How to deal with incompetent co-workers?

[Guest]

well...

There are two ways I'll handle them:

1. If they are a danger to me or the client, I force transfer of one of us. Preferably the moron.

2. I occupy them with menial tasks to keep them out of my hair. I had a guard one day ask me if it was ok for him to sit in his car watching movies for the shift. I let him, I continued my rounds like he wasn't there.

[Blade Runner]

It frustrates the dog because he cannot get his "human" partner to heel properly.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

Dammit Bill, I just spewed Dr. Pepper everywhere!! lmao

[ddog]

Face it guys, most places would rather have underpaid guards two steps from death so they 'DON'T' notice the company shenanigans going on behind the scenes. When you point out Safety, Maintenance, or Profitable Asset improvement suggestions in your notes, it indicates someone is not doing their job or at least not as well as they could be doing it.

And these people are usually your main company chain of command interfaces. So 'just' observing and noting gets very complex; and makes its easier to understand why people over 70 can keep a job for 10 or more years up to their death. Older really is wiser in this complex organizational behavior industry. Because the 'rules' change with every person telling them to you, and NO ONE up to the top will document or stand behind what they say.

And with many other 3rd party vendors working with a company, these issues are even more complex with constant misinformation, objectives, and interfaces. So far in my brief tenure, high aspirations of achievement does not seem to be appreciated by 'anyone' in the organization. In fact, they seem to be more comfortable if you do something perceived wrong, which is human nature to be more comfortable looking down on someone.

Just another tricky day, but its an extremely complicated behavioral interface job, AND to do it competently at the same time. The customer interface are the easy part unlike most other industries. Employees working on the same shift and management want to distance themselves as far from you as possible with the minimum exchange of information preferred.

So the perceived 'incompetent' workers may have realized something that most cannot appreciate without further experience.

[Fedtia]

Well said DDOG!!

[FireEMSPolice]

I work with a guy who loves to sit on his rear end. You tell him to do something and his reply is something like, "ok sir, right after I do (insert activity here)". Total waste.

Its hard to get terminated from my company or to have someone terminated. You could have a stack of write-ups but you need to have 3 identical ones to be canned, last time it was explained to me.

[jeff194307]

I do believe that there are certian areas of our proffession that can tolerate these people. Case in point, a few years back I worked at a factory and one of our midnight guards was somewhat mentaly handicapped. This guy was the guy to rely on for those mudane tasks such as fire watch patrols because he was very meticulas in his work. No, I would not want him working at a mall or college campus, but these guys have a nitch in the industry.

[ValleyOne]

It is difficult to admit that some persons with a diminished mental capacity actually do well in certain security settings, not all, or even most. As mentioned above those job sites that involve detailed mundane tasks, with minimal distractions, or risk to confrontations are typically best for these people.

Mills, factories, other large posts of similar Fire Watch activities, suit these folks just well. They also help the company turn a profit, with little to low turnover rates.

They truely look forward to a day, or night, of every hour on the hour walking the Detex Tour. They serve a capacity that most younger, higher speed individuals would only get bored, and undoubtedly veer from the bounds of company SOP, or what not. You all know what I mean, get stuck filling in on a post that is low speed, and BORING as all heck... Idle hands and all.

I feel it would be irresponsible of a company, or manager, to allow these types of employees to serve in high speed posts, or duties (patrol). Where they excel in Fire Watch, they do not and are out of their element in other areas. To place them in other scenarios, would be a recipe for disaster.

But that's just me...

[Maelstrom]

Well it takes all sorts to make the world go round... please believe me when I tell you hyperactive (paranoid) nut-jobs aren't only specific to this industry

IHMO it's best to send these individuals off on 'specific tasks' and keep them outta' your hair (whilst you get the job done) as suggest previously

This site sounds a little like a 'jobs-for-the-boys' scenario, as hiring his mates to work the graveyard shift is turning the Supervisor into a welfare worker when his primary concern should be Operational Standards, Efficiency & Work Place Safety

[Andy Taylor]

Well said ValleyOne.