Testing the boss’ mettle: People & Companies

In the wonderfully unpredictable world of machine shop management, one thing is certain: Sooner or later, a machinist is going to test the boss’s mettle. How you handle that scenario is one measure of your effectiveness as a manager.

When you’re trying to maintain a tight handle on your activities, especially in this economy, effectively managing payroll is imperative. This, in turn, has managers and owners paying particular attention to payroll numbers and whether they’re in proportion to sales. Even so, good machinists and other workers are hard to replace, and it’s difficult to imagine handling critical jobs without them.

Many shops can maintain multiple employees in each department to minimize the impact of a staff reduction. But other shops are operating lean and depend on one or two employees, especially machinists. Losing a machinist can negatively impact production and be a serious distraction from already challenging business conditions.

Regardless of the timing, having a payroll situation with an employee on whom you depend is a fact of life. Eventually, he or she is probably going to ask for a raise.

In one instance for me, this turned into a test of my own abilities. An employee decided to lay his cards on the table, telling me and my plant manager it was time to come to our senses and realize he was more than fulfilling his obligations and was irreplaceable. He gave us an ultimatum, and expected us to step up and answer his demands or he’d accept another job offer and be gone that very day.

As I had done earlier in the year, I reviewed his history with our company. I came to the same conclusion that I did earlier: His compensation was already at the high end for his position. The quality of his work was great, but he also had negative personal qualities that, unfortunately, overshadowed his machining skills.