When the Cat’s Away

Have you ever left a job site for a while, and upon your return, found that your crew did little or no work? You would be unusual if this has never occurred.

Quite often, when the cat is away the mice will play. When Sylvester is at the vet getting his shots, the little vermin will scamper about the house with impunity. They take an extra break, wander out to the van to get some caulk, or check out Oprah. They might do a little work, but they won’t act like they do the boss is there.

There are several possible ways around such a problem. One way is to never leave the job site. Another is to mount webcams on every job site. Or you could pay one of your painters to be an informant. Of course, all of these will likely create other problems—like animosity and poor morale.

A more effective and practical approach is piece work. Pay your people for what they produce, not for the hours they work. Pay them for what they do, not for just showing up.

In it’s simplest form, a painter would be paid $X for painting a door, $X for fixing a drywall crack, etc. If it takes him an hour to do the door, he makes $X per hour. If he can do 2 doors in an hour, then he makes twice X per hour.

Under piece work the mice may still play when the cat is away. But they will be doing it on their own dime, not yours.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008