If Michigan Unemployment Is So High...

[WeirdWilly]

...why is it so tough to get QUALITY employees? :bang:

We are supposed to be a QUALITY taxi company, filling the niche between the rustbuckets and the black sedans. So we get stuck with people who show up for work in cutoffs, who call our customers and harass them, too many other problems to mention. WHEN they show up.

The longer I spend in management, the more I realize that maybe a big chunk of our economic difficulties are because far too many of my fellow Michiganders are lazy and unprofessional!

Thank you Teamsters! Thank you UAW! for turning our work force into incompetent nitwits who expect $30 an hour for for sitting on their backsides and complaining!

[DJofSD]

Wow - lot of material here for a lot of different discussions.

You left me with the impression you are either an owner or in a position of management for those "bums". Have you clearly communicated what are your expectations? Have you told the drivers they are representatives of the company and first impressions do count?

[NJ Stinks]

Thank you Teamsters! Thank you UAW! for turning our work force into incompetent nitwits who expect $30 an hour for for sitting on their backsides and complaining!

So I guess you have a union shop? If not, why stop with unions? Why not blame the weather too? :sleeping:

[boxcar]

So I guess you have a union shop? If not, why stop with unions? Why not blame the weather too? :sleeping:

Do you bother to read or are all your replies the product of uncontrollable knee-jerks? Tell us how would the weather in Michigan impact the overall, day-to-day quality of employees.

Boxcar

[ArlJim78]

yeah let's not blame the unions. afterall they've helped to build a robust manufacturing sector.








in China.

[WeirdWilly]

Wow - lot of material here for a lot of different discussions.

You left me with the impression you are either an owner or in a position of management for those "bums". Have you clearly communicated what are your expectations? Have you told the drivers they are representatives of the company and first impressions do count?

I am a dispatcher, so my responsibility is to be the monkey in the middle between the owners, the drivers, and the public.

Unfortunately, I don't have hiring or training duties, so I am "at the mercy" of the people with those jobs. My primary responsibility is to take what I am given, and make runs happen.

We do have some excellent drivers, and the owners are dedicated to providing the classiest, cleanest, most professional bubble top car service possible.

But it is frustrating when you receive complaints about drivers' pure lack of professionalism and respect. We don't want to be the other guys, scraping the bottom in rust buckets with carney rejects.

As a former driver, I understand the stress and challenges of the job. Stuff happens. But I also understand that alienating our passengers is NOT a good long-term business model.

[GameTheory]

...and the owners are dedicated to providing the classiest, cleanest, most professional bubble top car service possible. Clearly not true, or you wouldn't be having these problems.

[Pell Mell]

Clearly not true, or you wouldn't be having these problems.

Why are you basically calling the man a liar? How do you know that the company isn't doing what he says it is.
In most companies dealing with the public the biggest problems are with the help. :p

[GameTheory]

Why are you basically calling the man a liar? How do you know that the company isn't doing what he says it is.
In most companies dealing with the public the biggest problems are with the help. :pI'm not calling him a liar -- I believe the company is doing what he says it is -- putting assholes on the road. So I'm saying he is mistaken about owners committed to "not doing that". He is having trouble with the help but is apparently getting no support. If the owners were really committed, those drivers would be fired (or never hired) and he wouldn't be complaining. It starts at the top -- if the dispatcher is forced to use asshole drivers and can't do anything about it then that isn't what I call ownership committed to providing great service. If they were committed to great service, there would be great service.

[exactaplayer]

I'm not calling him a liar -- I believe the company is doing what he says it is -- putting assholes on the road. So I'm saying he is mistaken about owners committed to "not doing that". He is having trouble with the help but is apparently getting no support. If the owners were really committed, those drivers would be fired (or never hired) and he wouldn't be complaining. It starts at the top -- if the dispatcher is forced to use asshole drivers and can't do anything about it then that isn't what I call ownership committed to providing great service. If they were committed to great service, there would be great service.
Well put sir,
No passing the buck here.

[Tom]

Yes, you just have to pay a little more to weed out all those union boys. ;)

[Steve 'StatMan']

i would think any of the good and skilled workers would be filling the remaining jobs at the auto plants, or being paid to sit on the sidelines by the union for a while to wait & see if they can get back to the factory and the factory job someday.

I'm also thinking that as many of the good prospects as possible are managing to be the ones still working at all the places that haven't closed.

Others with skill jobs such as engeineers are probably still looking for enginering work, etc.

[bigmack]

Who was that guy on that one show? - Oh yeah, Donnie Deutsch.

I, like him, have a joyful celebration and appreciation of well executed entrepreneurship and is one of my deep passions.

Nothing is better than starting/growing a business that involves the employment of others and seeing that growth enliven the lives of many.

Lately, with this 'green' business that has taken off, we get applicants that are applying for jobs exponentially below their level of experience. I can't imagine the work force in MI unable to rise to the task.

I have a couple of people running automated programs that are nursed by others. Automated plays on S&P futures. Makes regular loot.

I have nothing to say about it. It doesn't really excite me. I run into a pile of people that make money in ways that hold little to no interest to me and from what I've been able to gather, have little to no interest to them.

Somehow, someway a person has to have some level of interest in growing a business and potentially affecting positively the lives of others.

Otherwise, it's just loot.

[WeirdWilly]

I'm not calling him a liar -- I believe the company is doing what he says it is -- putting assholes on the road. So I'm saying he is mistaken about owners committed to "not doing that". He is having trouble with the help but is apparently getting no support. If the owners were really committed, those drivers would be fired (or never hired) and he wouldn't be complaining. It starts at the top -- if the dispatcher is forced to use asshole drivers and can't do anything about it then that isn't what I call ownership committed to providing great service. If they were committed to great service, there would be great service.

I've had some time to calm down, so let me clarify what I mean.

First, yes, we have some a**holes. I'm sure that every company with more than one vehicle has a**holes on the road.

Even though we are a suburban company, working the well-off suburbs, it is still a dangerous business. We still take people into Detroit (the venues and casinos mostly, but occassionally residentials), and everyone north of Eight Mile is not an angel, either. We deal with drunks, the mentally ill, deadlines, traffic, weather, cancellations and dead runs, police...if you are doing your job, it is a lot of stress.

It's a feast or famine job. Sometimes the drivers are running non-stop, sometimes the phone is silent for hours.

Our talent pool is limited by the insurance company. If you have more than a couple dings, we can't roll you, no matter how good your attitude and/or book.

Unlike the last company I worked for, the owner, general manager, and us dispatchers treat the drivers as adults, as professionals. He gives performance bonuses, and throws seasonal parties. And fortunately, most of them return the favor.

We try to bring on the best that's available, but ultimately you never know until they are in the car.

So despite the occasional driver (a) running his mouth with a customer (b) driving like a maniac, (c) dressing in blue jean cutoffs, (d) etc etc... we are doing the best we can. Our fleet and revenue is growing while the rustbucket dirtbags around us are shrinking.

I just am wishing out loud that all of our drivers would have the courtesy and professionalism that I always demanded of myself when I drove. Thats what gets us the premium hotels, accounts, and regular passengers in a tough enviroment.

Overall, my complaint is not with our drivers specifically, but the general attitude of laziness and poor service that I see around me. If Michigan is ever going to get better, it has to get better. With the bad reputation we have, at this point in time we need to work twice as hard to get half as much as we used to have.

[ddog]

don't fret willie, you are going to get a whole NEW batch of driver candidates over the next couple of years.

this thing isn't even in 2nd gear yet.

buckle up.

who knows , someday a former goldman trader may be driving for you!!!!! :D