its a freaking job you have to SHOW UP

[Doug B]

  Yes, when firing, you really need documentation. It may help you if they try
to get unemployment. I might add that we also have an incentive program
for perfect attendance. For every 3 months (not even 1 minute late) you get
1/2 day paid off which can be used any time. A full calendar year perfect
attendance earns an additional 1 1/2 days paid.

[tonypep]

An excellent consideration. Reward good performance, discipline poor performance. Management tends to overlook the former.

[bimmridder]

When we get through crunch time I'll throw a nice BBQ for our gang. We usually take them to a ball game and buy them food and drink. Even have done the suites in the past. Yes, you do need to reward as well as reprimand. There are limits to both.

[tonypep]

I had a point system here at one time. Excuses, legitimate or not, didn't matter. X amt points Verbal, Y pts Written , Z points Termination. X amount of time no tardies or lates buys back points. Reward points =Gift Cards, Restaurant coupons etc. Problem was it bacame too unwieldy with so many employees.

[tonypep]

When we get through crunch time I'll throw a nice BBQ for our gang. We usually take them to a ball game and buy them food and drink. Even have done the suites in the past. Yes, you do need to reward as well as reprimand. There are limits to both.

Dave we are having a Season Beginning lunch today as we speak. A lot of our employees have Gullah roots and if anyone has ever been here you know they can throw down some serious food. I'm sure you've experienced the classic Low Country Pork Cop with Red Rice and Andouille sausage. Baked Mac and Cheese, Low Country Potato Salad (w/bacon) and of course, Corn Bread. We're talking serious Comfort Food here.
Thank God it's only every three months. And don't get me going about Thanksgiving!

[mk162]

thanks tony, way to make my brunswick stew not taste as good.  Next time, invite the rest of us.

[ABuffington]

I like spelling it out in a handbook as well.  Once an employee is hired it pays to sit them down in a friendly environment and explain the rules and what can get them let go.  If they call in before start time great, I can look the other way, but 3 times in the first week shows no respect for their job, unless they have a doc excuse it doesn't help.  In a production environment they are hurting their 'team'.  A great print shop in Campeche Mex has each production line named as a sports team.  The peer pressure to be there for the 'team' has monetary rewards attached to it every week and month for attendance and production yields.

Shift change is another area.  I overlapped them 30 minutes so the incoming crew could talk to the press ops, find out the issues and load shirts as soon as they were confident on the job.  Being late here can be a disaster.  A 10 color discharge job cannot stop, it needs people all the time.  An hour of production can easily be lost by late workers, hence the 30 minute overlap so traffic, buses, and weather weren't too much of an issue.  BTW I have no idea how you guys in the snow country handle weather like blizzards and stuff.

My go to test is this:  Anyone hired for the production area has to start in the screen washing area.  This is for press, ink, screen depts. only.  If they can't handle cleaning screens they really don't want to be a printer.  If they make it 30 days they are permanent, if they manage to make the screen area better within a couple of days they get moved to production, or any number of things that show 'effort'.  I point out that starting time is that, we lock you out after that, you get to go home. (Needs to be in the employee handbook.)  The team can't start short a person, you have let the team down, I sometimes would leave it to the team leader to express in expletives that I can't use! 

Too many young people need to know that work is work.  It isn't supposed to be easy, if it was we wouldn't need their help.  However cracking a whip like a slave driver doesn['t work either.  My message was simple.  This is your company.  Your goal is to make it better so I can pay you more by moving you up the ladder.  I need you to take control of the operation, I can't be everywhere at once.  Take pride in your work, make your production the best it can be to keep our customers, without them we don't need you.  If they yawn, look at their phone, look bored, or act put out cause the boss is laying down what works, they will never work for you, only themselves. 

Sometimes people need money but not work in their lives, this is a dangerous combo.  I preferred hiring people who wanted to learn screen printing, who were jazzed by the print process, who wanted to print some of their designs.  The desire to learn is more important to an employer than the employee's need for money in hiring a good employee.  Sure they can go on to start their own companies but that is the nature of journeyman to owner.  To combat this I often moved these people to sales, paid them a good commission so they could feel a sense of ownership.

[Inkworks]

Giving newbies crappy tasks in the first few weeks in a time honored and proven way to weed out the weak, unwilling and unfit.

Cleaning screens fits the bill perfectly for most, but it can also bite you in the butt if they suck and do a crappy job of it.

[bimmridder]

You know how you handle blizzards? Plan ahead. In the case of sever weather, I will let people make the call. I won't put the safety and lives in my hands by deciding how bad is too bad. I will say, when there is a snow storm, I don't expect everyone to make it. We have never closed due to one though. What is irritating is the gal that drives two hours and makes it (usually a half hour drive) and then the guy that can't make it that lives a quarter mile away. I don't necessarily document that, but I do remember.  Also, I am a HUGE believer in family first. If your Mom is in the hospital and you feel the need or desire to be there, then go. I sure as hell won't hold that against you. Things happen.

Off on a different tangent, yet related. The work ethic has changed over the last few decades. When I was younger and stupid (not to be confused with my current old and stupid) I managed to lose my driver's license. I was working full time third shift. My job was a bit of a distance from my home. I would leave for work two hours early in case I had to walk the whole way. Many times I thumbed a ride and was there almost two hours early. Point is, I was there regardless. It wasn't a glamorous job either, but I wanted to work. Now, someone has transportation problems and that's a good enough excuse not to go to work.