Happy Friday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Plaguie, Fatwa, and Sven!
I got an email last evening from my former boss to the Special Education department, announcing that she won’t be returning for the 21-22 school year. I then got a text from one of the special ed teachers who recently resigned congratulating me on my promotion. Apparently everyone in the department thinks I’m taking over that role. If true, which I doubt, nobody has bothered to tell me. I’m going to give my former boss a call later this morning and see what the heck is going on.
I got a call a little while ago from the director of the school, offering me the position of Director of Special Education Compliance. My former boss has taken the position of Director of Special Education at a larger charter school, which is a good move for her. She recommended me as her replacement, which I thank her for. I know she didn’t have a good relationship with the school principal and has talked about leaving for a few years, so I’m glad a better opportunity has come up for her.
Now I need to figure out what resources (personnel) I need to do both jobs properly.
Management is not something I’ve never really thought about, other than in the progression of responsibility and leadership. I’m not someone who seeks control over others, but I’m always willing to step up and do what my organization needs me to do. If any of that makes sense.
In 1979 I went to Lee Meyers Co, a plumbing wholesaler, as an entry level order picker to get away from management. I liked it and worked my way into a good position where I was largely responsible for myself. They were a regional company selling to retail stores that had grown fast. Systems that worked for a small operation had major problems with 35 plus internal employees. In Sept of 1985 the owner and general manager asked my to be the new warehouse foreman. I told them that next to being outside sales it was the last job I wanted, but I knew the problems and knew I could help. The one condition I had was I hired and fired my own people, and I told the owner I expected to replace about half of the employees in the first six months. His eyes got big and he said he would have to think about that. I thought I had scared him off and really did not mind, I liked the position I had In November they called me in again and wanted me to take a higher position they created, over the foreman, [packaging manager, inventory, and receiving. I made the same condition and they agreed this time. I estimated that 20% to 25% of effort was being wasted in infighting between departments. It made it easy to show large improvements very quickly and I established a lot of credibility soon. The upper managers were great at administration and outside sales but had no idea about managing people. I was able to greatly increase safety, reduce mistakes, improve accuracy, and increase productivity. Where the top order fillers could make no more than $7.50/hr before, in a few years I had some making $12.50/hr and the company made more profit paying that than they had at $7.50.
People do not realize management is not a zero sum game, both sides can gain.
I think you would be an outstanding manager and you would serve your students, the teachers, and the school, very well if they will let you. I certainly would understand if you did not want to enter that storm but if you do I wish you the very best, Paddy. I think the students and teachers are blessed if they have your leadership and guidance.
I thought I had probably told it already, maybe many times. CRS is in full flower with me. I had been in management for enough years to know what I could do and how to do it. I gave them a plan of what I expected to accomplish in the first year. They thought I was naive and unrealistic. They did not want to discourage me so they just patted me on the head and made it clear I should not be reluctant to ask for help if it was harder than I expected. I always gave conservative predictions, and I passed every target within six months, and kept going. They knew I had experience, they had even called me in to get my opinion on a number of issues, sometimes on people who were technically over me, but they really had no clue about how to motivate people and help them do their best. Some of the things I pushed for were hard sells at first but as each thing worked it got easier.We had gotten a mainframe computer and had special software designed to our spec. We spent the bottom line for a whole year and part of another on that project, but we were not getting many of the expected benefits. People did the same work with less effort instead of increasing productivity. Inventories that were supposed to eleminate major time counting could not be trusted because people always made mistakes that made it too inaccurate to use. After getting the departments working together instead of fighting each other, those gains from the computer were my first big target. It was easy to look good with such easy gains. I also put a priority on safety. We cut Workman’s Comp claims so much the carrier called to ask what happened. I had a hard time getting them to spend thousands of dollars on new equipment when the old seemed fine, but we cut out Workmans Comp premium by $20,000.00 a year, about half. That got peoples attention. Helped me sell my ideas later.
That was the best job I had ever had, the first with a real future and retirement. I had solved all the major problems and had good department managers to deal with the soul crushing day to day BS that is so depressing. Most of my crew were Filipino or Mexican. They were the best crew I had worked with and by far the best this company ever had. The owner let me know more than once he wished I had some employees he would be comfortable chatting with about the football game or whatever, in other words white. I usually ended that by suggesting it would be cheaper for the company to hire one of his pool hall buddies to sit in his office all day chatting with him than to pollute the crew we had. He did not push as I got results and I had made it clear I was holding him to that condition, he could fire me but not my people. I had faced this bigotry with several owners before and had made it clear I hired the best or I walked. One day he saw some black people turning in applications and was afraid I might hire them. He knew he could not tell me not to hire them so he said he wanted to see any new employees before they were hired. He did not want to interview them or see their resumes, just see them. He would not discuss it any more. I had a good idea what he could tell by just seeing them so I went to the general manager and insisted on knowing what was going on. He admitted what it was. I asked him if he wanted my notice or for me to leave that day. He was not at all happy but did not blame me. Elena knew the owners girl friend at the time and he had told her that he thought I was too comfortable to quit over such a matter and was surprised I did. It was frustrating to me to have to quit after 12 years being very successful. I did not want to spend another decade working up just to have it happen again, so I decided to try and get a job in machining. I had only done it as a hobby so it was hard, I was working two full time jobs in shops and making less than I had at the company, but I loved machining and the drop in stress levels was amazing, even with the financial pressure.
