[herbiefatboy]

in peoples experance what age is it best to employ  ie do you employ  someone who is 18  or do you go for someone older.only i have employed someone he is 35 and useless  ie he asked me today to open a gate for him.and he takes all my coffee out off my flask   and he is always texting on phone  would people out there get shot off him. any thoughts would be greatfull

[geefree]

I dont think age has a lot to do with it,... its the person.

if he asked you to open a gate and helped himself to your coffee i wouldnt say thats useless,

to begin with , i would  let that person know where they stand and who is the boss,... so the coffee thing would not have happened in the first place without me first offering him a drink,

The gate , i would have opened it only if the guy had his hands full,

otherwise he would been told to open it himself, and if that was such a task to him i would have told him there is no hope if he cant even open a a gate !!

35 and worldly wise he may be, but laziness comes with any age.

set him a couple of tasks

a target to aim for, watch his enthusiasm (or lack of)
see if he really has a go at them,

you will soon know what he is made
of.

can you be more specific regarding why you think he is useless?

Gary.

[herbiefatboy]

when we pull up to a house and i say this is the next house he goes which windows. i do  not know if i will be able to trust him on his own.he also walks about with his hands in his pockets telling the customers he is the health and safty inspector .back to the gate he had nothing in his hands he just said the bolt was tight

[craig jwc]

When you interviewed him for the job i think you should have laid a few ground rules down and stuck to them.
Don't know if you are Trad or WFP but i would have asked to see him work ( on your own windows) to see how he was.
Have you given him a trial period?
If so see how he gets on, but if he's not completing the job to the standard you want get rid of him.
Don't think age has anything to do with it, but saying what you have about him i would imagine an 18 year old to be like you said he is.

[herbiefatboy]

thanks for your help so far

[marc al]

  Herbie

     In my last job I was a warehouse manager, I hired and fired atleast 200 people in my 10 years, my advice, got rid straight away - he is a p taker - I think he can consider himself lucky not to have had a right hander for telling a customer he is health and safety.

    I saw them all in the warehouses, from what you say I guess he is just working with you so he can keep telling the job center that he has been attending interviews and took a job, he is just waiting for you to finish him. When the job center ask you why you finished him make sure you tell them exactly why.

    The best people to employ are a family man with a mortgage, this is not fool proof but a safer bet than a teenager with a beer or bed problem.

   Good Luck

     Marc

[Pat Purcell]

I agree with Marc al a family man with lots of bills to pay is uaually a good bet the only problem is that most people worth employing are allready employed

[marc]

age does not matter just get rid he should not be on his phone in your time unless he is hands free sounds a right one how much you paying him hope its no more than £3.50 an hour even thats too much

[eddie d]

over the past 15 years i have worked with about 50 different guys.about 5/6 have been any good .getting good workers is the hardest part of the job.
it sounds like you have got your work cut out with this one.telling customers he is a h&s inspector is a bit wierd and not on.
if you dont think he is up to the job youi are better off moving on sooner rather than later.
i now work with a guy who has the same problem with gates &has   phoned me to ask where he should park the van .to which i said outside the job .but on the upside he is reliable ,honest ,and after 10 months training goes out on his own with not to many problems.
somebody once said to me its the nature of the job .

[ducky]

ur right pat.   iam 24.i.have to little girls i work ev er hour i can my girlfreind works to.but i would say some one with commitments is the best bet.

[Richy L]

why not pay him a percentage of the total money you earn. Say to him if he works well, he'll get more money, but if he takes his time and wastes time he will earn less.