polksalet Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 (edited) Jr. was home sick yesterday with mom and his (tonsil) condition has only worsened. So I just called the boss and he said no problem, take care of your family and I'll see ya when I see ya. He let me off for 5 months to take care of wife and daughter over the summer with about 4 seconds notice and kept my job open for me the whole time and told me to come back when I wanted to. He called every couple of weeks to check on the girl while I was off but we never discussed work or when I was coming back. When I did decide to come back a couple of weeks ago he didn't say a word and handed me a job file to go do. If you could place a market value on my particular skill level ( I am nearly licensed so I am probably far more advanced than anyone within 100 miles of here for what I do) he pays me about 20% more. He lives on my butt like the DI on full metal jacket to make sure I do a good job and to teach me as much as possible. To top it off I truly believe he is the best surveyor in existence. I am serious about what I do and I do not throw compliments around like this lightly. Anyway, it is a shame everyone's boss can't be like this. If I ever do have employees he has made a definite imprint on me how to treat them. Oh yeah, on the opposite side, if you do not make and effort to do your job correctly he will fire you with zero remorse. Perhaps that is an exra motivator for me??? Edited November 15, 2007 by polksalet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Does sound like a great guy and it seems his style has paid off for him with a motivated and loyal employee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Does sound like a great guy and it seems his style has paid off for him with a motivated and loyal employee. The other 4 guys would run through a brick wall for him as well. Heck, he encourages you to quit if you find a better job as he doesn't want to keep you from bettering yourself. Most of the times when someone leaves they go off and build pipelines triple their earnings while increasing their knowledge base. When they come back he has a more loyal and appreciative employee with far more knowledge when they left. He also pays them more. I once worked on a HUGE multi-billion dollar fiber optic network construction job in Colorado and all 20 of the engineering and surveying hands either got their start working for him of in my case his son. They should build a shrine to this dude at the capitol building in Little Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Any supervisor will agree that good people are hard to find nowadays. When you get one, you hang on to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogohawk Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Any supervisor will agree that good people are hard to find nowadays. When you get one, you hang on to them. Agree 110% - retain your best people and "weed the garden" for the rest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Sounds like a good situation. Tell us more about this statement though: He lives on my butt like the DI on full metal jacket to make sure I do a good job and to teach me as much as possible. Does he do this to a point that it irritates you at all because I'm sure you are a competent worker as you have stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Sounds like a good situation. Tell us more about this statement though: He lives on my butt like the DI on full metal jacket to make sure I do a good job and to teach me as much as possible. Does he do this to a point that it irritates you at all because I'm sure you are a competent worker as you have stated. He does this to a point that it drives me insane (well insaner) constantly. He is about to turn me loose on the world with a license. In my opinion he has taken my knowledge and competency to the point that I know more about what I do than probably 75%-85% of the licensees in Arkansas or Texas. I will stand by that statement. I once did an extremely long and time consuming calc job for him that really no one I know other than him could do in the field. I missed the place by about a tenth of a foot on 500 acres and brought it and he he said something like "are you on drugs? Have you been on drugs? Is your brain fried or are you just stupid?" He corrected the calc and had me go back and correct this. This particular calc would be acceptable by most people if it were within a couple of feet and would have been within the letter of the law if it were within 3 feet. As a general rule when he lights into me which happens a couple of times per week I respond by saying "you are right boss, you are gold and I am trash" either that or I look at him and say " I love you boss, you are the best boss in the world". Either way gets him off my back instantly. As for the other guys all have been doing this work for less than 2 years and have better skills than most people who work 10 years. I am totally serious about that. If you cannot produce the best results according to your ability every single day you are gone. However if you survive the old man you will be born again hard and have the most incredible skill set of anyone in the area if not the industry. I have set my goal on being better than he is. I doubt I will reach that area because I am not as driven or have the raw intelligence he possesses. BUT, I am pretty dog gone good and if I aim for him I will get better. Complacency is not an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Sounds like a good situation. Tell us more about this statement though: He lives on my butt like the DI on full metal jacket to make sure I do a good job and to teach me as much as possible. Does he do this to a point that it irritates you at all because I'm sure you are a competent worker as you have stated. I have never really thought of what he considers competent. I believe he would tell you that competency is a process. He knows how good he is and sometimes tells you as he is not shy. He works to get better and all of his employees work to get better as there really is never good enough with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziachild007 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Like yours, our boss takes very good care of us and in return gets loyalty from his employees. In fact, the reason I came to work here was because of his reputation for being such a great guy to work for. As far as pushing us to do our best though, I guess different people motivate in different manners. While he will quickly point out when and why we have done something wrong, it is more of a teaching and not a lecture. I guess I would just rather my boss correct me in that manner than by talking down to me. Of course with your profession, I imagine there is probably not much room for error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 (edited) Like yours, our boss takes very good care of us and in return gets loyalty from his employees. In fact, the reason I came to work here was because of his reputation for being such a great guy to work for. As far as pushing us to do our best though, I guess different people motivate in different manners. While he will quickly point out when and why we have done something wrong, it is more of a teaching and not a lecture. I guess I would just rather my boss correct me in that manner than by talking down to me. Of course with your profession, I imagine there is probably not much room for error. That is absolutely true about the room for error. If my wife accidentally puts out a baby wipe display instead of diapers, who cares. If I mis locate a control rod in a nuclear power plant by a few inches, well, you get my drift. Edited November 15, 2007 by polksalet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziachild007 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 That is absolutely true about the room for error. If my wife accidentally puts out a baby wipe display instead of diapers, who cares. If I mis locate a control rod by a nuclear power plant by a few inches, well, you get my drift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 My boss lets me drink while I work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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