Crouser & Associates Performance Group program helps printers prosper through
on-site assistance and twice yearly group meetings. For more information by Email or call (304) 342-5100. Crouser Report OnLine is the Copyright Thomas P. Crouser. Material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent. Current reports are on the WWW at http://www.printusa.com.

Mistakes

Crouser Report OnLine April 17, 1996

Transmitted from Jacksonville, Florida YIPES! We ve already SOLD OUT our Saturday morning session on pricing and other topics in San Francisco HOWEVER, please call Clark at (304) 342-5100 if you want to attend. He ll put you on the waiting list as we work to get a larger room, etc. We will try to accommodate everyone. The session is FREE on April 27th, but we you must PRE-REGISTER. Also, we already have folks signed up for our other sessions: DETROIT, May 11th; ATLANTA, May 18th; CHICAGO, June 1st; MIAMI, June 22nd; and COLORADO SPRINGS, August 24th. So, please email, fax (304) 342-5187 or call (304) 342-5100 if you want to attend any of the upcoming sessions. It ll be a great chance for us to meet and compare notes. See end of this message for details. We had an interesting conversation about mistakes of workers flying around our client line over the past week. Since it was one that has come up before, I thought I would bring you the jist of the conversation and see if you had any comments on mistakes made by long term workers.

Subj: Employee Question
To: TomCrouser


Tom- Here s a situation which just occurred and am not sure of the proper response. While printing part of a very large order, our head press operator (been here 19 years and makes $15/hr) totally missed the fact that 12M impressions had only a partial image!!! OK, so everyone makes mistakes, but duh, this borders on total disregard and gross negligence. Company incurred additional $250 paper cost, and the delay required to reprint added 15 hours of overtime for the bindery (which would not have been necessary had the error not occurred).

After finally acknowledging that he was totally at fault, he offered to reprint the job on his own time. Although I ve never required employees to pay for their mistakes, this one was very expensive to the company (extra paper and add l payroll) and we all had to beat our brains out to meet the deadline (which was critical). I really feel that he should work on his own time but something tells me that I can t suggest that or require someone to do that.??? He s a dependable, (usually) good, skilled employee and I want to handle this properly, but gee whiz, how dumb can you be!

Thanks, Dumbfounded

From: TomCrouser
To: Dumbfounded


In a message dated 96-04-17 21:59:27 EDT, you write:

Although I ve never required employees to pay for their mistakes, this one was very expensive to the company (extra paper and add l payroll) and we all had to beat our brains out to meet the deadline (which was critical). I really feel that he should work on his own time but something tells me that I can t suggest that or require someone to do that.???

Resist, resist, resist. Some would say supervision is a key here. You seem NOT to indicate this person has been okay dokey for all these years and just made this mistake. Reading between the lines, I hear you say this person has been lousing up because of a change in their attitude recently and this is the straw that broke the camel s back.

If I m reading this right, then your solution is supervision. Confront the individual and discuss what is going on. Clear the air. Don t let it go on without challenging the behavior.

Now, as far as the person doing it on their own time: I would highly recommend you not do that. For one, if they are working and not being paid, then are they covered by your Workers Compensation and other insurances, etc.? For another, we can not force someone to do this and, I suspect, even if they did volunteer, they could later say they volunteered under duress.

In short, supervise and hold people accountable for their behavior. But, don t require them to pay you back for an error which occurs. It makes you look very cheap and non-supportive of the other workers in your group.

Later. Tom

It was long after, we received these additional comments.

Subj: Re: Fwd: Employee Question
To: Dumbfounded


After you have had time to cool down, take a look at this objectively. It sounds like a legitimate mistake. He can t be too bad if he s been there for 19 years (well, he could be, but then you have other problems).

The last time he got a job out really quickly did you send him home early with pay? I think not. Mistakes are part of the risk you take as an owner. You might want to look at why the error REALLY happened. Was the work order properly written? Was a less-than-obvious exception clearly pointed out? Where was the production manager (or where were YOU, for that matter).

I suspect you will be better off taking the guy out for a cup of coffee and calmly explaining why it was such a bad mistake.

As a rather gorgeous blonde lady once said, remember that these people make you a lot of money!

