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Post by aoconnor on Nov 17, 2015 18:18:13 GMT
I just have to vent a minute.
I posted an ad on Craigslist for Ranch hands, preferably a married couple, for ranch work. The man to maintain the grounds with one other man, the lady to clean house and help with the barn chores. I got an email from an 18 year old girl that wanted the barn work part, so I tried her yesterday morning with minimal tasks. She helped me catch and tie, then feed my outside eaters, and helped feed the barn horses. I had a meeting in town at 11:30 so I asked the gal to go ahead and clean stalls for me, then to follow me in to town (raining, so was going to buy her mud boots). She texted me about 20 minutes later that she was done and waiting in her truck. Ok I thought, maybe she is super fast at stalls, 8 stalls usually takes me about 35-40 minutes to get good and clean. She had them done much faster. I was running later than I should have been, so did ATM cash for the work yesterday and gave her enough to buy a raincoat and pair of mucks as well.
I got home at 4 pm, and ran on down to the barn to shift the 2 I kept in yesterday and then bring in the rest. 1st stall on left...dirty. No fork marks at all, hadn't been touched. 1st stall on right, piles of poop, no fork marks, hadn't been touched. horses in both 2nd stalls, so on to 3rd and 4th stalls on each side. 2 had been cleaned somewhat, one had been scraped and the excess bedding was put over the pies of poop in the stall. In the last stall, and I am not joking, the excess hay from overnight had been mounded ON TOP of the poop piles in that stall. One pile that was against another wall had been halfway scooped up, but literally the rest was under the dirty, peed on hay. Seriously. And, to help me even further, she had left the full wheelbarrow inside the barn aisle (I had already cleaned 2 stalls that morning in anticipation of shifting the 2 horses staying indoors yesterday), rather than wheeling it 5 feet out the door and dumping it.
When I texted her last night to tell her I was going to hire someone else, she asked me why. I told her kindly about the stalls not being done, and the hay being piled up in the one stall. She texted back and said "Oh, I thought you only wanted me to clean the stalls with the open gates". Which was the last stall we moved a horse out of, which she had merely covered the piles with dirt. Um, really? Why did she clean one stall (whose gate was closed), made a direct effort to pile hay up on the poop in another stall (which gate was also closed), and scrape dirt over the poop in the last stall where there actually was an open gate??
Wouldn't a person just consider that all stalls were dirty, horses had been inside the barn to begin with and would have to be put back in the barn at the end of the day, and maybe all stalls should be clean? I mean seriously, I did not tell her to only clean stalls with open gates, none of my gates stay open on their own and besides, horses can't go past my gates if open because they open into the aisle. How stupid would that have been! I was so aggravated.
So now I am back looking for barn help. And ranch hands. And a housekeeper. Sigh. Not all young people, but some young people are rotten! What a "hand out, lazy" generation.
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Post by grannyg on Nov 17, 2015 19:26:36 GMT
I would just hire new help and save myself some aggravation....why pay and then have to do it yourself anyway....hopefully, some hard worker will come along and get hired....there are hard workers out there....
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Post by WindyRidge on Nov 17, 2015 20:40:33 GMT
This is why we have no employees on the farm. It is dang near impossible to find good help even if you can afford it. No one wants to actually work anymore. It seems all the good employees are already taken by people who aren't letting them go!
I wonder all the time what people are thinking. Did the girl figure you wouldn't notice she hadn't actually cleaned any stalls? Are people really that stupid, ignorant, or lazy? It really does worry me for the future!
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 17, 2015 22:44:40 GMT
I failed to mention the time she spent texting whoever...while I was scooping feed and trying to get done! I did increase her work load about that time, but sheesh, never again. WindyRidge, I hear ya! I can afford help but can't find any! Wish it was otherwise. grannyg, I only used her for a couple of hours yesterday before I had to head out. In that time, she maybe did a half hours worth of actual work. Now, on her side, she was brand new here and it is hugely intimidating to try figuring out a routine that involves 28 horses, a herd of cattle, a large amount of chickens and Guineas, and the ranch dogs all in one morning. I give her that. But at least TRY to figure it out, ya know!! |
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Post by comfortablynumb on Nov 17, 2015 23:09:36 GMT
Did you find out of she had ever worked in a horse barn, and did you provide a day of training to show her what was expected?
