[Ben wood]

Any time

[dazmond]

balls to do what woody?

been there and done that mate.i had 3 lads working with me years ago.ive been window cleaning 18 years and im very happy as a sole trader now.

less hassle and im much happier.

i make good profit every year working by myself.im certainly not jealous!!why would i be??

i make more than enough money from my 340 customers for my needs!!

ive never been happier!plus ive got a gorgeous girlfriend who has just opened a top end interior design shop!


regards


dazmond

[colin purewater]

balls to do what woody?

been there and done that mate.i had 3 lads working with me years ago.ive been window cleaning 18 years and im very happy as a sole trader now.

less hassle and im much happier.

i make good profit every year working by myself.im certainly not jealous!!why would i be??

i make more than enough money from my 340 customers for my needs!!

ive never been happier!plus ive got a gorgeous girlfriend who has just opened a top end interior design shop!


regards


dazmond

Really daz !! That's news to us mate 

[paul13]

wat did dazmond say?

Richy can't you be bothered reading reply's?

[rosskesava]

Just read the entire thread.

To me, what it comes down to is bad management by Ritchy and I don't mean this as a put down of Ritchy.

All these types of explosive reactions have a history of loads of sometimes small, little things and then one larger incident can blow the lid of the boiler. It's learning to notice the small little things that is what matters. Reacting when it's all gone too far achieves nothing either for the employee or for Ritchy.

Slamming the door on someone? That could oh so easily have gone very wrong and what if the employee had been injured or a proper fight had happened? Doing that, when you're the boss, is 100% wrong and there's no other way to see it. Not only that, it's wrong, anyway.

It's also points to Ritchy having issues about himself which we all have to some extent, but when you're the boss, you have to be professional at all time regardless of how you feel emotionally.

If I were Ritchy, I'd go on some industry approved management courses. He obviously has ability as a manager but maybe needs some of the sharp edges knocking off and replaced with some good management techniques.

[Tom White]

He obviously has ability as a manager

In the same way Hitler had ability as a dictator?

You are too kind sometimes; respect!

[richywilts]

ive never said im a good manager, managers have to have many skills some greater than others all different i think it boils down to confidence with me after the last two years my confidence has taken a major knock and i do find it hard when facing confrontation and discipline i bottle things up instead of dealing with problems maybe i do need to go on an assertiveness course all the guys who put me down on here just make me want to prove them wrong more maybe thats why i post problems on here give me some sort of motivation i know that even after the crisis last year my business is in a much stronger position this year and come spring time il hopefully have turned it round i wouldnt change the last year for anything because its been a steep difficult learning curve and i will come out on top

[robertphil]

hav u seen him since the door slam?  did it nip on his legs?

[Helen]

Richie I don't comment anymore, you will do what you will do, but I take my hat off to you for stamina and staying power

as u all may know i had my van stolen and my wfp setup stolen, im just waiting on my new van as its getting fitted at moment i need to buy 2 new poles.

You posted this way back in 2008 and this is where it started to go wrong for you.
After 4.5 years of the c*** you have been through and had, don't you think someone, somewhere is trying to say STOP, this isn't for you

[gary999]

havent read the whole post and i dont know you so its hard to
judge but going by this post and many others you seem to
suffer stress overloade asily maybe some kind of course
stress related or man management would help.

i would personally deal with the individual privately,dealing
with this in front ofall other staff would potentially be opening a
can of worms a bit like posting on this forum the input you get
might not be helpful and you could end up having to deal with
other issues rather than focusing on the one that matters.

man management is a skill which is not easily mastered
some have a natural apititude for it most of us dont  going
on managements courses really do help

[robbo333]

Richie, i'm not sure of the answer to your problem (I guess there's more to it historically) but hats off to you for sharing it with us.
I bet many businesses have the same problems as yours and by reading your threads, your actually helping them think about how they deal with their staff. Hope things get better for you this year.

[gewindows]

Nice website Robbo. Excellent use of words and explanation of various aspects of your work. Impressed.

Richy what happened to your website, wern't you in the process of getting that upgraded?

[formb]

Richy, all these people are offering advice on a situation that they know very little about. None of them can possibly understand fully the relationship you have with this guy.

Handing out 3 month warnings is all very well, this method may or may not be suitable for your particular situation, only you will know. I have used similar things in the past to great effect; other times it has been a complete waste of time.

As for not employing friends / family, I agree it can be difficult but don't write it off completely. My best mate has worked for me for over 12 years, he is by far my best earner and he does not take the p. I have employed pretty much all my friends over the years and yes I have lost a couple along the way, but hey who hasn't.

