The employment question

[RogerM]

There's only so long one can put up with meetings for meetings sake, and management who haven't a clue. .......................
............. However, there's only so long one can continue "making the Emperor's new clothes" before the rot sets in.

:lol: Oh that's just so true

 

[Escudo]

I wonder if the answer here is some sort of half way house?

Slowly moving to a new career, perhaps by working part-time or taking a few paid commissions, building up a client base until finances allow the switch full-time.

Alternatively, my plan is to make as much money as possible now and retire early.

I enjoy hobby woodworking, but would not want to have to make a living at it, for starters I am so slow, not to mention my limited skills.

However, I could see a time when I might take on the odd commission perhaps to keep me in beer, baccy and tools.

Esc.

 

[Dave S]

I think there is a danger of a younger mentor feeling threatened by an older junior who, due to their life and previous employment experience, may have (and express) ideas and opinions about the business itself. If the older career changer is ambitious this could be a problem.

This is one of the areas I'm interested in. In a country with an ageing population and where people sometimes have to change careers twice or three times in a lifetime I feel this is going to become more of an issue. Things aren't helped by the insistence in recent years of cutting funding to FE night schools in favour of funding the under 25s and the onwards push towards degrees rather than trade qualifications (not sure if the guy unblocking my toilet at 3am need to have a plumbing degree, y'know). How did you and your mentors actuallt cope with this situation? Was there a need for a mentor to the mentors, for example?
Scrit

As others have pointed out, there is a difference between a mentor and a training manager. Usually, in my experience, a mentor is there because the trainee is expected to progress beyond the job for which they are being trained.
For example, if you are looking for a bench joiner, then possibly a training manager (maybe you) would be required and perhaps one or more experienced joiners would be actually doing the training. If, however, you were looking to train someone as a joiner, but were hoping that person might go on to be, say, the workshop manager and to maybe take over the running of your business so that you can retire to your villa in Spain :lol: then a mentor (quite probably you) would probably be required to nurture and guide the ambitions of the trainee. The joinery skills would still probably be taught by the same experienced joiner, and you would need considerable man management skills to ensure no-one gets upset.

In my own case, I was taken on as third person by a 2 person partnership. It was my first step as a software programmer and I was paid approx half what I had previously been paid in science (which in itself was not great). I was taken on as a trainee, with a view to growing into a senior and then a managerial position as the company grew. The technical director who was both my trainer and mentor soon became rather threatened, I think, and the whole thing turned sour as he sought to crush any ambitions that I had. In retrospect I would probably have been better off if I had shown less interest in the running of the company itself, but then I was supposed to be being groomed for a senior position.

At my present company, my line manager is just 3 years younger than I, and he is essentially my mentor. The two senior developers are considerably younger than me (approx 30 - I am 44). They don't seem to feel threatened, nor should they, since I am no threat to them. I have no problem taking instruction or advice from them and learning from them. Equally, they don't seem to have any problems either.

I think the key is getting the right person. If what you want is a bench joiner, then you need to be sure that that is what the person you take on also wants. If, like me, they see it as the bottom rung of a ladder which they want to climb, then it could cause you problems.

I've waffled on here - hope I've made some kind of sense. Bear in mind that I know little of the joinery trade and even less about your own company, but hopefully I'm not too wide of the mark.

Dave

 

[Scrit]

Dave

Thanks for that insight. The scenario I'm looking into is indeed the employee/employer one rather than self-employed. I do find some of the rates that inexperienced people from other fields require to be exceptionally high - £10/hour for an inexperienced/untrained "chippie" sounds high (and even ten years DIY will probably teach you no more than 6 months to a year on the tools with a good instructor, I know). So the question of reward and motivation are key ones.

Scrit

 

[mr]

the question of reward and motivation are key ones.

Scrit

Absolutely and that's possibly where the plan will fall down. I would have thought it would be very difficult to attract the right people for the sort of money that would be justified. Way back in the thread when I posted the sort of financial reward I would be looking for I was well aware that it was in excess of what I would pay myself as an employer. Therein lies the dichotomy. Requirements, rewards and motivations will all pull against each other bar exceptional cases.
Cheers Mike

 

[Scrit]

It's one of the things which makes it very difficult. There is no way any business can afford to pay a trainee near to the rate of a medium experienced person. To do so invites rancour in the workplace as well as potential economic disaster for the business

Scrit