OT- A-hole supervisor

In the plant where I work, when a machine goes down, production logs the job into the computer system. The maintenance supervisor sets up maintenance workers for the job and they go work on the machine. There is one supervisor that will let the job set for an hour or more and then set someone up for the job and page them 5 minutes before break time. Employees have seen him set in the office doing nothing, then noticing it's almost break time and scrambling to send people to jobs. This supervisor gets a kick out of trying to make employees miss their breaks and will hammer some people with jobs while he lets others set around.

There is evidence, the time a job is logged into the system is recorded and the time the employee is set up for the job is also recorded. For example, the job might be logged in at 3:30 but no one set up for the job until 4:55 (5 minutes before break time).

I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas on what to do about this A-hole supervisor? If what he is doing is not against fair labor laws or anything like that, how about some creative retaliation ideas! I was thinking since he gets his thrills by picking on people, perhaps he should be the victim of a few practicle jokes. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Reply to
RogerN
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As a last resort, do the right thing. Document the problem, and not just a bitch sheet, but show the impact to company profits would be improved by a better scheduling system, give him a copy with the explanation that if things don't improve the document goes upstairs. Happy employees = better profits, the big guys know that.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

A friend's brother had a supervisor like this. When he went on holiday, they got into his office a couple of days before he returned with a few tools. They unscrewed the network and telephone sockets and packed the metal mounting boxes with fresh prawns. It took him a week or two to figure out what was causing the smell, by which time his office was unbearable.

I tried a variation of this prank on a flatmate who cooked with garlic every night. Well he loved garlic and the rest of us hated it, and his cooking made the flat stink. He wouldn't shut the kitchen door because then the smell was too intense even for him. So we bought some cloves of fresh garlic, dismantled his frosted glass light fittings and taped the garlic cloves around the light bulbs. They slowly cooked and released the odour, and the funniest thing was that he was embarrassed because he thought the smell was coming from his body. After a week the smell was so strong that it made our eyes water going into his room, so we removed the cloves before he figured it out. We didn't tell him the truth until after we'd left the flat.

Chris

Reply to
Christopher Tidy

Anonymous notes in the suggestion box? Anonymous letters to management? Allowing time to pass, and incidents to pile up, and when asked about what happened, outline the lag time in his management style.

Don't worry. Usually morons like this get promoted, and are gone soon. One way or the other.

Then, there's always practical jokes..................

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Yup! The VP of the company I work for was a pain. He would come on a construction site, yell, jump up and down, and scream at everybody there, then leave. He finally quit. He has not been replaced, as the owner of the company was trying to figure out what he was doing there anyway as he seemed to get very little work done! We all got raises in pay, the leftovers of his pay check that was not being used anymore. If you asked me a year ago if I was going to stay with the company I would have said probably not. After this all blew over it has been a pleasure to work at this place! I had to take on a little more responsibility, but at least the micro managing is gone. No more screaming, and a $2 raise to boot! Greg

Reply to
Greg O

"Christopher Tidy" wrote

My friend was shafted by a mechanic shop. They wouldn't rectify the situation on a motor rebuild that was a rebuild job from hell.

He bought 20# of raw bait shrimp, which is old and low grade and already smelly. He blenderized them all, and put the slurry in a barrel with water for a couple of days. He backed up to the shop one Saturday night, and ran the hose inside. It went all over the floor, and a good bit flowed into the work pit. The weather was hot, so they didn't pop the doors until Monday morning. The business was closed for two weeks for cleanup. It still smells in there a year and a half later, as the locals will attest. He left an anonymous phone message that said, "Your work stinks, too."

Paybacks are a bitch, and they are so easy.

Rotting shrimp is about the worst smelling thing there is.

STeve

Reply to
SteveB

A slurry of milk and lettuce will smell worse than rotting flesh.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

You are absolutely right! The result of him messing with people is that they slow down on jobs. Another result is that they bid off his shift as soon as they get enough seniority for something better. There are 2 weekend shifts and 3 Monday - Friday shifts, and 3 areas of the plant for each shift. This supervisor has a M-F 3pm - 11pm shift and has the lowest seniority of the M-F shifts. It takes less seniority to get on this A-hole's shift than it does to get weekend shift at the other areas of the plant.

The employees work harder and better for the supervisors that treat them right, too bad some of our supervisors don't figure this out. On the other side, I realize there are employees that won't work unless they are made to.