It was probably for the best. The owner died a few years later and his daughter decided she wanted to run the company. The best people left and the company went into a death spiral. She sold the building a few years after we left for Texas.
I’ll be he was a Democrat. Over my life, despite the stereotypes pushed by the media, I’ve usually found that the worst racists are Democrats and other types of leftists.
P.S. I know I should be saying “bigot” rather than “racist,” as the latter is a marxist construct, but the thing is this:
The left, particularly leftist academics, invented the term “racist” to describe the even worse form of bigotry that they themselves hold.
If you find an ordinary bigoted person, he might acknowledge at least that although he doesn’t like black people, he thinks it’s possible for a black person to achieve things, make money, engage in entrepreneurship, etc. Where a marxist believes a black person cannot succeed without the help of white leftists.
Hence they are beyond bigoted, and hence “racist,” their own construct.
I’m supposed to go to walmart, but it’s late ish and I don’t feel like going now. I wish they were 24 hours again. I think I’d be ready to go at 1 or 2 in the morning.
WAKE UP!!
Let me know when you find out where Gentle Mac went off questing to. It should be quite a tale.
Blessings upon your day, my friends.
ZZZzzzzzzzz……(((poof)))
Happy Otterquest Friday, GN! (Good one, Mac.)
Hiya, Plaguie!!1!
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I have finally decided to embrace my Romanian pride:
Hello Miss Harper, and Fatwa -- happy Friday, GN.
A slow start to the day -- I got nuthin’.
Happy Friday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Plaguie, Fatwa, and Sven!
I got an email last evening from my former boss to the Special Education department, announcing that she won’t be returning for the 21-22 school year. I then got a text from one of the special ed teachers who recently resigned congratulating me on my promotion. Apparently everyone in the department thinks I’m taking over that role. If true, which I doubt, nobody has bothered to tell me. I’m going to give my former boss a call later this morning and see what the heck is going on.
Oh, my. One wonders what salary you should demand for agreeing to fill that position. And I do mean “demand”.
I got a call a little while ago from the director of the school, offering me the position of Director of Special Education Compliance. My former boss has taken the position of Director of Special Education at a larger charter school, which is a good move for her. She recommended me as her replacement, which I thank her for. I know she didn’t have a good relationship with the school principal and has talked about leaving for a few years, so I’m glad a better opportunity has come up for her.
Now I need to figure out what resources (personnel) I need to do both jobs properly.
What an interesting day.
Very nice -- a good opportunity. Is management something you’d want to do?
And “two” jobs -- does this mean you’d keep your teaching position?
Management is not something I’ve never really thought about, other than in the progression of responsibility and leadership. I’m not someone who seeks control over others, but I’m always willing to step up and do what my organization needs me to do. If any of that makes sense.
In 1979 I went to Lee Meyers Co, a plumbing wholesaler, as an entry level order picker to get away from management. I liked it and worked my way into a good position where I was largely responsible for myself. They were a regional company selling to retail stores that had grown fast. Systems that worked for a small operation had major problems with 35 plus internal employees. In Sept of 1985 the owner and general manager asked my to be the new warehouse foreman. I told them that next to being outside sales it was the last job I wanted, but I knew the problems and knew I could help. The one condition I had was I hired and fired my own people, and I told the owner I expected to replace about half of the employees in the first six months. His eyes got big and he said he would have to think about that. I thought I had scared him off and really did not mind, I liked the position I had In November they called me in again and wanted me to take a higher position they created, over the foreman, [packaging manager, inventory, and receiving. I made the same condition and they agreed this time. I estimated that 20% to 25% of effort was being wasted in infighting between departments. It made it easy to show large improvements very quickly and I established a lot of credibility soon. The upper managers were great at administration and outside sales but had no idea about managing people. I was able to greatly increase safety, reduce mistakes, improve accuracy, and increase productivity. Where the top order fillers could make no more than $7.50/hr before, in a few years I had some making $12.50/hr and the company made more profit paying that than they had at $7.50.
People do not realize management is not a zero sum game, both sides can gain.
I think you would be an outstanding manager and you would serve your students, the teachers, and the school, very well if they will let you. I certainly would understand if you did not want to enter that storm but if you do I wish you the very best, Paddy. I think the students and teachers are blessed if they have your leadership and guidance.
