&^%$#@! Employees

[Treeinnovator]

Nope..just one.

well that's pretty typical of the generation in question. they stay in college as log as possible to avoid work.

 

[b1rdman]

well that's pretty typical of the generation in question. they stay in college as log as possible to avoid work.

I wouldn't know, but that seems like an awful wide brush you're using there.

I did the college thing for 4 years full time and I worked 30 hours a week during school, 60 - 70 in the summer. After that it was work/school at the same time.

Maybe I'm an anomaly..I dunno.

 

[Log hog]

Talk to me girl!

Its good to hear from a woman, and hopefully a woman who takes pride in what ever she does. For what ever reason I feel men in most aspects of life feel that women can't do what a man can do. This is not true at all, woman can do what ever a man can do, but some times in limited capacity. I speak from experience, I would rather have a woman try her darnedest and not be able to drag as much brush as the guy who could drag more but only when he seemed fit to do so and was just along for the ride waiting to collect his check. I can lift more and drag more than any woman. But they can still do the same just not as much. My experiences tell me that when the woman I have had work for me work with more heart. They are willing to do what needs to be done and thats that. Now in a different field like an accountant or a nurse or doctor or what ever she is, is very likely just as good if not better than a man. So unless you have worked side by side with a woman in the tree service field then you have no idea what I am talking about.

 

[nitwit dolt]

Women in trees

My wife was almost thrown off a job because the cleint thought women didn't do this type of work. I'll take a women on my crew any time. They pay better attention, they don't trample the delicate stuff, they do a better job cleaning up, and they do it with alot less ?????ing. Log hog is right that they might not be able to match physical strength, but attitude goes much farther.

 

[Bermie]

Being a woman in this line of work you have to be honest about what you physically can and cannot do. I will never be as strong as you chaps, and maybe not as fast, but I love what I do and trust it shows in the final product!

Back to employees, a certain portion of people here are doing outdoor work simply 'because it's a paycheck' NOT because they are interested in the work, and that leads directly to indifference and sloppiness, all they want at the end of the week is $$$. Trying to motivate them or have them discover a reason to be self motivated is a chore, if not impossible!

 

[RolloriClimber]

age doesn't matter

the last four years the companys I've worked for the owners have been older than me around the same age and now just recently alot younger.

They all are the laziest I have ever seen in my life they want to pay you cheap and want you to use all your equipment down to your truck to pull their cr@p, and to top it off have the lowest knowledge I have known in this biz to where I been Teaching them instead of them teaching me,but they just want to go out underbid some jobs and then expect me to pull miracles out of my but to get them done.
Rarely do I recieve remburstment for fuel mix fuel rakes files saw repairs any safety equipment,or wear and tear on my truck. that is lazy I don't know how they got in this biz , but then they go get their family wealth to buy a chipper and then use people and then stabb them in the back short pay them and other sorts .

things keep going like this a mail person rep won't even come close to me.

Employees are like equipment don't keep them up and take care of them the equipment will fail and break down on you .

 

[SRT-Tech]

^ yea i dont know where bosses get off on thinking they can just go use your truck.

MY truck, MY insurance, MY insurance rates on the rise if there is an accident or whatever. BOSSES: GET YOUR OWN TRUCKS! just becasue i have a truck DOES'NT mean i want it used by everybody, or have ???? thrown in the back!. OOOOH the 20 bucks gas you threw in is great! that'll help pay for the now damaged transmission that you created by not shifting properly.

 

[buff]

SRT-TECH......The solution to your problem is a simple one. Tell your boss that your insurance agent advised you that you can no longer use your truck for commercial purposes because you are not insured for it. And tell him when you show up for work. Do not wait until he gets in a bind and ask to use your truck to get out of it. Also, do not allow your boss to use your truck off road for the same reason. If he ask how your insurance agent found out that you use your truck on the job, say that you do not know but the subject came up the last time you talked to him. Everytime you use your personal truck on a job you are opening yourself up to a new level of liability that you are not insured for.

