Being Slow at Work - Advice for an Apprentice.

[RDB85]

I was speaking to one of our Apprentices today who has been with us just under 3 years and is coming to the end of his apprenticeship. He said whilst I was away on holiday they gave him a ‘test’ which involved doing a full installation of an intruder alarm. You have another engineer there just for safety and to ask any questions but other than that it’s your job.

He said that they were not happy that the job over-ran by a day due to lack of training on some areas of the install that he has never done or been allowed to do in previous installation were he goes and helps another engineer.

They said that he really needs to speed up, that the company can’t sustain a loss of profit on the job due to it going over.

Any help or advice on this?

 

[7029 dave]

This is just a fact of life, some people are just born plodders.
Everybody is different, in my experience if you are good at something and enjoy it you become naturally quicker at it.

 

[cireland]

Speed comes with experience for most. If he is slower on some parts due to lack of training, that's really down to the tradesman.
In future he could try asking to do the parts where he feels he is lacking.

 

[James]

we all know after some years of experience we will draw in 6 cables at a time and split them up to where we want them to run as we go.
some may be lights, some sockets, some switch drops etc. we will have a plan in our head and can work on multiple parts of it simultaneously.

when you are starting off, sticking to one circuit at a time is likely to result in far less fcuk ups even though it takes a little longer.

 

[UNG]

I was speaking to one of our Apprentices today who has been with us just under 3 years and is coming to the end of his apprenticeship. He said whilst I was away on holiday they gave him a ‘test’ which involved doing a full installation of an intruder alarm. You have another engineer there just for safety and to ask any questions but other than that it’s your job.

He said that they were not happy that the job over-ran by a day due to lack of training on some areas of the install that he has never done or been allowed to do in previous installation were he goes and helps another engineer.

They said that he really needs to speed up, that the company can’t sustain a loss of profit on the job due to it going over.

Any help or advice on this?

Can't help but think he was set up to fail if you have not had all the training and gained an amount of experience in some areas then you are disadvantaged when trying to complete a task in a target time.
I would not expect an inexperienced guy or gal thrown in at the deep end to work at the same pace of someone who has a number of years experience under their belt
Looking at it another way does the quality of the install fall with the pressure of speed required to meet the target

 

[Dustydazzler]

I would rather someone be neat, tidy and methodical than fast and messy

 

[7029 dave]

I would rather someone be neat, tidy and methodical than fast and messy

The criteria for council house bashing

 

[Dustydazzler]

The criteria for council house bashing

and 1 day re-wires

 

[RDB85]

Looking at it another way does the quality of the install fall with the pressure of speed required to meet the target

I think you are spot on with this. At the end of the day someone is paying for a job. Just because someone with more experience has said it should take two days doesn’t mean someone still learning the job should take the same amount of time. The saying of good work isn’t cheap and cheap work isn’t good. Also if they’ve priced the job and the apprentice done it. They haven’t lost any money.

 

[nicebutdim]

I think you are spot on with this. At the end of the day someone is paying for a job. Just because someone with more experience has said it should take two days doesn’t mean someone still learning the job should take the same amount of time. The saying of good work isn’t cheap and cheap work isn’t good. Also if they’ve priced the job and the apprentice done it. They haven’t lost any money.

The other side of this is that an apprentice coming out of his time may expect to see much better rates of pay, when pay would be commensurate with ability, experience and knowledge.

If this exercise is used to identify weak areas where the guy needs more training, then fair enough. If it's a stick to beat him with, then this speaks volumes about the employer.

 

[timhoward]

He said that they were not happy that the job over-ran by a day due to lack of training on some areas of the install that he has never done or been allowed to do in previous installation were he goes and helps another engineer.

I think the answer lies in there. If they want him to get better / faster at something then they need to let him actually do it.
There's a world of difference between watching someone do something and being expected to think for yourself and do the same thing.
But in practical terms If he isn't going to get this chance, and he values the employment, maybe he should get a 2nd hand panel off ebay and practise in his own time.

 

[RDB85]

So they’ve had another go at him for being slow. An Engineer has had a moan to Management about him. Even though he’s done the work to the standards, they have now said that he needs to work quicker.

They have also said that he will be working on his own soon and also will be on call out. But the writing on the wall to me is that he needs to work quicker regardless of the standard of work or they won’t be keeping him on.

 

[UNG]

So they’ve had another go at him for being slow. An Engineer has had a moan to Management about him. Even though he’s done the work to the standards, they have now said that he needs to work quicker.

They have also said that he will be working on his own soon and also will be on call out. But the writing on the wall to me is that he needs to work quicker regards of the standard of work or they won’t be keeping him on.

Looks like a case of constructive dismissal coming up

 

[7029 dave]

So they’ve had another go at him for being slow. An Engineer has had a moan to Management about him. Even though he’s done the work to the standards, they have now said that he needs to work quicker.

They have also said that he will be working on his own soon and also will be on call out. But the writing on the wall to me is that he needs to work quicker regardless of the standard of work or they won’t be keeping him on.

@RDB85 we aren't talking about you are we? (sorry just a hunch)

 

[RDB85]

@RDB85 we aren't talking about you are we? (sorry just a hunch)

No it’s our other Apprentice.