Reply to
RogerN

That's good advice, and you might also make the point to the production supervisor of the reason he's not getting his stuff worked on..

But.. in my experience, you might as well go get a different job. I've worked in places with fools like this and it seems to come down to the fact that the guy above him (and two levels above you) feels that he'll be doing what you tell him to if he does anything about the problem,

*and*, if he solves the problem in the way you wish then he's afraid someone above him might notice- and that would mean that your boss's boss hasn't been doing his job (which he hasn't), and it goes on up the line. In the end, it's easier to get rid of you 'cause you're the problem that's easiest solved.

John

I've been the easiest problem to solve more than once..

Reply to
JohnM

"RogerN" wrote in message news:FGoje.4948$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net... | | In the plant where I work, when a machine goes down, production logs the job | into the computer system. The maintenance supervisor sets up maintenance | workers for the job and they go work on the machine. There is one | supervisor that will let the job set for an hour or more and then set | someone up for the job and page them 5 minutes before break time. Employees | have seen him set in the office doing nothing, then noticing it's almost | break time and scrambling to send people to jobs. This supervisor gets a | kick out of trying to make employees miss their breaks and will hammer some | people with jobs while he lets others set around. | | There is evidence, the time a job is logged into the system is recorded and | the time the employee is set up for the job is also recorded. For example, | the job might be logged in at 3:30 but no one set up for the job until

4:55 | (5 minutes before break time). | | I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas on what to do about this A-hole | supervisor? If what he is doing is not against fair labor laws or anything | like that, how about some creative retaliation ideas! I was thinking since | he gets his thrills by picking on people, perhaps he should be the victim of | a few practical jokes. Any ideas? | | Thanks!

I've had similar bosses (we could jaw awhile talking about this guy!) who would do similar, and worse, things, and eventually we nailed him for theft. Story coming... Anyway, start asking around about how set in stone the break times are. If they aren't, perhaps it would be worth discretely making arrangements to rearrange your break times to be in a spot and time visible to upper management, and then no one must gripe, by any means, when the task is assigned as expected. If that doesn't work, take your break afterwards, but take it in a spot where everyone can see you taking a break. Helps to look as if you're really f'ing off, too. One guy I knew would park his truck where everyone that drove in the plant would see it, so they were always after him because he'd be napping on his tailgate during his irregularly scheduled breaks. Of course, he made damn sure his break times were precisely taken! Story about my boss: This guy, Mike, was the electrical maintenance foreman at a beef processing plant, and had been there a long time and had everyone in a pinch because he'd hoard the manuals and such in his desk, locked away, and got his power from that. Major control freak, and a Convenient Christian to define the very meaning of it. When I was under his thumb and not sitting easy there, the entire plant knew it. I was the electrician that everyone knew would hop right to solve their problem, and made good friends with most of the production workers. I had learned the machines well enough I didn't need the manuals so much, which drove him nuts. For years folks had suspected him of stealing from the company, but no one could prove it. It was common for us to cut up scrap aluminum conduit and box it up for him, so we knew he was making some money on the side with it. One time he bought a bunch of stuff with an order for a task that was clearly not for that task. One Saturday I noticed some of that stuff, plus some other items, including a large rheostat, in a box and I recall him making a comment about how it would work well for dimming the lights around his pool. I got a couple other folks, including the security guard who could barely spell her own name, and from various vantage points around the plant we watched him load the box in his car and drive home for the weekend. Using a copy of the purchase order, I wrote the report up for the guard, and come Monday _everyone_ knew I was part of it because nobody else in the plant knew how to spell "rheostat," much less what it was. Mike sat in his chair all day fuming, but being very quiet, when I came in Monday afternoon. I had given my two week notice earlier (before the theft) so come Tuesday afternoon they told me I should go ahead and leave. Didn't bother me a bit. Later I found out that the report went up and when it came down it had been whitewashed to state "angle iron" but he still lost his purchase order numbers, although the HR gal I spoke to had a copy of the original. A few months later he was gone. The morale of the story: Never f*ck with smart people! Guys like your supervisor think that everyone else around them thinks the same way they do. They think they're addressing some grievance by doing what they do, even if it isn't your fault. If he thinks he's getting screwed one way or the other, try to find out what it is. Let the word out when you know. Let him trip himself up and be there, ready, when it happens. Make sure you, and everyone else, give him plenty of rope, so that he can hang himself with little or no help. You have to be patient, but ready to jump when the time is right.

