how much do you push your employees before you fire them?

I know it not a fast food place, but you are paying employees by the hour and if you have a lawn that take most people 1 hour how much extra time would you allow them? if they take 1.5 hours do you tell them next time they need to take 15 min. less. but then if there in a hurry to complete your request and you get a complaint. would you give them a warning or fire them?

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by lawn mowering I know it not a fast food place, but you are paying employees by the hour and if you have a lawn that take most people 1 hour how much extra time would you allow them? if they take 1.5 hours do you tell them next time they need to take 15 min. less. but then if there in a hurry to complete your request and you get a complaint. would you give them a warning or fire them? I'm the worst boss ever considering I lack a lot of patience with people who I eventually have to pay. I tried my garden weeder on a lawn, gave her 5 minutes before I told her to sit in the truck. Though if I was more desperate things would be different. If I hired someone to mow a lawn that takes me an hour to do & they take longer, I'll tell them to step aside as I finish it & lecture them before we get to the next lawn. I can't really give people "time" to learn how to move with a mower, so if they slow me down, I take over & they will get another chance. I think on average, it takes someone a week to just start getting used to the work. In a way sometimes misunderstand why it's so difficult to cut a lawn, but I thought long and hard about what rookies have to go through. 1. They aren't used to the heat. 2. They aren't used to mowing lawn after lawn after lawn. 3. They get blisters, hands & feet. 4. They need to learn how to mow the perimeter & then mow lengthwise, basically they need to be able to know how to do a lawn as soon as they see it. 5. They have to remember to dump the grass from the mower bag. 6. They have to remember to adjust the mowers wheels accordingly. 7. They have to learn how to mow a hill, what angels & height they should be mowing. 8. They have to know what is safe to mow over & what isn't (random debris). 9. They have to know how to start the mower. 10. They have to know how to clean/unclog the deck of the mower. I wont even bother training them on a trimmer. Some of this stuff sounds basic, but when you find a guy fresh off his couch, he's clueless when it comes to anything. So if your worker is able to remember half of the things listen above during the first week, let him tag along for another week & see if he gets better. I've had a guy who didn't want the grass to touch him or get on his clothes, I had a miserable day. "Isn't the lawn mower the only thing that touches the grass?"... don't have a panic attack frig.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by lawn mowering

I know it not a fast food place, but you are paying employees by the hour and if you have a lawn that take most people 1 hour how much extra time would you allow them? if they take 1.5 hours do you tell them next time they need to take 15 min. less. but then if there in a hurry to complete your request and you get a complaint. would you give them a warning or fire them?

I have had anywhere from 8 to 450 people report to me over the last 30 years, I give everyone two or three chances, after all we have trained them and there is a cost to that. Last summer in this business I only had to let one employee go, after trying very hard to work with him, he simply would not listen.

[Steve]

I know it not a fast food place, but you are paying employees by the hour and if you have a lawn that take most people 1 hour how much extra time would you allow them? if they take 1.5 hours do you tell them next time they need to take 15 min. less. but then if there in a hurry to complete your request and you get a complaint. would you give them a warning or fire them?

The thing I wonder about this is. Do you work with them the first time or two and show them how ling the job is taking?

If you are later asking them to do the lawn themselves, do they know how long they have to service that property? Is it written down so they know the time in and the time out they are supposed to be hitting?

Maybe if you observe them, you can find out where they are getting off track and can help get them back to where they need to be?