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Post by motdaugrnds on Nov 17, 2015 23:19:03 GMT
You all might want to contact a "part-time employment agency". The workers there just might be more interested in making a good impression.
What you have experienced at your place, Aoconnor, is not that unusual. I've had it occur here too. I got to where I would stay right with whoever is helping and, should I become aware they were not working as expected, I fired them on the spot. I actually only had to fire two people that abruptly and it is not a comfortable thing to do; but for me it is better than wishing I had....
I must add too that the last few people I've hired to help me, i.e. to paint the top of my trailer and to repair the roof of my chicken house, have been hard/ethical workers; so good workers are out there. They're just hard to find. (Oh I should add, these people were found by asking around; so they came with references.)
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Post by mollymckee on Nov 18, 2015 0:28:15 GMT
If you are near a college town and can be somewhat flexible with when things are done, I'd see if I could find an LDS couple where the man had done a mission and was back in school. We have found they are very reliable and after getting burned several times we stuck to that plan, we are not Mormon so that wasn't a fact in our hiring. After we hired the first guy, we let him find us help when we needed it or caller the local bishop.
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 18, 2015 1:29:23 GMT
comfortablynumb, The young lady said she had 9 years of working with horses on her own family ranch. She specifically said she could clean stalls...so I showed her how I wanted them done and left her to it. Just the fact that she tried to cover up the piles rather than just clean the stalls showed me all I need to know:-) motdaugrnds, I can't afford an employment service for the ranch workers, we use them in our construction company and it is quite expensive for even laborers. I'll keep looking:-) mollymckee, We are in the area of two community colleges, both have great rodeo teams. But we are also in the midst of some of the biggest cutting and reining horse ranches in the country And those big ranches are much more appealing for a student to work for:-) Heck, I would love a job on one of those big ranches! I have been looking for an older couple, that was my first ad months ago and I'm still looking. To all, thanks for responding! I just needed to vent!
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Post by Ken on Nov 18, 2015 5:37:19 GMT
Sounds like work I would like! I would love doing some manual labor but there is no pay in it, unfortunately. I can sit on my rear plinking away at a computer for $70k/yr, but I haven't heard of any manual labor jobs that pay that, or close enough to it to switch jobs.
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Post by comfortablynumb on Nov 18, 2015 16:08:13 GMT
I hate to say it, but had you hired a couple of Mexicans to do the job, you wouldn't have anything to worry about.
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 18, 2015 17:07:17 GMT
comfortablynumb, I had an older couple that worked for me for about a year. He was awesome, but spoke NO English. She spoke English but was a horrible translator and would tell the poor man the wrong things to do, making it very frustrating for me. One time, I had a little brooder coop that I had in my small storage room next to my carport. I wanted it moved into my big chicken coop so I could move my chicks I Was brooding in my office in the house to the outside coop. I told the lady to tell her man to move the coop while I was in town. I said I would move the little chicks into it later that day. Well, I came home and excitedly went to see the brooder coop put together inside my big coop. It wasn't there! I asked where it was, and the woman said "OH! You wanted it in the coop? We put it in your bedroom". I'm not kidding, they had moved that brooder coop into our home, but not just into the home, but into my BEDROOM. Why??? Oh Why??? Needless to say, they had that thing out of my house and placed in the correct location very quickly. I would have kept them forever but the woman was not an honest one, she was also lazy and came and went at her discretion, regardless of scheduled work days. All of her adult children were involved in either using or selling drugs, and I just couldn't risk having any association with any of that stuff, so I sadly had to let that couple go. I would love to find an older couple again that could live on the ranch and work it. Sigh.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Nov 18, 2015 18:03:03 GMT
aoconnor, I had to LOL at the idea of the coop in your bedroom. Seriously? How can you hear an employer say something like that and not verify that what you thought was actually what was wanted?! Did you get your raincoat and muck boots back?
