How to handle comments from employee

disclaimer;this is cnc shop related

Hi people,
I have been in business 32 years and never
had a problem like this.
There is this one guy thats been here 5 years.
Have to say is the best operator here and guess he knows it. Almost everyday he makes it a point to come in my office and makes some comment. This morning the comment bothered me to the point I want to let him go, but you know the story I can't cut off my nose to spite my face. He said
today, why don't you ever do anything and (he was serious).. My return to him was I run this place so you can have a job, someone has to do it, I would rather be making chips any day. And he said F--- you and walked out of the office. OK guys here is were
I need help I believe this will be his last pay day here, what would you do knowing he is
one of the key people you need right now? Should I just smile at him knowing I'm using him? Good help is really hard to find around here. Comment's are welcome from owners and employees

thanks danny

Wow. That is a tough deal. If he is such a good worker try to take him out for a beer after work. Find out what is under his skin. Why is he so bitter towards you? Try to talk to him and get more respect from him. Sure you can fire him, but if production suffers that much because he is a key worker I think it is worth taking him out of the shop environment and talking to him.

Shove a bottle of prozak down his throat, that ought to make him happy.

Although I must say there was a place I worked at where we all kinda felt the owner really didn't do as much as he could have, and often he really made it seem that way, just walking around and getting in our way. Now that I run my own little show. I now see that there is a good bit to running a shop and that sitting at a chair can be more of a PITA than making chips. I'd never be able to deal with having employees, I don't know how you guys do it.

Given that this employee you have there is quite open about voicing his thoughts, you can be the exact same way with him. Maybe he got too comfortable. Get to the bottom of it with him ASAP. Does he tend to affect the moral of the other guys in the shop? Sometimes you get this 1 guy who is really good, but he ruins everyone else's moral and all their productivity goes downhill. Maybe if he left everyone else would be happier too?

Don't put up with the F--- you. If you don't want to fire him then put him on crappy jobs such as sweeping the floor, hauling chips, wiping down machines, cleaning out coolant tanks, etc, etc. If he doesn't like it then just let him quit.

I know from experience that this sort of thing will only get worse over time and it will drag you down.

Best operator or not, it's not worth it.

Chipburner I mostly agree with your opinion, but
he can out produce any of the other 30 guy's or woman by at least a 20% margin.And edit his program's to increase production. He doesn't have an attitude with any of the other workers and I try to keep it like a small family working together. Must just have a thing about boses, but I never boss him around and treat him exactly the same as the others. I gathered from the other posters that maybe I should pull him aside and actually have a man to man (boy) talk with him. Maybe just maybe I can explain that there is 20 hours work a day just quoting, programming 30 machines,dealing with customers 90 times a day etc,etc... Believe me it would be so nice to come in everyday and make chips instead.

Than again maybe SND has the real problem figured out BUY HIM A BOTTLE OF PROZAK

thanks guys I'm just a little confused at what to do. Than again I own the FR--ING place. you see I keep going back and forth with my opinion on this.

A closed-door talk would be good but regardless of how that turns out don't ignore the insubordination! Whatever your first step in due process is, do it!
Randy

Ever watch that dog whisperer guy?

This employee is acting like the Alpha dog.

If you think this dog is worth keeping, then you need to assert your Alpha dominance over the jerk.
Handle him sternly and consistently.

If you think this dog is not worth the effort, then take him to your local vet and have him put down.
Or you could just fire him.
Do not keep him around sweeping chips and such. That makes every ones lives miserable, and does not get parts out the door.

Than again maybe SND has the real problem figured out BUY HIM A BOTTLE OF PROZAK

Click to expand...

Seeing as you need a prescripton you're either gonna have to get depressed enough to get some for yourself, or you're gonna have to steal some

I agree to talk it out. Does Solar have an evil twin ?

Tell him to get the F*** out of my shop and throw his tool box out behind him!

You mean he's still there? He would not have been working for me by the time he got out of the office door.

Nobody is irreplaceable, not him and not you. You might be feeling comfy with the money you're making off of him, but if he dropped dead of a pride attack, you'd have to make do. And you would.

