I agree with you Jerry, you are only as good as the men around you, and the more men, (crews) the better, as your work force increases, so does the $$$, that's why primes do so well but some thing, in most cases, happens once an out fit grows. It loses touch with the men that are out there in the elements doing the work, a wedge is slowly driven between the work force and the management and why? Bean counters aside, once a man is promoted into a supervisory or management position, he loses touch with the men working under him because he's not out there with them, and I've always been taught through the years that it's not how many men you have under you that will make you shine, it's how well you treat these men be it 3 or 30 or 300, you must never lose touch with these men because the second you do, you have lost the respect of your work force and I don't have to spell out the rest. There are so many that just don't get it, when you become a super it is now your responsibility to guard your work force like a pit bull, train and work with the men that need it, get the pay hikes to the men that deserve it and send the one's that can't hack it packing, simple as that, don't worry about your superiors, that's why you were put in this position and if you ruffle a couple feathers who gives a s***, some one has to make the hard calls, and when all the smoke clears, and everything is said and done, it all boils down to this; if you take care of your men they will in turn take care of you, which of course makes you look good, your boss look good and so on. And don't tell me you don't have the time, there is always time for your men, be it running them out some hot coffee on a cold day or coming out in a truck and asking, "What can I do to help?" It's all about respect.
That in itself has always plagued this industry. You show me a super that thinks he's to good for the field and I'll show you a man that needs to find another line of work.
There is one more thing I would like to add, I used to be a prime, being a prime is like being a train, you get the contract, this gets you moving, (maps in hand) ok now you start putting on more crews and start turning out nice #'s alright this train is starting to roll, now because of these #'s the MSO gains confidence in your abilities and you are awarded 4, 5, 6 more towns, you get the maintenance contract, wow, now this train is flying, now the trick at this point is keeping this whole thing together. The primes that were smart enough to look ahead and plan for this have all the right men in the right places months before this train got out of 3rd gear and they are rolling. But more importantly are the ones that didn't plan a head and don't have the right men at the controls now you have a run away train plowing through the industry destroying every project in it's path. It takes a while to slow a train down when it's going 70 MPH and in cable terms, when a prime starts losing control, be it poor management, planning, workmanship or parasites, and then you've got greed, dipping, pay offs or all of the above, all that aside and this is a sad reality, They are still the prime! Too many things are in place to just stop this thing, they still have the contract, they still have the trucks the work force in place and it takes a good 3 to 7 years to stop it, look around. I could name 3 primes off the top of my head but I think anyone who has any knowledge of the industry's history can understand this.
Hey I'd love a get together, I'll have a few things to say.
Re: Headhunters
Member #: 163
Registered: 1996-2001
Posted:
678
Name:
Doug Cohen
Name:
Doug Cohen
Company:
Self
Occupation:
Constr/splicing/sweep/you name it.
Location:
New England
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