ROLLERCLIMBER......If you know more than the people you work for why are you still working for them. Get what you need to gether and start doing your own jobs. Either that or stop complaining.

 

[TreeChick217]

hardest worker.. needs a raise!

Hey guys. well i joined this site awhile back and i havent been on in a long time. I was looking for a job in the tree industry and now I have one. My boyfriend just bought a Tree Service that was established about 15yrs. ago and its doing better than ever right now.. I work for his competition. ha. I've been there almost 5 months and now am "offically" one of the go-to-gals for all the new guys. since being there I have seen worker after worker show up, work a day, or a week, collect their pay, and never show up again. I find this hard to understand. As most of you being men, wouldn't you, just for the simple fact of me being a woman and being able to kick your butt by the end of the day, show up again? isn't it a pride thing for men to not let women beat them at anything? well, I assumed so. i love my job, there are some things I dislike very very much, none of it to do with my work load. I keep up with everyone else, sometimes doing more just because I'm the one everyone is watching, waiting for me to slip up. they've realized its not going to happen and they've eased up on me a bit. Anyway, to the point of this post, I'm working with two guys my age.. one 18 and one just turned 21. Both of them, total jokes. Never show up, show up half drunk, all they talk about is the party from the night before. talk about how they are broke and dont get paid enough. I get so sick of listening to it. I AM A GIRL..i show up EVERY SINGLE DAY ON TIME, never miss any work.. always reliable, eager to learn. My boss' wont even let them touch our bucket truck.. i'm the ONLY one who drives it to our jobs. guess who was in the bucket friday? yeah. me. pathetic.. they have no motivation, they have no goals, i dont know why they are there. they complain about working until 5? wow. but guess what drives me INSANE.. as you have read, these guys are the ones everyone keeps getting and they drive you nuts too.. they make more money than me. I've been there LONGER than them... i do more than them. i take on more than they do... I am the one who teaches them what to do, how to rope, how to start a chainsaw, how to cut properly so they don't cut their legs off, how to run the chipper..commen sense stuff.. i make $7.25. i work for one of the lowest paying companies in my area... pleaseeeee tell me how i can get a raise without sounding like i'm saying "give me one or I'm gone" i dont understand? I'm 18 years old, I have bills, a loan payment, I dont live at home... i'm a g i r l..i bust my butt everyday, but i get paid the same, or less than the POS boys that stumble along these jobs. this isnt where i plan to stay forever.. My big goal is to start a landscaping company, but I have things to take care of before i set off in the direction, I am totally committed to the company I work for, but my boss is so hard on me. I've seen guys cry after getting screamed at, and when I do, I simply ask how to correct the problem, move on,and dont complain. Forget about ear plugs to protect my ears from going deaf, i need them for the cry babies i work with, tired of listening to them whine!. help ....

 

[Jumper]

^ yea i dont know where bosses get off on thinking they can just go use your truck.

MY truck, MY insurance, MY insurance rates on the rise if there is an accident or whatever. BOSSES: GET YOUR OWN TRUCKS! just becasue i have a truck DOES'NT mean i want it used by everybody, or have ???? thrown in the back!. OOOOH the 20 bucks gas you threw in is great! that'll help pay for the now damaged transmission that you created by not shifting properly.

From another thread:

2. Same boss two weeks later, I just finished telling the client that he was not really that bad a guy after they queried how I worked for him given his anger management problems. (actually true I meant it) and boss shows up, blows a gasket over SFA in front to clients (second time that day) and suggests i take the afternoon off. So I load all HIS equipment off MY truck (his was broken in the garage), left him a bill for 64 hours which he had avoided paying for weeks and left hime there with a lawnful of equipment and trailer that was going no where fast. I did get paid after about another month....