So tell him he's through and if he's got so many smarts, he'll watch his mouth with the next employer who provides the cushy surroundings that make him seem like such a hot shi..shot

You must be a lot nicer person than me - I would either canned him on the spot (or worse).

I think boss-employee relationships can be a lot like a parent-child relationship sometimes. The boss/parent makes the rules and the child/employee doesn't necessarily accept (nor sometimes understand) that some rules are necessary for everyone's good. And just like as a parent my kid would get major punishment for saying something like that to my face - you just can't let this one slide - like the poster above said - it will only get worse.

Bottom line - all relationships at the most fundamental level are about RESPECT. This person has just shown a profound level of disrespect (not to mention he is an idiot if he doesn't understand that running a shop is a tremendous amount of pressure and work).

I think I would haul him in the office and give him a chance to explain/apologize and 'splain it to him that telling the boss to F-off is unacceptable behavior no matter where he works. Ask him if there is something outside of work that caused then outburst (maybe his wife left him or something). If he refuses to back down then I would tell him to pack his **** and get out. While you're at it - lay down the law about the morning comments routine too - enough is enough. If he apologizes then give him a warning - and only one - the next time he pulls a stunt like that or mouths off in any way shape or form - he's gone. Everyone deserves a second chance if they made a mistake.

Money (in the form of increased productivity from this person) does not buy respect.

And this little object lesson is why I will never ever have employees again.

Best of luck.

The discord one guy can sow in a shop can drag everybody down. Attitides are usually catchy.

Is it possible to measure the amount of relief the shop would feel if he was gone? Attitude improvement usually equals productivity improvement. He might be getting more done as an individual, but how much is he dragging others down, including you? That is hard to quantify. Hu is dead nuts on this, no one is irreplaceable.

"Ain't no monkey bigger than the circus." Most people that become and stay irked at the boss have an inflated opinion of how good they are or how valuable they are. He must be an inward miserable person as his attitude will destroy him not you. Another thing is that his relationship with the employees may not be as good as you think. You realize those who will say, "F you" will tell others in your shop he told you to "F yourself" and when you have conflicts with them they know they can go that far because it already has been done and no consquencies. Be firm, fair, and consistant and when there is "willful deviance" you be sure you win--not him.

Milacron,
If this guy doesn't straighten out or I'm stupid enough to let him stay after we talk and give him another try, I Will have a reason to get the prozak myself.
he's no solar he knows everything even if he doesn't, solar is honest about not knowing...
so many opinions and so many choices to make by pay time (12:31 I'm no dummy when it comes to friday paytime)
thanks for all your help, lots of things came up that I didn't think of. at this moment I'm having a HUFLUNGDUNG thought but it could change/maybe not it was said with the first feelings I had.

I agree with the other peoples comments. You need to put the guy in his place. I think all companies have issues from time to time. Many times frustrations come out at work do to bad/poor home life. I had this happen last week about a stupid light switch being on/off. People know when, how, and who to take anger out at. Work is not the proper place. It may be time to tell hime to take a walk or have him take some time off to think about what he did.

Paul

Well in my opinion you already blew it. By not addressing the situation immediately by either firing him or calling him back into your office for a very serious "chat" you've let the rest of your shop see that you can be pushed around. I think you can be sure he's let others in your shop know what he can get away with. Generally speaking things like this get worse instead of better if left unchecked.

Instead of giving him the sack right away, can you send him home for 1 or 2 weeks without pay, along with a good conversation?
This way you both have a cooldown period and you shown sanctions to big mouth.

Give him the choice,clean up the mouth and show some respect or your fired. One and only chance.

Chance's are if he's that good he may be a member of PM....and should take the above comments to heart.
Mike

The others have pretty much pinned it down, DO NOT ignore the behavior. It will not go away on its own and the guy must be put in his place... Here is a possibility.
Have your heart to heart with the guy and out him in his place, document it and document the expected behavior, have him sign it. Send him packing with a week off with out pay (suspension). Tell him if it happens again after his little vacation, he will be released on the spot.

The documentation is there to support the un-employment issue and why he was relased. His signature indicates he knew the ramifications.
If you ignore the behavior, you are accepting it as an OK practice and it WILL continue to happen.

Ain't employees wonderful?? It really IS lonely at the top...