I’m not surprised that you were able to improve things all the way around.
I don’t think I’ve heard that particular story before, Mac. The few of us that remain here, we need to all get together in the real world.
I agree, Paddy, with Mac’s assessment.
I thought I had probably told it already, maybe many times. CRS is in full flower with me. I had been in management for enough years to know what I could do and how to do it. I gave them a plan of what I expected to accomplish in the first year. They thought I was naive and unrealistic. They did not want to discourage me so they just patted me on the head and made it clear I should not be reluctant to ask for help if it was harder than I expected. I always gave conservative predictions, and I passed every target within six months, and kept going. They knew I had experience, they had even called me in to get my opinion on a number of issues, sometimes on people who were technically over me, but they really had no clue about how to motivate people and help them do their best. Some of the things I pushed for were hard sells at first but as each thing worked it got easier.We had gotten a mainframe computer and had special software designed to our spec. We spent the bottom line for a whole year and part of another on that project, but we were not getting many of the expected benefits. People did the same work with less effort instead of increasing productivity. Inventories that were supposed to eleminate major time counting could not be trusted because people always made mistakes that made it too inaccurate to use. After getting the departments working together instead of fighting each other, those gains from the computer were my first big target. It was easy to look good with such easy gains. I also put a priority on safety. We cut Workman’s Comp claims so much the carrier called to ask what happened. I had a hard time getting them to spend thousands of dollars on new equipment when the old seemed fine, but we cut out Workmans Comp premium by $20,000.00 a year, about half. That got peoples attention. Helped me sell my ideas later.
Sadly, that one condition he agreed to was why I had to leave after over 12 years, with things running better than they ever had.
That sounds like an interesting story in and of itself, Mac!
That was the best job I had ever had, the first with a real future and retirement. I had solved all the major problems and had good department managers to deal with the soul crushing day to day BS that is so depressing. Most of my crew were Filipino or Mexican. They were the best crew I had worked with and by far the best this company ever had. The owner let me know more than once he wished I had some employees he would be comfortable chatting with about the football game or whatever, in other words white. I usually ended that by suggesting it would be cheaper for the company to hire one of his pool hall buddies to sit in his office all day chatting with him than to pollute the crew we had. He did not push as I got results and I had made it clear I was holding him to that condition, he could fire me but not my people. I had faced this bigotry with several owners before and had made it clear I hired the best or I walked. One day he saw some black people turning in applications and was afraid I might hire them. He knew he could not tell me not to hire them so he said he wanted to see any new employees before they were hired. He did not want to interview them or see their resumes, just see them. He would not discuss it any more. I had a good idea what he could tell by just seeing them so I went to the general manager and insisted on knowing what was going on. He admitted what it was. I asked him if he wanted my notice or for me to leave that day. He was not at all happy but did not blame me. Elena knew the owners girl friend at the time and he had told her that he thought I was too comfortable to quit over such a matter and was surprised I did. It was frustrating to me to have to quit after 12 years being very successful. I did not want to spend another decade working up just to have it happen again, so I decided to try and get a job in machining. I had only done it as a hobby so it was hard, I was working two full time jobs in shops and making less than I had at the company, but I loved machining and the drop in stress levels was amazing, even with the financial pressure.
It was probably for the best. The owner died a few years later and his daughter decided she wanted to run the company. The best people left and the company went into a death spiral. She sold the building a few years after we left for Texas.
The gang when I left.
I’ll be he was a Democrat. Over my life, despite the stereotypes pushed by the media, I’ve usually found that the worst racists are Democrats and other types of leftists.
P.S. I know I should be saying “bigot” rather than “racist,” as the latter is a marxist construct, but the thing is this:
The left, particularly leftist academics, invented the term “racist” to describe the even worse form of bigotry that they themselves hold.
If you find an ordinary bigoted person, he might acknowledge at least that although he doesn’t like black people, he thinks it’s possible for a black person to achieve things, make money, engage in entrepreneurship, etc. Where a marxist believes a black person cannot succeed without the help of white leftists.
Hence they are beyond bigoted, and hence “racist,” their own construct.
Back on TOR again.
Overslept as per usual after the Big Route.
Understandable.
I know it will be late, but I’ll try to write more after I wake up a bit more.
“Let me know when you find out where Gentle Mac went off questing to”
Actually, I went to Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Walmart again. We have FOOD!
I’m supposed to go to walmart, but it’s late ish and I don’t feel like going now. I wish they were 24 hours again. I think I’d be ready to go at 1 or 2 in the morning.
When I was single I did my shopping in the wee hours. Much preferred it.
Hardly any place around here is open 24 hours anymore. post covid.
Just things like circle K, speedway, am/pm, stuff like that.