He sounds distracted to me. There is such a thing as adult ADHD. I have a couple friends with it. Can't stay on point. They have trouble completing tasks fluidly without seeing a squirrel go by.
Some people hate check lists, but for this kind of person, it's exactly what they need. They might even find that it's just what they want to help them focus on one part of the job at a time rather than having a big jumble of tasks to complete.
If it's not ADD that's contributing to his issues, then I have to question your assessment that he has a good work ethic.
You also mentioned the searched-not-found for monuments that exist. Some of us have been doing this long enough that we forget that finding monuments, while there are a few naturals among us, a learned art form for most. even for the natural monument hunters, there are things that one learns only by experience and only by having someone with that experience show us. If you don't have a seasoned chief to send him out with, you need to make some time to spend in the field with him. That means having him right with you as you explain how you know to look in a particular location or why you suspect that a particular location may hold a monument.
I'm sure you're busy and finding that time won't be easy, but it's easier to find the time to teach (if the student wants to learn) than it is to have to make the time to constantly check up on and clean up after someone.
@dave-lindell my grandma might throw a cast iron skillet with hot grease lol. I loved her but never defied her. Lol
@stacy-carroll I will say this. Having a PLS go to the field once in a while is worth more and sticks in one’s brain more than 6 months of telling them the same thing. I aggree. I remember still many times a pls met us. Laughing joking and teaching as we or he showed us what to look for. I believe it is a great way to teach and it doesn’t have to be all the time just once in a while. Makes a huge difference. For me anyway.
@hpalmer Some people have a unique gift they can just look at something and the error or issue just jumps out at them. New an imagery guy that could look at several images overtime and in minutes identify all the changes small changes that even algorithms are just now catching up to be able to do. Unfortunately he had to retire as his eyes went bad. Just unbelievable at change detection. Same with surveyors. I had rotaded some text and didn’t have it along a line but eyeballed. Boss marked it. He said check this. I was like degnabit. Another mistake on my part.
My dad was like that... I could work on a plat for 3 days straight, and he could find all misspelled words, and other anomalies in 3 minutes.
Dad's gone now. But of all things I miss, I miss his criticism. Not many say that. But, good criticism is very valuable... We usually don't know that when it's happening!
Now, I'm finding myself becoming more like dad than ever.
Nate
For a fighter: it's more about how you can take a punch; not how good you can throw one...
@dougie We haven't had the opportunity to sit him down just yet. He had a 4 day weekend scheduled and won't be back until Monday AM. Task #1 will be sitting him down and laying everything out.
Maybe his "hint-catcher" is broke......
Give him a written evaluation. Put his good and bad qualities & habits on paper for him to read & acknowledge, making sure to keep the criticism constructive and professional. Give a reasonable deadline to correct his bad habits, and consequences for failure to obtain significant improvement, ir. demotion and reduction in pay or termination.
You could also hire a seasoned Party Chief and put the LSI under him on a crew. If that happened to me, I would probably quit on the spot. If he quit, you would already have his replacement in-house and your stress level leaves with the LSI. If you have made recommendations for this gent to complete his path to licensure, you can revise your recommendation and hopefully prevent a sub-par candidate from obtaining his professional credentials.
My $0.04 opinions. Good luck with your decision.
Bring up specific examples to demonstrate where the gap in communication versus the results that were offered as done weren't done and why they weren't and what your expectations were.
my $0.02
@dougie you should have told him to stomp his way out the door for good.
I’d give him 2 weeks notice that I was firing him. Plenty of time to find another job in surveying or decide it isn’t right for him. I only did that once and I think he appreciated it. Lol
He is a nice guy, good work ethic, and has been an LSI for almost 3 years.
Having been an LSI for almost 3 years and worked for 3 different licensees AND still not finding what sound like reasonably easily found monuments raises some concerns. The red marked drawing being partially corrected when it is very easy to highlight as items are addressed is also concerning.
It sounds like you have already tried on more than one occasion to work with him to get him on board with performing the job correctly.
While he may be a nice guy, he is not paying attention to his job - and doesn't care in the least. If this were a rare thing for him, you probably wouldn't be mentioning it. There are simply some people who do not care enough to try to improve their job performance. If he is stressing you, imagine how any other employees who have to work with him (if that ever occurs) feel. Those type of people can impact the attitudes and performance of a whole office.
I am with @fairbanksls with the two weeks notice.
Put him under contract, then if he takes 12 hours to do a 4 hour project. He will understand when his paycheck is affected. Best decision I made with the "Best draftsman in North Georgia". When he left, no more stress on me. More work, but no stress.
Huge corporations don't worry about such things as they have no personal contact with individuals.
Small shops are all about mutual trust.
If you dont trust your guy, he is not useful. Period. Explain it to him that way and explain what it takes to get and keep the trust. If he doesnt want it, that is a choice...
And it is not mean or horrible to fire someone bad at their job. Why keep them in a place where they will not succeed?
That said, if you can put the guy in position where he succeeds, bonus to you.