Note - The gorgeous blonde lady refers to the grandmother who accompanies me on on-site work and everywhere else I go. Tom

Subj: Re: Fwd: Employee Question

To: Dumbfounded



Dumbfounded - My guess is that by now you ve cooled down and realized your pressman probably is as error-prone as you are. Obviously, he hasn t been doing that much in 19 years. My guess is your best move is to give him support in terms of his pride in his craftsmanship and abilities. I d say you owe him a few drinks and dinners and an Attaboy for all he s done right. Your responsibility is to get him back to feeling he s the best as fast as you can - or he won t be. To err is human, to forgive is one of those damn jobs a boss has to do, once in a while.

And, now for the rest of the story. Dumbfounded writes what has happened.

Subj: Employee Question

From: Dumbfounded

To: TomCrouser



Tom,
Thanks to you and others who responded to my request for input about a major printing mistake made by an employee. Well, the job got out on time, nobody died from overwork, and I calmly discussed the issue with the employee. I explained all the things that were affected by those kinds of errors and told him that he would be paid for redoing the job. We also discussed other issues that needed to be aired. So, all is well, people are happy, and I m not as big a jerk as I might have been. Thanks for the feed back.

PS: Yes, I have let people go home early, with pay, for a job well done and I have rewarded people with dinners and movies, BUT... ultimately all mistakes are MY responsibility regardless of circumstances!

Later, No Longer Dumbfounded

Well, that s the real life adventure. What is your experience with similar situations and how did you handle them? Message me and we will devote a future message to more Dumbfounded experiences.

Happy Trails, Tom Crouser 1996 Power Pricing Seminar Featuring Tom Crouser s Pricing Systems With Special Comments On the 1996 NAQP Price Survey sponsored by Crouser & Associates.

Especially For Shops With Less Than 14 People Coming to:
San Francisco, April 27th>
Atlanta, May 18th
Chicago, June 1st
Detroit, May 11th
Miami, June 22nd
Colorado Springs, August 24th


Spend Saturday morning (8:30 -12 noon) with Tom Crouser and learn:

The 5 Strategies Of Printing Price Competition! These are the only ones available to you! Learn what they are and begin using them to increase your profit!

The Real Secret To Making Money In Print Shops- how to make lots of money with either a high or low price.

How the Printing Price Calculation Keeps You Poor - Using production standards for estimating, as most computer estimating programs do, keeps you from earning a decent living.

Calculating Your Costs the Easy Way - Learn two rules of thumb which allow you to quickly estimate a cost rate for anything you do!

Why Pricing Is Screwed Up In Printing - Why the price paid depends more on your negotiating skills than on your job cost. See how you do.

Cost, Pricing and Estimating - See how the differences in each may be costing you lots of money.

Plus! How the Crouser Method gets better prices! Throughout the session, Tom will use tools he has especially developed for the printing industry. See the new Crouser s Quick Estimator in action!

Using Customer Service To Get A Higher Price - An example of non-price competition you can hear.

Learn Where Printing Prices Come From - Tom relates a brief history of pricing in the printing industry. You will find it fascinating.

Also Hear Tom s Own Analysis of the results of the 1996 NAQP Price Survey sponsored by Crouser & Associates.

TO REGISTER: Email TomCrouser@aol.com with your name, address and telephone. You will be contacted regarding the meeting site. Or fax your reservation request to (304) 342-5187. Or call (304) 342-5100. The session is FREE but a ONE WEEK ADVANCE registration is required. Act now. BACK ISSUES May Be Found at the National Association of Quick Printer s America On Line Site (keyword: NAQP, publications, Crouser Report) or on the internet at the PrintUSA web site (http://printusa.com/articles/crouser.htm) or on PrinterNet. Hey, do we get around or what?

Crouser & Associates - Helping Printers Prosper Since 1985

Crouser & Associates Performance Group program includes two on-site evaluations by Tom Crouser each year along with two group meetings. Management training is held during the group meetings along with participation in a meeting with non-competing printers. Join others who have decided to run their business instead of the business running them. Reply to by Email to Tom Crouser for more detailed information or call Clark Workman at (304) 342-5100. Or fax (304) 342-5187 or contact crouser@ibm.net.

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Saturday, April 20, 1996 11:24:13 AM Return to PrintUSA home page WWW at http://www.printusa.com.