The great resignation—where is the hired help?
- Thread starter AndyG
- Start date
OP
Thanks John, this post helped me to realize there are other methods of incentives to motivate people to put the time in -that is one area my guys need to improve in. The main reason is several are single parents- I try to be super respectful; some of these guys have struggled to even have custody of their children, one mother is in prison, etc.@AndyG has heard me say this, the Company I work for now pays us an attendance bonus. When I was let go from my old job, and started where I am now, the bonus was $1.00 an hour, this is just to get folks to be at work 5 10 hour days/nights a week. I had been there for a month when the maintenance boss called a meeting to tell us the bonus had gone from $1.00 an hour to $3.00 an hour
at some point its not your problem as an employer if they begin to abuse your generosity. Seen it quite often...
OP
At the end of the day I’m in it for my clients and family - sure I want it it good for everyone but don’t we all- the real rule of life kicks in- you get out of things what you put in.
And that my friend is why you have a waiting list of customers, don't care if it takes a while for you to do their work!!!!
OP
We have been very fortunate- our 2022 calendar is full enough we are looking at 2023 now. It is a real good time in construction in Notheast Alabama right now, and it will stay good for a while- I expect to see it taper off but still be good. I thought about you a lot yesterday when I was in Bridgeport then at the Trials Training Center- that place is no joke to ride a dirt bike around-so rocky you can’t get a good run at any hill, and it was wet and slick.
I bet no one was riding Coppinger cove!!! Probably couldn't cross the river!!
Glad you had a good day at Trails, I have heard good things about it!!
What's the Bible have to say about this?
And since you brought up generation gaps, I'm a Millennial (I was in middle school when the Twin Towers fell and only barely remember it) with a wife and a two year old. I'd be willing to bet you were doing something other than being born in 1990. So any advice you'd like to pass on? Anything you think the parents of the current generation failed to teach their kids or failed to do? I'd like to learn from others' mistakes as I think about the generations after me.
If you're asking in earnest I'm sure there's a lot of us who have raised children that would impart some experiences (good and bad) that may or may not help you with your youngster. BTW 2's they're not always terrible!!
Yes I'm being serious. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post publicly.
Yeah two has been a fun age. One of the benefits of working from home has been to see him grow up through all the stages so far: crawling, walking, running, babbling, jabbering.
I'm only a little ahead of you... The towers fell about 3 weeks after I turned 18, but my dad is about 10 years older than most of my friends dads so I think the upbringing he gave me had more in common with the upbringing that gen X got.
The advice I've always followed is to think of my career like a business. I'm providing my time and my skills for sale, and I need to offer something that somebody wants and be good enough at it to get paid for it. Not once have I turned down an opportunity to learn something new, because each opportunity made me more needed and more valuable.
I see way too many that see their job as a box to check and have no desire to excel at it or give any more than the bare minimum. They use phrases like "not my job". Well guess what, 12 years ago I learned something that wasn't my job and I ended up getting that job, and set me on the trajectory I'm on now which has worked out pretty well.
OP
The Bible says those that won’t work shouldn’t eat- but it also teaches that God provides. The law of sowing and reaping is universal and perhaps the most powerful law of all. Never try to continually nullify that law in the life of others either. If you do, you are attempting to defeat the lessons it can teach and changes it can bring about. You will fail ultimately. It is not a law you can break- it will break you.
listen to Simon Sinek “The Millenial Question” on you tube. This is so accurate it will amaze you. It is a must listen for any manager of millennials.
Will add some more my own thoughts when I have more time but here is a short version-
Kids today need to know how to survive. Parents need to teach this to their young, like animals do.
Be a person of value. Make the world a better place for you having been here. Show up for life and bring it every day.
Really shake hands, use manners, be a gentleman, keep your word, work like you know you should and treat women with respect.
On the job, do whatever you do so well everyone wants you on their shift or their crew or their team. Jump in and get done what needs to get done. Develop a healthy sense of urgency. Be professional.
Life can be a satisfying, joyous, rewarding journey- or it can be hell on earth. Your choices will generally be the deciding factor.
Great questions. Very good.
AndyG
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Although I differ on the theology, I agree with this wholeheartedly.
I've heard people mention that verse from 2 Thessalonians 3:10 more often since COVID than ever before haha.
Both of my parents are very hard workers. We didn't have a lot of money but my mom stayed home to raise me and my siblings (until we were older, then she took a job), and I don't recall my dad complaining about having to work. Dad built their house and keeps everything in good order, did all the work on the cars himself (I learned just about all I know about turning a wrench from holding the flashlight for him). Mom has always been industrious both in and around the house and loves to keep a garden. I really respect them both, especially now that I'm an adult.
But somehow I managed to spend most of my time playing video games and goofing off, not that my parents were happy with that. I don't recall high school being challenging--a lot of stuff came naturally and so I could get away with playing video games in the evening and doing homework during lunchtime the day it was due. Why delay the gratification of playing video games? I never turned assignments in before they were due and often turned them in after. But I still got good enough grades.
That continued into college until classes got difficult enough and I had enough responsibilities that it became a sink-or-swim kind of situation. Fast forward to now: I have a wife, a kid, a house, a career, and a few other responsibilities. But I'm still feeling the effects of high school.
So I wonder if I should start charging my two year old rent so he learns some responsibility and how to delay gratification haha.
I also wonder if increasing Biblical ignorance and the celebrated openness of distance from God in our country has something to do with the state of things. I don't think that's especially unique to here and now (there's nothing new under the sun), but there's something about a lot of the answers you got that I think shows the connection.
For example: why else would we expect a person to work as hard as they're able instead of being a leech, except that we assume the world isn't about that individual? I bet not only that a lot of people here assume the purpose of life is a little bigger than that, but that it is somehow related to God (perhaps in a Christian sense), and that not many of us assume that the bigger purpose is to be united with an all-encompassing mind (perhaps in a Monistic sense) for example.
And given that this country was founded by Christians (however broad or narrow you want to define that term, think about what it takes to say "it has become necessary for these colonies to assume the station we're entitled to by God's laws")--given that fact and the fact that Christianity has a long history in this country, I think we have to acknowledge the influence the Christian ethic has on our thinking.
I think we think hard work is good because of the Christian ethic and way of looking at things.
And given that Christians by definition follow the Christ in some form or fashion, and given that Jesus called himself the light of the world and the Bible calls the world darkness, I think the Christian ethic and way of looking at things includes such concepts as "increasing light" (meaning increasing knowledge of Christ) and "increasing darkness" (meaning increasing distance from God). Those are certainly themes in the Bible. I think a lot of people recognize the problems you raised as a symptom or somehow related to "increasing darkness" or "increasing badness" or something like that.
The Bible describes what happens when people leave God, and I think that description is an accurate fit for today (as it has been an accurate fit for many other times and places)--implying increasing distance from God.
Also, I am personally convinced that it's not just a factual knowledge of God that keeps the Christian ethic alive in a given generation, but a deep personal conviction of specific things--sin, the need for a savior from that sin, and a love for the Christ who saves from that sin--that keeps it alive when enough people are involved. In short I think there is a specific message that has to have personal relevance to enough people for there to be a generally recognized "closeness" to God in a society. It's my understanding that the Bible calls that message the gospel.
And I think it only takes a couple of generations to lose that gospel. It may be very dear to the first, but if the second assumes everyone knows it then they won't teach it to the third, and by the fourth nobody will even be able to give Sunday School answers any longer. And then a country's former ideas of ethics run out of gas.
So I think I should teach my son the gospel: I'll try to help him understand that he needs to be redeemed from how far short he falls from God's glory. My motivation won't be to improve him as a person, but instead it's my hope that he'll turn to God and be secure in Christ on the good side of the fence after the coming judgment--that will be way better than being a responsible individual on the wrong side of that divide. But it would certainly be relevant to the discussion if his fear and love for God one day motivates him to show up to work on time for @AndyG.
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Although I don't hold with much of monotheists and their books - one needs to teach their children *something* that involves ethics. "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything" - and all that.
OP
One of the scary things that’s going on Is that parents aren’t teaching their children anything....They are just letting them grow up and of course they get influenced by other friends and the media and the next-door neighbor or whatever.
I have a good friend who was a Jehovah’s Witness and he said when he was young and went out and talked to people with his parents that people were always real quick to state their denomination- By the time he was an adult he noticed that people didn’t even know what denominations were generally.
Unfortunately Christianity has a lot of definitions today, But if you will stay honest hearted you will see that doing always the right thing is what matters. In some form nearly every faith on earth teaches that.
And of course a TJ with lockers-narrow is the path and few shall enter in....that verse means you need lockers. For those that remember Father Guido Sarducci
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Exactly! Its all about ETHICS, not so much about so-called "Morality" (see the thread about the school volunteer...).
OP
Just like people don’t need to let college interfere with their education, People should not let church/religion interfere with learning to do the right thing. I know it sounds like I’m going out on a limb saying that, but if you really think about what a lot of churches teach .... they are telling people you can do wrong and still be right. Something is wrong with that ideaology.
I’m not going to go any deeper than that, but I will stand by what I’m saying.
I'll stand with you guys but about 30 feet away. You know, in case of lightning and whatnot.