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The other day I was adding some shelving to my widget factory. At one point I walked over to the wall with an electric drill in my hand, and asked my helper to bring me the extension cord from out under the canopy. After waiting for what seemed like a long time I started out to see what was up. Just then he came thru the door, with the extension cord coiled up in his hand.
Sigh...
Rather than sigh becuase the helper did exactly what you asked him to do, perhaps you should figure how you could have phrased the request less ambiguously.
I would have realized the obvious: that power was needed for the drill, that the cord in question was already plugged in, and the cord was needed at the drill.
Is it any wonder that old people get cranky? Not to me, not anymore. :)
Apologies if I am. I have worked for a few bosses who thought nothing of interrupting whatever it was I was doing, to complete some menial task for them that would've been more efficient to do themselves. It's a great way to make employees feel undervalued.
Then again, if they WERE doing nothing, and you WEREN'T standing with a drill in your hand waiting for a cord a few steps away-your exasperation is justified. 20 lashes with a wet noodle for the lackadaisical lout!
what happened to common sense?
"Common sense" depends a great deal on what sort of background and knowledge base a person has. A person could be a world-class expert in one area and close to clueless in another ... not because they're stupid, but simply because they're inexperienced.
The electric drills around my house are battery operated and rechargable. If that was the only kind of drill this person had ever encountered, he might genuinely not have realized that your particular drill needed to be plugged in.
or am I missing something?I never tell the whole story, or so it's beginning to seem. He was standing between me and the cord, and not doing anything else.
Actually, I have 3 employees, and this thread is a sort of a wake-up call. I prefer computers to people exactly because I don't always communicate effectively. I've always been a self-starter and that's what I'm trying to get these three to become also. Then, there will be no reason to stand around waiting for the next set of marching orders... naa, now I'm dreaming.
I've always been a self-starter and that's what I'm trying to get these three to become also.
If they were self-starters they wouldn't be working for you, they would be doing their own thing.
This is something major employers figured out a long time ago. For example, if you go to Sears they make you fill out a personality profile. Most people think this is to weed out the truly ignorant and find smart intelligent workers, when in fact, these tests are to find unmotivated go nowhere type people. If they hired energetic self-starters, they would soon become tired of the job and move on to something else. This creates turn-over and a waste of money in training and hiring. Now if they can find a crew of unmotived lazy people. Then they won't have the motivation to leave their crappy job and move on to something better.
Also, a manager isn't going to hire someone smarter then they are, or they might find themselves out of a job.
It sounds like you were qualified/able to fetch the cord yourself, or am I missing something?
Building shelves; has a helper; asks helper for help; helper makes mistake. Bypassing the helper WOULD have been more efficient.
Apparently you missed the part about wanting to kick the helper's ass. :)
Actually, I have 3 employees,
Reminds me of something I heard my grandfather say many years ago:
Hire one boy, you've got a whole boy.
Hire two boys, you've got half a boy.
Hire three boys, you've got no boy at all.
You sound just like me!
Why is it that those helpers aren't gifted with ESP!
It is so annoying that they don't get the plan before we explained it to them ;)
Dang it, you knew I was about to screw this piece of wood to the wall, so why didn't you have the tools ready helper?
I've been there a million times!
All I can offer as advise is this: Pay to have it done professionally, or start the job at 5:00pm when the beers are flowing and you will care a little less about the quality of the help!
Where I live, I'm the alien .. usually legal, however.
Thinking back to my sheet metal shop days, I would probably waved the drill cord and said, "Hey, Dude. Plug me into that extension cord out by the canopy."
Only problem was, we always used air drills and the guy might have said, "Huh?"
Get back to work immediately!
*grumble*
Also, a manager isn't going to hire someone smarter then they are, or they might find themselves out of a job.
Unfortunately, there are too many stupid managers who make hiring decisions based on self preservation.