Reply to
carl mciver

Document in exquisite detail 3 or 4 incidences and send them to HR with a letter stating that you're concerned that he's contributing to a hostile workplace environment.

"Hostile workplace" is an HR hot button.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Or, you can just adjust the philosophy:

" How many people and how long does it take to change a light bulb?"

"Who gives a rat's patooey. You got a problem with that?"

Always remember on such a job. You are hourly, and will stay there. Efficiency doesn't count for squat.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Whistleblowers will always get the shaft where it hurts the most. If you raise any issues by going over this AH you will be the fall guy. Management is a religious thing where they all wear the frock and cover each other all the time.

Get somebody outside of the organization to start a campaign of customer complaints with specific details regarding the area of responsibility of this jerk. Like if you are making go-carts, and your AH is in the steering link department... it would be a no brainier to flood the company's internet site with complaints about lousy steering links.

So, who is your employer and how can I start the campaign?

Wayne

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fed up with incompetent management to the level of being a true rebel. And hate the unions as much as management!

Reply to
Wayne Lundberg

I wasn't going to say this but I think it's true. Whenever there is any substantial disagreement with supervisors like that over a non-technical issue then in the end the supervisor will win the battle. God forbid the employee should actually *prevail* over the supervisor because then the he (the supervisor) will never ever forget that guy as 'the one who won the battle against me' and the working relationship is just doomed.

In the few times I've found myself in that situation I've had a frank discussion with the immediate boss and said 'is there any way we can work this though' and if it keeps on happening or there is still friction I thank them for allowing me to work there, say I've had a great time, but now I have to depart to do something else, someplace else.

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

I disagree. You should say that the "big guys should know that". I've worked for organizations where the big guys don't. At those places they don't want anyone to step on anyone's toes or else you're the one to get their disciplinary actions. Sad but true.

Lane

Reply to
Lane

Do you mean that literally, or did I miss something?

I'm hourly, and efficiency means a lot where I work.

In the production plants we supply dies for, the trades are hourly. When a line goes down, efficiency is of the highest priority...

Regards,

Robin

Reply to
Robin S.

Remember that everyplace is different. Some places he's right. Others, you're right.

Lane

Reply to
Lane

I am just stating my opinion from my life experiences. They are generalities.

It has been an observation that hourly workers are rarely promoted to management without a college degree. They will hire someone with an English major and not a day of experience, yet pass over the most experienced qualified man on the line. English majors write better reports, and socialize better at company functions. Thus my statement that hourly people stay there until they hit their pay ceiling, and then, they are replaced by a cheaper worker.

It has been my observation from more than one job and experience that one worker who can turn out ten widgets a day is treated about the same as a man who can do three. The workers will treat them differently, but management doesn't notice. So, the man who does ten either modifies his output not to stand out among his fellows, or he gets frustrated and quits. All an efficient worker gets to do is finish his coworker's unfinished work.

Now, those are generalities, and might not apply at all where YOU work. If that is the case, you work for a good employer who notices productivity and efficiency.

I have seen more than one where overproductive efficient people either get sabotaged by fellow workers, or who get tired of doing two people's work for one man's pay.

I am old and cynical. I am 56. I have worked union and non union jobs. I have seen too many people sent down the river with no oars to believe the Pollyannish view of management. I did good work, and worked hard. I was supervisor more of the time than a superivsed worker. I have owned my own businesses. I have worn all the hats.

This whole discussion came about because of an inefficient worker. Were you more right in your outlook, we wouldn't even be talking about this, would we?

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

"RogerN" wrote in news:FGoje.4948$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

A detailed 'response time' report to very upper management would more than suffice. Since this is a pattern, it should be easily evident what is transpiring. Since the technicians time is only logged when they are on a job, one can readily see the idle time of the techs, while jobs are waiting. I'm sure by the time it gets down to him, it will be a VERY LARGE ball of Sh*t indeed.

Reply to
Anthony

A friend of mine used to work with a guy who was treated very badly by his boss. Name calling, with lots of 4 letter words, being told he was an idiot, being blamed for mistakes his boss made and so on. My friend asked him how he could stand it and why didn't he quit? He replied that he was making good money there and would not be able to find another job that paid as well. And, he added, he had another thing that made his job bearable. He said that his boss left the office once and forgot his cell phone. So this guy dropped his pants and briefs and rubbed the cell phone up and down the crack of his ass a few times. He told my friend that now whenever his boss was using his cell phone he was "kissing my ass!". ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

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