How to Cut Payroll and increase Profits!!! "Getting rid of the Half Man"

In today's workplace you have the potential to save your company allot of money by a little observation. From Equipment needlessly damaged to L&I claims and padded time clock tickets... Read on.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• To be Observant
• Small easy to use Digital Camera with automatic telephoto lense function.

1. There is nothing I know of that will bring down a small company faster than a crew full of half men... A Half man is someone that shows up only half the time and/or shows up but is only half there... you know the kind... either still hung over from last night's football party or has his mind on being stood up on a date last night...
   While we can handle it from "a normally good employee who has a bad day once in awhile", But In today’s workplace rather we are seeing a trend toward "Bad employees that have a Good day once in awhile".
   
   The Half man has several Characteristics that will Kill a small business in a hurry.
   First you cannot count on him... If you promise your customers results based upon a crew of "half men" you are going to have disappointed customers most of the time. This will cut into your bottom line faster than most of the other things I will cover here... But watch and see how this happens.
2. The Half man only works at half speed... mind on other things.
   The Half man is dangerous when using equipment... to himself and others... He is also dangerous to the equipment itself.
   The equipment is valuable its valuable in both repair and replacement cost but also in the fact that if the Half man Breaks it on the Jobsite and you don't have a spare handy... you will kill time having to go get another one... meanwhile the work is not being done and the whole crew could be sitting idle.
   I had an employee that through ineptness of paying attention would drop the skill saw on its own cord or upon the airline of the nail gun. He did this not once or twice but three (or more) times. I eventually figured out what was happening (who was responsable) and found reason to let him go.
3. This Half man stereotype is also the same type of worker who takes a break when the boss goes out for a few minutes...
   He is the one who hurts himself through carelessness and costs you an L&I Claim...
   He is the one that through carelessness damages your customer's property and hides it so that you get a phone call later and no one knows how it happened...
   The half man is also good at finding excuses and scapegoats so be observant...
   Keep a small digital camera around... (small but with a good automatic zoom feature) Take pictures and make a file of jobsite blunders and work issues... Take some good photos showing off Good work also...
   Then, every now and then when you need to decide who to keep and who to let go... go for a trip down memory road.
   The Best People on your crew will either be shown in the limelite of your triumph photos... or non-existant in the blunders...
   The Worst of the worst however will be seen time and again... in photos of them using your wheelbarrow for an easy chair... goofing off... or in the midst of calamity, Breaking equipment etc.
   You know what you need to do. Photos will help you in several ways.
   In makeing the decisions of who... and also when you need to give a reason. Photo's are difficult to argue with. You may need to have all of your employees sign a waiver acknowledging the use of Cameras in the workplace... Talk to your attorney if you need any advice on this as he/she is knowledgable about the Employment Laws of your State.
4. In Pruning a fruit tree there are a few principles that are critical to producing good fruit... and the same principles are useful in making your company productive.
   
   When I prune an apple tree the first thing I do is stand back and take a good look at the whole picture.
   So stand back and take a good look at the whole situation.
   Jobs on waiting list and Crew needed to tackle the Jobs.
   
   Then I would look at the Apple tree to find its Deadwood and Suckers...
   Those are the first things that I cut out of a tree because they only suck the life from the tree and harbor infestations of disease and corruption.
   About the "Dead wood"... By Harboring employees that are habitually late for work, hung over, or on something, Careless, poor work habits etc. You are also giving an excuse to other employees to continue doing as they want... They will say to themselves: "At least I'm not as bad as _______"
   Prune out your Crew and you make your business a place where employee corruption has no foot in the door.
   ***In larger Companies, be on the lookout for "Cliques" among these employees and members of your management... when this occurs you have a favoritism that will promote corruption. I have seen them get rid of good employees and hire more of their buddies.... worse than those you wanted to get rid of... so Be Observant.
5. Once you have found and removed your Half Men... literally the Dead wood and Suckers that are slowly sucking the life out of your business... the next step is to trim back the remaining branches carefully to insure that they grow back properly productive.
   By this I don’t mean necessarily getting rid of a few more employees that are not up to snuff... but after the dead wood is gone you will have a much easier time assessing the rest of your employees and either training them better or reassigning them to work that you can see suits their capabilities better. Maybe even improve work conditions by new equipment, Uniforms etc. Some of these people are not only salvageable but may end up some of your better employees as soon as they are allowed to prove themselves in a cleaner environment.
6. If you are looking for someone who can be trained to run a crew effectively, start by looking for the person who has no problem submitting to authority. People who are used to submitting to authority will be much better at exerting authority properly. However people who are usually trying to be the boss are of the wrong temperament for the Job... This is also a sign that I’ve noticed fits a half man... trying to order around the other employees instead of doing the work he is suppose to be doing himself.
7. To Boil down this article into a few easy to remember steps:
   - Observe (the Crew)
   - Take some Pictures
   - Cut (Dead wood and Suckers)
   - Trim (the Good employees)
   - Cultivate (Encourage and give them incentive)

Tips & Warnings

• Get a small digital camera with a good automatic telephoto function... Keep it with you and make frequent use of it.
• You may need the crew to sign a disclaimer of photos being taken in the workplace... talk to your attorney for advice about that.