Owner's kids....

[jeff kushner]

In private industry, we are often in a situation where one of the Owners kids, will come to work in the office or in the field. When I was a young field foreman, I solved it by working the guy like a rented mule till he cried to daddy at the dinner table. I do NOT work with owners kids as I don't need a pimp on my jobs.

In the office, things must be handled more delicately. Brandon was tasked a year and a half ago with making an Estimator out of a Brick that happened to be an "owners kid". This particular kid is 25 and unfortunately, is a bit toasted in his head. He wasn't born that way, he did it to himself. Frankly, while a Union plumber, he has a job only because he's an owners kid. He will not be able to compete in the real world.

Brandon has been struggling for a year trying to get productivity and consistency from the kid, w/o success while at the same time trying not to tell the kids dad, that the kid is a bust. Friday, it came to a head finally and he let his thoughts known to the other owner, not the parent of the kid.

As is always the case though, life changes


This morning Brandon got a call from the Dad-owner, saying the boy had "something" happen over the weekend and won't be coming back in.

So guess whose office Brandon comes waltzing into this morning looking for help?


So like a good mentor, I asked him;

"What are you going to do now that you've arranged for all your help to be fired?


"You are going to save me, by giving me some of your guys, right?"


LOL....

 

[Tom]

That's a bad situation. I see it with owner's wives in my business too. I had to tolerate working with complete and utter incompetence for several years early on before they divorced. The boss's next wife was an attorney and did not need to take part in our business. Much better situation for me.

We have some friends with a family business going through something like this right now. All the foremen on the floor refuse to take the kid, and with good reason, I am told. They stuck him up in the office and his own family members that grew up with him don't want him working there because he's lazy and unmotivated.

 

[SinLA]

I don't know, I have mixed feelings on this. When I was 10 my dad gave me "chores" at his office when he went into work on the weekends, in part to keep me busy and out of his hair (this was before the days that photocopiers collated things, so I collated stacks of documents by hand for one penny per page). During the summers when I was 12 I started operating the ~15 line switchboard, and when I learned to type at 14 I started working as a secretary every summer until I turned 18 filling in for each person's as they went on vacation (bonus, I learned to type 70 wpm!).

I know I got "special treatment" b/c I was the bosses kid, but it also taught me a great work ethic, and I continued working as an AA all through college and it taught me great business skills that have stayed with me (as well as a deep appreciation for the work that AA's do and how under appreciated they are). It sucks when the people receiving that gift are lazy and unmotivated, but it is still a great gift to be able to give your child, to get an insight into the working world they might not otherwise get. I think the problem are the kids, not that they have the opportunity.

 

[jeff kushner]

Wow, two opposite ends of it in the 1st 2 responses....and both from folks I have respect for!

Yes Sin, there are very good "owners kids", I recently found that a guy I've dealt with since he began with a GC 20some years ago, is a Nephew of an owner.....and I never knew it. To me, that's a sign of how good he is.....he never used the "family" card. LOL

BUT Toms situations make me shudder to think......on several different planes. LOL

95% of time though, an owners son is as easy to spot as a tourist if you are at the beech. I'm glad to know this does not describe you Sin......much respect but the flip side of this coin(I'm about to drop some wisdom stuff) is that in many cases, no one is driven harder than an owners son as well! He is driven like a slave, daughters not so much...Dad will yell at them quicker though!

Good times right?

 

[SinLA]

I'm lucky, my dad has never yelled at anyone in his life (also, no sons, so perhaps there is a connection, but my sister as a teenager was enough to drive anyone to drink). At the time I didn't think I had special treatment, but that was being very naïve. In hindsight, I'm sure the other staff never criticized me or gave me a hard time for anything, and I didn't have to "bring a lunch" or deal with a commute or anything like that (which at 12-16 was probably reasonable, tho after that I could have managed). BUT, we were always encouraged to work hard either at work or at school. Its very hard when I see "young'uns" these days not be like that. I know not all of them, but man there are a lot... Still, I think family helping family get good skills through their jobs are good things, but not at the expense of everyone else around them...

 

[Cathie G]

Our family tries to help our kids too and include them in helping out. I would want to know if I was in a position like that the truth on how my child was performing. Then I could help them improve in ways that are needed. Most folks probably feel uncomfortable though telling the boss your kid sucks.🤗at this or that.

 

[KarenSoCal]

My dad was an optometrist who had 2 part-time practices in 2 different little towns. He was the only optometrist in each of these towns.

My mom worked in the one office, and when I was 15, I was "hired" (drafted?) to work at the other. My office was open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings. In summer, I worked all 3 days. During the school year, I worked Saturdays only. I was paid a fair salary, and stayed until I graduated from high school and left for college.

At 15, as you can imagine, I periodically whined about having to be there, when the school friends were out getting into trouble and having a great time. But I actually kind of enjoyed the job...receptionist, bookkeeper, phone answerer, scheduler, glasses repairer, and herder of patients. For the most part, Dad left me alone to figure things out, but was there if I needed help.

One day, we had a complete A$$h**e come in unexpectedly with a broken lens. He had been to us several times before, so we already knew what he was like. His name, may he RIP, was really John Smith LOL. We were standing in the waiting room that was overflowing with people who had come in as walk-ins during our meal break. He handed me his glasses and, since he thought he was God's gift to women, found a way to completely embarrass and humiliate me in front of everyone. It was even more awful because he was the size of a grizzly bear and stood close so he towered over me, and spoke in a loud nasty voice. He was having fun. I was 15, so did what 15 year old girls do...I ran into the restroom, slammed the door, and hid. Meanwhile, my dad hears the ruckus, excuses himself from his patient, and comes to check on me, crying in the bathroom. After telling him what had happened, he went into the waiting room and told Mr. Smith what he could do with his broken lens and to get out and never come back! He dropped dead of a stroke a few years later...I did NOT grieve.

After I left the office, I realized that the experience of working there had truly been invaluable. Working with the public is usually an eye opener, at least it was for me. I was taken to a couple of conventions and attended classes on handling the public, one person at a time. I gained the ability to walk into a crowded room of people, find out who was 1st, 2nd, etc., and find out what they wanted, and take care of them quickly. I became very good at eyeglass repair. A few patients doubted my abilities and asked Dad to do the repair. After looking at the problem, Dad would tell them that I was better at that problem than he was (not true, but appreciated by me), and I would do the repair. I eventually worked in a major hospital for 19 years, and those same waiting room skills served me well.

At Dad's office, I had no co-workers (until I trained my replacement). But there is where I learned the skills that served me when I did have co-workers.

And I learned how to handle the John Smiths of the world, too! 😉

 

[jeff kushner]

I found out this morning;

The owner whose son is failing, was in Fla over the weekend attending to his dying father, he got the call from his wife Mon morning that the son's sobriety crashed and burned. His dad had to fly up from FLA, get the kid situated in rehab, then he's flying back to Fla.

While this isn't an unknown affliction in this industry though most usually have to accomplish something before the pressure builds to the point where we spaz out and drink or drug to feel better. He got on the FastTrack apparently. While I make light, I feel for the kid and know those demons on a 1st name basis....none of us are perfect. We all just try to make it work.....

 

[SinLA]

I would not wish an addict for a child on my worst enemy. From personal family experience, a child’s illness, (physical or mental) - there’s no greater hardship for a parent, and addiction brings with it all the same problems as a physical illness with an overlay of guilt and blame that is hard to remove. I hope the rehab they use is a good one, they are few and far between.

My sympathy to everyone involved…