 

[Jumper]

.. i make $7.25. i work for one of the lowest paying companies in my area... pleaseeeee tell me how i can get a raise without sounding like i'm saying "give me one or I'm gone" i dont understand? I'm 18 years old, I have bills, a loan payment, I dont live at home... i'm a g i r l..i bust my butt everyday, but i get paid the same, or less than the POS boys that stumble along these jobs. this isnt where i plan to stay forever.. My big goal is to start a landscaping company, but I have things to take care of before i set off in the direction, I am totally committed to the company I work for, but my boss is so hard on me. I've seen guys cry after getting screamed at, and when I do, I simply ask how to correct the problem, move on,and dont complain. Forget about ear plugs to protect my ears from going deaf, i need them for the cry babies i work with, tired of listening to them whine!. help ....

$7.25 is appalling, amounts to slave labour. But you have let your boss get away with it to date. A number of choices, be poor the rest of your life, or demand a raise to $10 at a minimum. If not look for a new job, and if necessary move.

As for whining men, there is a reason that the US Armed Forces don't meet their recruitment goals, aside from the prospect of being shot. One in three US 20 somethings(male or female in all these cases, and I am not picking on Americans, Canucks are exactly the same)is a morbidly obese slob, who could not work a physical job. One third more does not have a clue what physical labour involves, and the remaining third are hardworking kids like yourself that will bust their ass for a boss/organization/company/their country if treated with respect, and yess buff that includes decent pay and benefits.

You are selling yourself short at present.

PS Man this thread took off like wildfire. A lot of frustration out there on all sides!!!!

 

[RolloriClimber]

yeah well I guess I should quit complaining, but I have a morgage to pay and 2 daughters that probly climb better than a few guys I worked with,and any decent companies are way to far to drive just to get to the shop in mornings, 1 company local that was decent I started with them about a month to a month and half ago didn't have to bring anything, they supplied it all, but work slowed for them and I got laid off with about 8-10 others even though they said I was the best spikeless climber they ever had . this last week they offered me to come back but, I found that if worked slowed they would just lay me off again , and I also found out more about there accident history because of their work ethics which I didn't care for.
Buy the way my Wife is my insurance agent.

 

[RolloriClimber]

TREECHICK

I agree with Mitch " Jumper" . I started in this biz back in 1993 94 , I had no experience no driver lic. never touched a chain saw in my life didn't have a clue what a chipper even looked like and they started me at $7.00 a hour and that was in Florida at the time the lost labor wages around. I was runnig a saw a stump grinder a chipper and changing blades on the chipper and teeth on the stump grinder with in the first month working there.

There you didn't have to ask for a raise regardless what you did you got a dollar a year and every time you progressed with your performance you got a raise driver lic. got a raise cdl get a raise so on so forth .

guess they kinda spoiled me with that because I have left companies with out a word because after a year I didn't recieve a raise when I more than proved myself as a company person and a team player.

 

[buff]

TreeChick217......I have made the same observations about the workforce as you. But I must tell you that here we are not allowed to tell the truth about the workforce in the tree business or talk about generation X or Y. If you do, you will be met with people in pony tails with prison tattoos who are behind on their child support and do not know how to buy work clothes and shoes who will call you a classless bum.

 

[SRT-Tech]

SRT-TECH......The solution to your problem is a simple one. Tell your boss that your insurance agent advised you that you can no longer use your truck for commercial purposes because you are not insured for it. And tell him when you show up for work. Do not wait until he gets in a bind and ask to use your truck to get out of it. Also, do not allow your boss to use your truck off road for the same reason. If he ask how your insurance agent found out that you use your truck on the job, say that you do not know but the subject came up the last time you talked to him. Everytime you use your personal truck on a job you are opening yourself up to a new level of liability that you are not insured for.

It only happened twice. NEVER AGAIN. Not even with that company anymore.

I found about the how the boss was driving the truck, becauase several friends of mine saw my truck SPEEDING down the road, and I was'nt driving it (both my truck and I are distinctive looking.). They could hear a misshift, grinding gears, lugging engine. I held my anger until i was home from the shift, otherwise i might have pushed someone into the chipper...

 

[spacemule]

Hey buff, are you ignoring my question?