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 19, 2015 13:31:15 GMT
aoconnor, I had to LOL at the idea of the coop in your bedroom. Seriously? How can you hear an employer say something like that and not verify that what you thought was actually what was wanted?! Did you get your raincoat and muck boots back? Well, I am actually a really soft hearted person, and decided to give this young woman one more chance at the ranch. She is coming up today, I will work with her for a couple of hours but have an appointment at 9:30 that I have to hit. I'll see how she does with written instructions and my showing her again what I want done, and how to do it. Hopefully she will be the person I need, but I am not holding my breath. I am cautiously optimistic that if I lay out all terms and conditions in writing, she may be able to follow them better than verbal requests. Some people do better that way, so we shall see:-) |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2015 21:38:29 GMT
I didn't have a lot of trouble finding good help when I lived in MT except for the fact that most of them worked on the family ranches as well, so during the really busy times, it was hard to get them when I only needed part time help. There were occasional times on the reservation ranch that it was a bit frustrating working on "Indian time" but you do learn to work around that.
I have been much less successful trying to find competent help in the 15 years I've been in KY. Not many farm kids and most of the kids would much rather work at the fast food places or MiniMart type places for minimum wage, with no hard physical work and apparently all the time they want to be on their cell phones and text their friends.
We have found one person that will do parttime "anything" ... expensive but he can and will literally do anything, from construction to pounding in steel posts. He was a licensed contractor in California and he's someone you can simply say "I need a 4 x 8 deck with stairs and railing and you never have to supervise.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Nov 19, 2015 23:09:40 GMT
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 20, 2015 0:21:16 GMT
manygoatsnmore, Thanks for asking, it went well:-) I stayed and helped her for a while this morning, she seemed to appreciate the second chance at the job and did much better.
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 20, 2015 0:43:50 GMT
Well, I am actually a really soft hearted person, and decided to give this young woman one more chance at the ranch. She is coming up today, I will work with her for a couple of hours but have an appointment at 9:30 that I have to hit. I'll see how she does with written instructions and my showing her again what I want done, and how to do it. Hopefully she will be the person I need, but I am not holding my breath. I am cautiously optimistic that if I lay out all terms and conditions in writing, she may be able to follow them better than verbal requests. Some people do better that way, so we shall see:-) IF I was a betting man.......... I hope I am wrong, I have been before, but when she sent you a text to say she was waiting in her truck that sends up a red flag. They way I grew up, if I was on someone's payroll or clock and I got done early, I found something to do, such as sweeping a saddle room or something. I was taught to keep busy until the day was over. Possum, my feelings exactly. I am cautiously optimistic that after she lost her job the first day here, she will be more willing to do better to keep it now that she is back. But I have no reservations about firing her again if the need should arise! |
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 21, 2015 13:38:48 GMT
So far so good. I think this kid is just really young, had no upbringing really. She is just 18 and living far from home with a boyfriend who uses her from the little bit I can tell. I am glad I rattled her cage a little and got her thinking, she did well the last two days.
It will shake out when it gets cold out. Not sure if she is a long term or not, but I hope I can help her some in the meantime. She is good with the horses, I can teach her some things she needs to know about training and feeding and large herd management, then at least she will have half a chance should she move on.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 2:09:02 GMT
aoconnor, that was lovely of you to give her another chance. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful influence on her - 18 is still young and I'm picking she still needs some guidance and, of course, praise when she does a good job. I don't think she could be in a better place, really. :-)
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 23, 2015 13:17:53 GMT
@kiwifarmgal, Thanks! I do like teaching a lot, hopefully it won't overwhelm this kid. She got a little pouty when I had her get off a young gelding she was riding in the pen, she had her hands rough in his mouth and he was upset. Rather than have her get hurt I had her step out. Hopefully she wasn't offended, but we'll see? Otherwise, I like her, hope she will hang around and let me help her.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 13:47:11 GMT
Hey aoconnor, isn't 'pout' a fashion accessory of choice for 18 year olds?  ? :-) |
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Post by ardiefromwi on Nov 23, 2015 17:16:47 GMT
Hey aoconnor , isn't 'pout' a fashion accessory of choice for 18 year olds? ? :-)  |
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Post by copperkid3 on Nov 24, 2015 0:09:33 GMT
I think it starts around the age of 9 or 10 and seems to get worse with age.
Never really goes away either....
