on snow removal for the entire winter season.

The ONLY problem I see with this is.. What if something happens, like train blocks road for 20 min, or something breaks and they fixed it on-site. Then your own bonus, turns into your employees going as fast as they can to finish, not doing a quality job.

If I was an employee with a system like this, I would feel like someone i always on top of me also.

If the train thing happened, a simple phone call would cover them. Same with the broken equipment. If they are somewhat responsible and coherent, there is no excuse for no communication.

clydebusa · #34 02-17-2010, 07:36 PM

If they don't perform fire, hire new and see how it goes. I have 6 men and in the last 7 years the turnover has been 18 individuals. When I let one go the work level goes up.
And they know I am serious (period). You can't always be a good guy!

lawnlandscape · #35 02-17-2010, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrganicsMaine

If the train thing happened, a simple phone call would cover them. Same with the broken equipment. If they are somewhat responsible and coherent, there is no excuse for no communication.

I would not want my employees to call me every time they get stuck behind a train, or something brakes that they are able to fix, or they had to stop and put a band-aid on a bloody finger. I'm running a business, I'm not babysitting.

I'm at a house talking to a potential customer trying to get them to agree to a $10,000 landscaping job, and my phone rings and my employee interrupts me to tell me there is a train and that's why they will be back later.

Keep time sheets, get GPS, and don't worry about your employees constantly. If you hired good people, they will do what they gotta do, and if you think something is up, look up the GPS records.

OrganicsMaine · #36 02-18-2010, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawnlandscape

I would not want my employees to call me every time they get stuck behind a train, or something brakes that they are able to fix, or they had to stop and put a band-aid on a bloody finger. I'm running a business, I'm not babysitting.

I'm at a house talking to a potential customer trying to get them to agree to a $10,000 landscaping job, and my phone rings and my employee interrupts me to tell me there is a train and that's why they will be back later.

Keep time sheets, get GPS, and don't worry about your employees constantly. If you hired good people, they will do what they gotta do, and if you think something is up, look up the GPS records.

In the context of snow removal, which is how i took your original post, a call into the office if someone is going to be late, just as a heads up is one thing. If the crew is mowing lawns, and they get stuck at a train, not as big of a deal. Also, if a plow breaks, it is usually a bigger problem than when a line trimmer or mower breaks down. Different level of urgency of service etc. So if one of my plows goes down, then it usually warrants a call.

Overall, there are some things that will put a hiccup into any system, however, it all averages out in the end, and if the crews are working hard, their results will show it.

lawnlandscape · #37 02-18-2010, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrganicsMaine

In the context of snow removal, which is how i took your original post, a call into the office if someone is going to be late, just as a heads up is one thing. If the crew is mowing lawns, and they get stuck at a train, not as big of a deal. Also, if a plow breaks, it is usually a bigger problem than when a line trimmer or mower breaks down. Different level of urgency of service etc. So if one of my plows goes down, then it usually warrants a call.

Overall, there are some things that will put a hiccup into any system, however, it all averages out in the end, and if the crews are working hard, their results will show it.

Agreed