ForsytheBros.
Well-Known Member
good thread
I'm enjoying this thread, not just because of the work hours discussion, but also the viewpoints presented, both from employee and employer side. We're company owners (and operators, and cleanup guys, bill payers, janitors, etc, etc, ie small businessmen), and the balancing act of keeping guys busy during slow work periods is an interesting one. I try to be as transparent with our team as i can regarding workload and company finances. When work is heavy, we work guys to the bone, and as things lighten, or we're between jobs, we try to "find" things for guys to do that will pay dividends down the road.
Like a previous post indicated, we can't bid work with the intent of paying for time at the house, and very little "yard/shop" time, especially in this economy.
We have this issue come up a lot. Guys want to make more money. Shoot, we all do. Employer and employee don't often see the other's viewpoint, in my opinion. Employee often wonders why employer doesn't give more hours, or just pay more, has old equipment ,etc. etc. The very real picture, at least for us, is that there is a very real scenario which exists in which material suppliers, employees, subcontractors and other bill collectors get their cut from a job, and we the owners (and last to get paid) receive little to nothing.
I think a misconception by employees in some outfits (maybe not the majority of , and surely not all) is that the owners have lots of money, and that there's a sense of entitlement to receive x hours per week (or x dollars per week) for their skills and loyalty. This leverage changes in my opinion , due to the quantity of the local workload.
The employer (me) is often shortsighted and views the employees as valued, but but often ungrateful for those hours "created" through work won by the company. I sometimes forget that it (the company) is an assembly of people, not iron and machines , and that the company itself is actually larger than either owner or employees.
That said, i feel that running a business is a two way street. When projects are successful, i'd like to think that we share in the rewards. Additionally, when work is slow, i believe that the whole company must sacrifice (subjective term used) to keep things going for the long haul.
One previous post mentioned that the guys worked on a Saturday, and only got an hour and a half or so worth of work , if i read it properly. Post also mentioned that over half dozen asphalt trucks were loaded. I presume these trucks were sent back to the plant, unused. I couldn't help but think about the poor owner of the company that had to eat the cost of that hot mix, labor and trucking / fuel, only to make zero dollars that day.....
Sorry, i digress here. To the original poster's question on work hours per week:
For Me: Working or thinking about work all hours not spent with my wife, at church, sleeping or eating. Typical small businessman
I'm enjoying this thread, not just because of the work hours discussion, but also the viewpoints presented, both from employee and employer side. We're company owners (and operators, and cleanup guys, bill payers, janitors, etc, etc, ie small businessmen), and the balancing act of keeping guys busy during slow work periods is an interesting one. I try to be as transparent with our team as i can regarding workload and company finances. When work is heavy, we work guys to the bone, and as things lighten, or we're between jobs, we try to "find" things for guys to do that will pay dividends down the road.
Like a previous post indicated, we can't bid work with the intent of paying for time at the house, and very little "yard/shop" time, especially in this economy.
We have this issue come up a lot. Guys want to make more money. Shoot, we all do. Employer and employee don't often see the other's viewpoint, in my opinion. Employee often wonders why employer doesn't give more hours, or just pay more, has old equipment ,etc. etc. The very real picture, at least for us, is that there is a very real scenario which exists in which material suppliers, employees, subcontractors and other bill collectors get their cut from a job, and we the owners (and last to get paid) receive little to nothing.
I think a misconception by employees in some outfits (maybe not the majority of , and surely not all) is that the owners have lots of money, and that there's a sense of entitlement to receive x hours per week (or x dollars per week) for their skills and loyalty. This leverage changes in my opinion , due to the quantity of the local workload.
The employer (me) is often shortsighted and views the employees as valued, but but often ungrateful for those hours "created" through work won by the company. I sometimes forget that it (the company) is an assembly of people, not iron and machines , and that the company itself is actually larger than either owner or employees.
That said, i feel that running a business is a two way street. When projects are successful, i'd like to think that we share in the rewards. Additionally, when work is slow, i believe that the whole company must sacrifice (subjective term used) to keep things going for the long haul.
One previous post mentioned that the guys worked on a Saturday, and only got an hour and a half or so worth of work , if i read it properly. Post also mentioned that over half dozen asphalt trucks were loaded. I presume these trucks were sent back to the plant, unused. I couldn't help but think about the poor owner of the company that had to eat the cost of that hot mix, labor and trucking / fuel, only to make zero dollars that day.....
Sorry, i digress here. To the original poster's question on work hours per week:
For Me: Working or thinking about work all hours not spent with my wife, at church, sleeping or eating. Typical small businessman