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 26, 2015 3:05:51 GMT
Well, my young friend apparently does not like housework. I told her yesterday (she was completely fine, said nothing about not feeling well) that I needed her help getting my home clean for our Thansgiving day, which is part of the job she is supposed to be doing as was stated in my ad for help. She told me last week that she didn't mind housework, but apparently today she was just too ill to show up (though she was fine yesterday working with horses and then roping after work with the boyfriend). She made it 4 days. I'll see if she comes back Friday, if she does I will make it abundantly clear that she agreed to do the job as described, not just the parts she liked. Sigh.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Nov 28, 2015 0:04:26 GMT
aoconnor, did she show up today? This is like watching a soap opera, hehe - I need my fix. 
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 28, 2015 1:02:21 GMT
manygoatsnmore , Not before texting me to see if she still should come up to work because of all the rain. I said, uh, YES. She made it to 11:30 before she left for the day, not surprisingly it was shortly after I had to leave to babysit my grandkids.
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 29, 2015 0:26:56 GMT
I have to decide what I am going to do. I think just letting this gal go and hiring someone else is definitely in the works. I can't spend all weekend annoyed each time I find something else she didn't do on Friday. Ugh. To make life better I am just going to find someone else. I can't take this! Maybe in my older age I don't tolerate people as well as I used to?! I think that has something to do with it, but I swear I was not that lazy at 18. I worked hard! I need to find someone who is older and respects that this is my ranch, it is important to me, and I expect it to be taken care of in a proper manner, but it doesn't need to be perfect. Just cared for.
I am venting again. Sorry!! I need to be praying about this.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Nov 29, 2015 1:09:06 GMT
I think it's pretty natural to vent a bit when you have a worker that obviously isn't making the grade. You've given her several chances more than most would have done. I know there are GOOD workers out there.  |
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Post by horseyrider on Nov 29, 2015 11:41:17 GMT
I have to decide what I am going to do. I think just letting this gal go and hiring someone else is definitely in the works. I can't spend all weekend annoyed each time I find something else she didn't do on Friday. Ugh. To make life better I am just going to find someone else. I can't take this! Maybe in my older age I don't tolerate people as well as I used to?! I think that has something to do with it, but I swear I was not that lazy at 18. I worked hard! I need to find someone who is older and respects that this is my ranch, it is important to me, and I expect it to be taken care of in a proper manner, but it doesn't need to be perfect. Just cared for. I am venting again. Sorry!! I need to be praying about this. Vent your brains out, but do both of you a favor and let her go. And PLEASE, do her the service of telling her exactly why. Age is not the reason she's jerking you around. She's jerking you around because 1), she has no work ethic, and 2), you're allowing it. Allowing this to continue does both of you a disservice. The kindest thing you can do it explain to her that anything less than 100% commitment is unacceptable, and detail what exactly is unacceptable in her performance. Accept no arguments, reasons, or blameshifting. You're part of the real world; teach her what she needs to know before sending her on her way. I have two teenage grandsons that are 14 and 16, and would leave this older girl in their dust. From the time they were wee little boys, they were taught the responsibilities toward their 'employer.' I gave them make-work jobs at first, stuff like picking up sticks and chopping out rotten stumps, and they learned that when they accepted the verbal contract to work, they were binding themselves to a commitment to finish as agreed, in a reasonable length of time. They learned that if they don't want to do the work, there would be no money and no job, because someone else would happily take their place. These are real world lessons that kids need to learn! They progressed to cleaning stalls (leaving them immaculate, water filled and hay in place), to cutting firewood and stacking fence posts. With praise and appreciation, they were soon working like grown men. Then, when the time came to detassel for the local seed corn company a few years ago, they were the only kids who were there every day without fail, earning an attendance bonus in the process. They were promoted to crew chiefs with extra pay their second year, and the folks at Pioneer didn't wait for the boys to call them, they called the boys. They love tearing into work, doing it well, and getting the admiration from their boss as well as their pay. It builds their self-esteem, and increases their pride in a job well done. Letting her go and telling her exactly why is a good thing for you both. If you keep her now, you teach her that the service she's delivering is acceptable. Right now, what she's delivering is as good as you'll ever get from her, and she takes the place of some kid who would be thrilled to deliver good service to you. |
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 29, 2015 13:30:09 GMT
manygoatsnmore, Yes, there has to be someone out there who actually cares about having a job for a fair wage and a boss that will be decent and kind to them. Unfortunately, no one like that has applied for the job! But I can't go on being annoyed every day either, so the young woman has to go.
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? :-) 
