Have you ever......

[whitewater]

had an employee that is just elfin dumber than a box of rocks?  and a second employee that doesn't catch the dumb crap the other guy does?

It has to be ADD or something.

This is just one example:

Burning a sleeve. We literally put the film on the grid and carrier sheet exactly where it should be burned. We said " just tape it right here and you can burn it"

So the dude burns it, my press guy grabs it and sets it up, puts ink in and does a test print, comes in to show me,.....

its burned upside down.  WTF?

[Atownsend]

Give the press op some credit. At least he didn't print them all hahaha. Back when we were on film 6-7 years ago. WE burned a screen with the film flipped the opposite way... not iodide down, just ass backwards. We proceeded to not only print, but also ship the job. I'll never forget that one.

We just had 2500 pcs for a customer split between two jobs. I tell the catcher, make sure we put size labels on the outside of the boxes, with the job name on it. We want them to be able to sort these easily when it gets to their warehouse.

First off, this should be obvious... I shouldn't have to say it after you've worked here for 6 months and have been doing the same thing literally every day. Second, we already put the job name / PO number on the outside of every singe box so they don't get cross shipped. We don't normally put size labels on the boxes, because avg order is under 100 pcs.

He proceeds to put size labels and the customer name on each box. Next job comes down, Size lables and customer name. So im standing there looking at two pallets of shirts and I'm like, Dude how is anyone going to know what the hell any of this is WTF? 60% chance this guy gets fired in the next 60 days. Coming soon... performance reviews.

[screenxpress]

I'm assuming the 2 jobs have different prints or some distinguishable difference to be identified.  Since they didn't leave the premises the boxes could be reopened and re-tagged before shipping.  Sounds like a good job for him if he wants to hold on to his job.

But you're right.  Are the schools pushing out these kids without any effort to nurture any common sense?  Ya, I guess so.

[whitewater]

Thats just the tip of the iceberg on what we have going win back there.  I just have to change my management style to fit with what I have going on with these guys.

[Atownsend]

Do you have something written that outlines expectations for each employee?

SGIA aka printing united has an employee handbook template that I used to create our employee handbook. I made that a few weeks ago, printed out one for everyone and had a meeting with the guys and gals. Included their job description in the folder with the handbook along with secondary responsibilities when things get slow.

Last week, I put up CCTV cameras from Reolink up all over the place. 8 cams so far, but prob more coming soon. I setup the breaks function in Tsheets so I can compare when someone is on break, and when they are supposed to be working. Helpful for sure.

Working on a system for performance reviews right now. But I think the first two things have to be done first. Hard to hold people to certain metrics if the metrics are unclear.

Who here does performance reviews for employees on the regular? If anyone has templates that you're willing to share, that would be amazing. Trying to introduce accountability for a team that has had little is hard, but I think if its approached the right way it can be done so long as there is mutual respect.

[whitewater]

Yes, we have a packet outlining each job function and operations. Exactly what they are supposed to do and in which order. They have them.

It really became a problem after covid. Our graphic artist moved on to something totally different. Then our press ops, ( he was older, had back problems, along with an hour commute) he left. So my manager had to go back to printing. Ive tried to hire 5 ppl within the last year, and only one guy made it to the first day, and he only worked 4 hours and it didn't go well.

Then my manager left for what he thought was greener pastures.

We hired a presshand, so the other press hand ( who had a degree in art and can use PS and Illy) could be our artist, well he had to go down and print. My only option.

So its not ideal..

BUT..... they know what to do. it's not hard to find the info, it's an easy process and they should not be messing up.

So I put a process of 5 things they HAVE to do on. every job before printing on out whiteboard. They have to check it off. Then they have to come get me for approval to start.

[Sbrem]

Thank you, Dept. of Education. I've been noticing the decline since I graduated high school in '70. We have to play the hand we're dealt now days. We had a girl earlier this summer that filled out a packing slip withe "All Here" across the page, instead of filling in the numbers, SMFH! The last straw, for her, was that she thought someone else should be opening the orders and laying them out. We had to point out that she was that person, so she got in a huff and left. Boy, that sure showed us a thing of two.