The main problem that I see is that you may have lost the respect of this guy, that being the case you need to address it and right away. I would avoid the 'quiet word' approach because if it goes tits up, even if you were being more than fair towards him he will tell everyone that you weren't. I would have a staff meeting in front of every one and apologise for losing the rag, explain to him why his actions are unacceptable and give him a chance to justify himself, but that's me not you.

It amazes me how some people on here claim to know the right way to do everything, no matter what they say I know one thing for a fact: It is not nearly as easy as they make out. Good luck.

i agree with this to be honest all individuals respond different this lads acts tough guy to the others etc he very awkward strange character to be honest if it was the other two i caught id of brought them in and spoke to them but this lad is like a negative disease and i think by acting a little physical with him it shows the other i can lose my rag occasionally if i think im being walked over.i will be having a meeting on monday to be honest how you have said it is pretty much how i see it

Funny, I read Soapy's post as that the lad has lost respect for you because you 'threw him around', which then runs contrary to what you've just posted, where you're justifying your 'acting a little physical with him'.

I could be wrong though; it is a bit ambiguous. 

I think a lack of respect led to this situation.

[andyM]

Richie I don't comment anymore, you will do what you will do, but I take my hat off to you for stamina and staying power

as u all may know i had my van stolen and my wfp setup stolen, im just waiting on my new van as its getting fitted at moment i need to buy 2 new poles.

You posted this way back in 2008 and this is where it started to go wrong for you.
After 4.5 years of the c*** you have been through and had, don't you think someone, somewhere is trying to say STOP, this isn't for you

That might well be true.
Maybe this is not Richy's right path to tread.
Have you ever tried hard to make something work and no matter what you try things still keep going wrong?
I know I have, and on reflection I look back and think that was because that particular job/career was not meant for me.
Even though at the time it felt right......it was wrong.


 

[Ian101]

maybe over simplifying the situation but if he is a dick and making others negative then your the boss just bin him

[Deangsi]

i havnt read all of the comments but in my opinion the worst thing you can do is send a worker canvassing never works the way im doing it at the moment is we have 2 of us cleaning im canvassing full time nd going out 1 2 days a week maximum helping out with another lad on the first cleens. keep the workers as far away from the money side as possible id never let a worker canvass as hes always going to resent it and want the jobs himself. also your not gunna know how often he sits on his arce. where as giving them a days cleaning with a sheet to do that day if they dont do it you know by checking the sheets then diduct pay as required. iv bin canvassing for 2 weeks now and its going realy well with the guys cleaning. only way imo. cheers

[Deangsi]

oh and sack any p takers and replace for willing bodies who apreciate 

[richywilts]

just been canvassing today with the other two lads othe idiot didnt wana come out but we got 13 jobs on in total today in a new area for us where they havent heard of us yet so im happy its water under the bridge now weve spoken about it and he understand why i over reacted im trying to help them out nd get them earning a bit extra money instead of sending them home when works complete and basically he thought he would cheat me and skive

ive learnt  valuable lesson and will be thinking very carefully in future when looking out for the others instead of putting myself first they will have to work hard now and prove to me that they all deserve extra hours to earn more money

[gewindows]

I think the opening line of this post says it all.

You've made your mind up about him, it's his fault, nothing to do with you, you see him as an idiot; end of.

Maybe he is Richy but you have always refused to see that you also play a part in how your business is run. You are always blaming someone else, you appear to be a victim of circumstance and cannot be held accountable. Which Im sure also makes you an idiot. Sorry mate, but you are the only one in charge there and it's you that makes the decisions.

Anyone who is likely to hit or assault another individual, be they member of the public or an employee in a private scenario or in public isn't fit to employ.

Its a sackable offence in any company and that applies to the owner too.

You need to take a career change for your own safety. One day you might try to knock some guys block off who didn't quite come up to scratch and he'll turn round and pummel you.

[richywilts]

ive not posted the whole background to my friendship with this lad etc and how ive helped him out a lot in life and tried to support him when he has had tough times basically when i employed him having worked fitting upvc fascias etc i found him to be a hard worker with manuals skills, punctual and reliable. he was walking rnd homeless with two bin bags when i seen him etc so i offered him a lift and said you can come and work with me doing some roof coating jobs we had on then began introducing him to window cleaning etc

even during difficult times financially i always kept him on etc and found him things to do even thru th big freeze we had two years back, ive even bought him his provisional driving licence to try and encourage him to get his driving licence and offered him use of van at weekends to use for him and his daughter

theres a lot more too it than him just being my employee so this is why i was so annoyed that he disobeyed me when ive done notin but bend over backwards to help him in past so yes i took it a bit personal when i attacked him the other day