 

[buff]

The question about the cash in a big sock drawer?......$15,000 to $20,000 does not take up as much room as one would think. An empty checkbook box easily take it all in $100 bills. More than that I take to the bank. I actually do not keep money in my sock drawer. It is back in the closet in the gun vault. A person needs to keep some money in real estate, some in stocks and bonds, some in a savings account and some in cash. I could not have survived hurricane Rita without cash. During the aftermath of hurricane Rita the electricity was off for two weeks. After a while, some food stores, building material stores and the like opened up without electricity. And guess what? They all wanted cash. And you would be so surprised to know the number of carpenters, roofers and tree companies that wanted only cash too. Yes, the tree guys responded so well to cash. Although I am certain that they so dutifully reported it all to the IRS. Or do they keep an illegal stash as you report? There are also other people who will only work for cash and some who will only sell their equipment, atv's, golf carts or whatever for cash. Especially, if you have to travel long distances to make the purchase. They do not trust checks from out of town people and they do not have the experience to recognize a good certified check. Anyway, I do not know if this answers all of your questions and I am not sure if I could. You say that you have never known an honest man who kept any cash. Well, I just can not say about the types you know. And, I am sorry if I have some cash and you don't. Do not get mad at me about it. There is nothing I can do about that. Oh yeah, one last thing. You said that you graduated from college three times. I know you do not want to hear this but I graduated from college more than that. Combined with hard work, that's how I got my cash.

 

[spacemule]

The question about the cash in a big sock drawer?......$15,000 to $20,000 does not take up as much room as one would think. An empty checkbook box easily take it all in $100 bills. More than that I take to the bank. I actually do not keep money in my sock drawer. It is back in the closet in the gun vault. A person needs to keep some money in real estate, some in stocks and bonds, some in a savings account and some in cash. I could not have survived hurricane Rita without cash. During the aftermath of hurricane Rita the electricity was off for two weeks. After a while, some food stores, building material stores and the like opened up without electricity. And guess what? They all wanted cash. And you would be so surprised to know the number of carpenters, roofers and tree companies that wanted only cash too. Yes, the tree guys responded so well to cash. Although I am certain that they so dutifully reported it all to the IRS. Or do they keep an illegal stash as you report? There are also other people who will only work for cash and some who will only sell their equipment, atv's, golf carts or whatever for cash. Especially, if you have to travel long distances to make the purchase. They do not trust checks from out of town people and they do not have the experience to recognize a good certified check. Anyway, I do not know if this answers all of your questions and I am not sure if I could. You say that you have never known an honest man who kept any cash. Well, I just can not say about the types you know. And, I am sorry if I have some cash and you don't. Do not get mad at me about it. There is nothing I can do about that.

What makes you think I'm mad at you? Tell you what--since you don't seem to be able to comprehend what a question looks like, I'll quote my entire post but leave the only question I asked highlighted.

Are you looking for validation? I'm unsure whether you're simply putting my generation down or just trying to receive accolades for yourself. And, by the way, there is no legitimate reason for keeping large amounts of cash in a sock drawer. I've yet to meet an honest man who does.

Now, can you tell what my question was? Oops, that's another question. I hope I'm not confusing you. Hell, I'm on a role! So, as long as I'm on a role, do you mind if I ask you another question regarding what your major in school was? What was your major in school? Oh my my. That's two more questions!

 

[buff]

What was my college major? I have more than the three degrees you report you earned. None of them are about how to cut a tree down. But I like my BA in economics and my Master's in Business the best. I have a nine page transcript with just over 400 hours. Now I just expect that you will get all bent out of shape about that and find something wrong with it.

 

[spacemule]

I have eight degrees. None of them are about how to cut a tree down. But I like my BA in economics and my Master's in Business the best. I have a nine page transcript with just over 400 hours. Now I just expect that you will get all bent out of shape about that and find something wrong with it.

I'm not trying to find something wrong with you buff--I'm just contemplating the circumstances that cause a person to make such posts as yours. You seem insecure.