Steve

[blue moon]

Chiming in briefly…
We had job sheets, performance reviews and all the stuff. If the management is doing a good job and employees are on the ball they are not needed.
My philosophy is to run at 80% of what we could do so ppl are more comfortable. It keeps the morale higher so the attrition is lower and there is less drama. We hire adults and dont have to tell ppl what to do. They come and ask if they need clarification rather than having to be told. Part of it is our general manager knowing the right pll and part of it is what we built so low drama ppl will seek us out/prefer to work here. So that’s the employee part…

The deal with the management is, you have to care for ppl and keep an eye on whats going on. If somebody is doing well, acknowledge it with a raise, bonus or some other perk. Address the issues. Help ppl out. Continuously!

All of this makes for a slightly less efficient shop, but it makes it more stable, makes it easier for ppl to care and be invested.
My proudest moments are seeing ppl at at the end of the day with a HUGE GRIN on their face resting (after clocking out) and taking a break before going home. Too tired to leave, yet they are happy. They’ve given it 100% without complaining and are happy to have done so.

This setup is not for everybody. It is less efficient, but more stable. It makes me feel better at night as i am actively improving ppl’s lives and feel good about it. But if money is tight or profit is a priority this will not work. Lower employee pools (like smaller cities) will have a harder time making it happen, but it’s possible. Greg Kitson in a small town had employees with 20+ year tenure; many of them. He was also one of the most efficient shops out there (comes with that longevity), so it can be done, but it requires some planning and dedication…

Pj

[blue moon]

had an employee that is just elfin dumber than a box of rocks?  and a second employee that doesn't catch the dumb crap the other guy does?

It has to be ADD or something.

This is just one example:

Burning a sleeve. We literally put the film on the grid and carrier sheet exactly where it should be burned. We said " just tape it right here and you can burn it"

So the dude burns it, my press guy grabs it and sets it up, puts ink in and does a test print, comes in to show me,.....

its burned upside down.  WTF?

There are stupid mistakes and there are honest mistakes. Both will happen. Burning a sleeve upside down is probably an honest mistake. If they burned 1000 screens correctly, at some point they are bound to make a mistake.
Printing 10,000 shirts without double and triple checking the spelling is a dumb mistake.

pj

[Sbrem]

Before I had my own shop, we did a run of 800 shirts for a local road race, the Fourth Annual. A couple of months after the fact, I was digging through a box for a test shot, and found one of those, spelled FORTH. We never heard a word about it. So, it was the artist, the screen maker (me) the printer and the catcher. All of us quite experienced, so I mark that one down to stupid, times 4...

Steve

[GoWestRob]

I'll see if I can find a picture of a poster that we made that had 3 typos on the same poster.  The artist made the mistake, it wasn't caught during proofing, burning, printing or catching

[screenxpress]

Before I had my own shop, we did a run of 800 shirts for a local road race, the Fourth Annual. A couple of months after the fact, I was digging through a box for a test shot, and found one of those, spelled FORTH. We never heard a word about it. So, it was the artist, the screen maker (me) the printer and the catcher. All of us quite experienced, so I mark that one down to stupid, times 4...

Steve

While you agree that the artist and 3 people in the shop missed it, the fact that nobody who bought a shirt ever raised an alarm is a sad example of the quality education our schools are putting out.

[Sbrem]

Before I had my own shop, we did a run of 800 shirts for a local road race, the Fourth Annual. A couple of months after the fact, I was digging through a box for a test shot, and found one of those, spelled FORTH. We never heard a word about it. So, it was the artist, the screen maker (me) the printer and the catcher. All of us quite experienced, so I mark that one down to stupid, times 4...

Steve

While you agree that the artist and 3 people in the shop missed it, the fact that nobody who bought a shirt ever raised an alarm is a sad example of the quality education our schools are putting out.

That's what was so amazing, 800 shirts, and no one at the organization caught it. I do agree about education, I can't count how many times I've corrected grammar for teachers...

Steve

[bimmridder]

We just did shirts for the "10th Annual" Trashmore Run. Last year's was the "12th Annual". It's not always the printer's fault.

[screenxpress]

OMG....makes ya scratch your head.