This will be where it gets interesting.
In March of '10, I hired a guy from another company to be my service manager. He had the same title at his previous employer. Over the next year, he brought over 5 more guys from that company.
It was a disaster. First, the service manager curried the other guys loyalty to HIM, not the company. Second, all the guys he brought over did their work the same way they did it at the last place, and essentially refused direction to upgrade to our current standards. Whenever we had a meeting to discuss issues, he'd go out in the shop the next morning, light up a smoke, pull up a bucket to sit on, and begin railing on to the guys that "John was on the warpath again"....and it became a matter of "his guys" all trying to undermine "my guys".
Then it got even more interesting. He had been cajoling me to hire an office gal that worked there as well. The one I had was leaving due to a pending divorce. So, I hired her. Best hire I ever made. But, in a bizarre fashion, he turned on her within weeks.
Why? because she worked in the office, and immediately showed loyalty to me and the company and how we wanted things done. She hired in mid-May....He walked out in mid-July (2011)......and the last tech he brought over left several weeks ago, so we're totally purged of that cancer.
3 of the 5 guys are back at that same old company, one is at a new start-up, and one is out of the trade.
To be successful in management in ANY company, you must understand that your loyalty must be to the company first. As management, it is your charge to implement the desires and objectives of the ownership/stockholders.
Going for "Miller Time" with the guys at 4:30, is no longer an option.
atriot:
