Uncontrolled expansion, poor management, burnout, and more 6

[fluxdensity]

Where to begin?

I'm a production-level engineer who has been with a mid-size MEP consulting engineering firm based in United States for a little over two years. My office is one of about a dozen total. The first year, without exaggeration, was just about perfect. In addition to the great compensation package, coworkers, and atmosphere, everyone had just enough work to stay busy and yet only demand a 40-45 hour workweek. I mention the latter because it was a significant departure from my previous employer, which could only be best described as a sweatshop.

Without going into the backstory, here's my situation now:
1. Our present backlog, depending on who you ask, ranges anywhere from three to five years. There is absolutely no shortage of work for us in the foreseeable future.
2. The mechanical and electrical engineering departments are stretched ridiculously thin. Some project managers are projecting that, even if production staff were to work 80 hours a week, we would be unable to keep up with demand. Late nights and weekends are becoming common and morale is low.
3. Every week consists of a different set of fires to put out. We're operating in perpetual crisis mode. The focus is on getting drawings out the door by some deadline at all costs. Since we're all so busy, quality control has basically gone out the window. Nearly every project suffers from RFIs and changeorders to the point where it's becoming embarrassing.
4. The person managing our branch office appears to be solely focused on winning projects, revenue generation, and territorial expansion with little regard as to how the work will actually get completed. On more than one occasion and despite being understaffed, he has allowed project managers from other offices to transfer to our office for the sole purpose of bringing in more projects.
5. The person managing my department, while an experienced engineer, is incapable effectively managing our department and addressing the staffing situation. We hold weekly meetings to discuss our workloads - which are obviously a problem - and the only advice he can offer is to "get through it."
6. Our long-time, existing clients (Mostly architects) are beginning to turn away work from owners. Meanwhile, our branch office manager has made it clear that we are to never turn down a project from a client. Every RFP is to be responded to.

Then there's me. I have several projects assigned to me. Each one needs full-time, 40 hour-a-week attention, and each one has a deadline that coincides with one of the other project's deadlines. I have no idea how I'm going to meet any of them. I've been working 60+ hours a week for several months. Work and the stress that accompanies it have essentially become my life and it's pretty much all I think about. Every morning, I arrive to work upset and every evening, I leave feeling the exact same way. I feel as though my job is starting to take a serious toll on my health.

Is this a hopeless situation that's unique to my employer and would warrant me to leave? Is this just the way the MEP consulting engineering industry is nowadays? Is the problem with me or my employer? All of the above? If anyone can offer me any advice, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[moltenmetal]

I really hate to revive a topic that appears to have been beaten to death on Eng-Tips, but as a salaried professional, am I really in a position to ask for some form of additional compensation for working a significant amount of overtime?

The answer to your question is yes.

In my opinion, not asking for additional compensation when overtime is compelled from you is unethical, because it devalues the services of other professional engineers who provide those services. Again, we're not talking about occasional, short term extra work that comes as a natural part of being a salaried employee much less a professional- we're talking about extra hours which are compelled on an ongoing basis.

There is nothing wrong with making a sweat equity investment in a company in return for a share of the profit. There is also nothing wrong with working O/T in return for time in lieu that you can reasonably expect to take, or for a bonus or shares or other compensation- it doesn't need to be time and a half or even hourly- but it must be SOMETHING, otherwise your extra effort is being assigned a value of ZERO. If you think you're doing this extra work as a means to curry favour with your existing boss, ask yourself what happens when they leave or are fired?

Some use the notion of "professionalism" as a whip to compel otherwise intelligent people with a good work ethic to enslave themselves and to accept working conditions that no tradesman would accept. The trouble is, the very best employees tend to have a low tolerance for failure. If they are given too much work, they will make heroic efforts to get it done merely to avoid feeling like they've failed. That's a trap- a means by which you can be exploited for profit by others.

What your company needs to do is to a) hire and train sufficient numbers of people to do the work they have in hand, or b) accept less work by picking and choosing projects to suit the staffing levels they can manage. They may need, for a short time, some flexibility from you as a professional to help them bridge the gap if they choose option a), but I've heard no evidence from you that such a plan is in place. If you give them access to option c), compelling uncompensated overtime from existing staff and allowing the senior management or shareholders to pocket all the additional profit, then c) is what you'll get.

 

[EmmanuelTop]

All these things are becoming "normal" nowadays - soon it will be impossible to find a company where one doesn't need to work late nights, weekends, involving lot of stress, poor quality etc. There are two key reasons for why this happens:

1) The "infinite growth" B/S concept. No company/owner or executive board are happy with the profit they make. If they make 1 million (1 billion) after taxes in this year, for the next year they want 2 millions (billions). If they make 2 millions (billions) next year, the next next year they want 3 millions-billions. Whilst I agree that there should be an incentive always, this greed-concept has turned money into only possible/perceptible incentive. What about reduced work hours? Or more vacation days? Why does someone always need to make more and more money, money, money? We are led by cheap, ignorant people. In a vast majority of cases.

2) The market is getting flooded with cheaper and cheaper companies, who claim that "they can do it" for less time and less money, and yet still so good. The companies who used to be benchmarks in their field of operation are now struggling to get clients, and trying to get as many jobs as possible - all because of these cheap crooks. So what was once a quiet and charming territory became a lions den. It doesn't look promising in future.

Dejan IVANOVIC
Process Engineer, MSChE

 

[moltenmetal]

All these things are becoming "normal" nowadays - soon it will be impossible to find a company where one doesn't need to work late nights, weekends, involving lot of stress, poor quality etc.

No, that's a matter of choices. I've worked my whole career without having worked a single Saturday or Sunday except when travelling on business.

I once worked 30 hours per week of uncompensated overtime for month after month. I haven't worked an hour of uncompensated overtime in 22 years.

Choices matter.

 

[EmmanuelTop]

Fully agree with you, Molten. It has been my choice during all those years - I never worked more unless I wanted it and/or enjoyed it.

I just find it so common nowadays, people from all continents and all branches, complaining (for reason) about the same thing. And it seems like those who decide to stay in such companies and obey this frustrating culture, are making the whole system work as it works, and continuing to exist. Or is it too arrogant to think in this way? I don't know the answer. But I realized on many cases what "herd psychology" means, and how it helps a certain culture to survive.

The answer could be...?

Dejan IVANOVIC
Process Engineer, MSChE

 

[coloeng]

Fluxdensity's company may be one of those "cheap" companies that EmmanuelTop refers to. They may be cutting their margin so thin that the only way they can make any profit is by getting as many jobs as possible and then getting "free" labor if you will, to complete them. I have seen this so many times with utility contractors that underbid public sector work and eventually spiral out of business.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Had a job some time within the last 10 years like that... expected you to work 50+ hours/week just because you were above a certain level. They loved the quality of my work, they loved the ideas coming out of my cube (those are almost verbatim quotes from management, BTW)... yet the wanted me to work MORE. Quantity was praised more highly than quality. I chose not to compete with that level of ignorance and moved along from that position. I wonder what type of quantity they managed to squeeze out of the next person to fill my position...

Since then, every position I've held has been 40 hours/week. If you work more, you get paid hourly (or bank equivalent comp time). Long weeks still happen from time to time, but at least I'm compensated appropriately for them.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[GregLocock]

If I were fluxdensity's manager and I wanted to do some actual work I'd:

a/ grab one of the existing senior engineers
b/ hire 4 new wet behind the ears
c/ set up a section comprising a and b to do the drudge work on the backlog so that
d/ all the remaining existing engineers can clear the 3-5 year backlog by working on well defined tasks with complete information


Needless to say Mr A would need to be rather more competent than average at people-stuff.




Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[moltenmetal]

Greg: exactly what we do, except for one thing- we take 'em even wetter behind the ears as co-op students, then we pick the best ones and hire them full time. On a per salary dollar expended basis, our best co-op students are some of the most productive employees in the company. When you have a crew of engineers who mostly came up through the co-op route themselves (which tends to happen if you practice this for a while), they soon realize just how much of what they now consider to be drudge work is actually interesting and stimulating learning experience-generating work for a co-op. Adding the co-ops to the mix actually improves the work experience for both groups as a result.

 

[GregLocock]

One of my 'drudge work' jobs was counting semi trailers on our site in birmingham. We quite literally had missing loads of components on 20 ton trailers because there was no proper way of documenting where a trailer was parked/abandoned when it came on site. Now, i didn't go to university and learn Fourier analysis just so I could wander around muddy parking sites in the pouring rain counting trailers. But I did a) find a few years of my wages in missing bits that we were short of and (b) at least initiated the idea that we could make the system less chaotic, and pointed out to my then boss, the finance manager, that this was costing us money, always a tactic that worked. Long story short, I agree drudge work is what you make of it. Of course these days the semis are brought in to a specified loading bay at an assigned time, unloaded directly to their final destination in plant, and then buzz off again, no on site storage required.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[BrianPetersen]

fluxdensity, first of all, you need to fix up your resume, because that may be the only way out of this.

And with that done ... you need to put an end to the stress, for your own sake.

Arrive at 8:30 AM. Work until noon. Take a lunch break. Go home at 5:00 PM. (Or some close variation thereof.) But not on weekends. On weekends, you shall be a no-show.

If the 5:00 PM departure happens in the midst of a meeting, leave anyhow. Make a point of being noticed.

Very shortly, expect to be called into a manager's office. Lay down the law. Point out that you need to cut the amount of stress in your life, and that means no more overwork, no more unpaid overtime.

There is a significant possibility that you will be fired. If so, that's why you fixed up your resume. And if so, it will be for the better. Of course, in view of the work backlog, it would be stupid of them to do this. But if they do ... that's why it's for the better for you. It's better not to be working for stupid people.

But there is also a significant possibility that other people in your office who are in the same position that you are, will also take up the cause ... and it might be worth filling in a few of these people who you figure might be sympathetic to your cause, so that a co-ordinated action can be taken ... then it's harder for management to fire anyone, especially if they can't pin down the instigator.

If you still have a job, you now need to lay down the law with whoever schedules your work. Learn to say no. Learn to say "Not going to happen". Or, "Which existing currently-scheduled job do I delay so as to be able to take on this rush job?" And make sure you document this so that you don't get blamed later. Email is good. Get emailed confirmations. And if asked for how long something is going to take, don't forget to double it before you give an answer.

 

[KENAT]

There is another possible response Brian, they may not lay you off now because they need all the help they can get.

However, they will remember and should work fall short in the future you may be first on the chopping block for not being their definition of a team player or what have you.

Or you may just find yourself on the promotion slow track, or below average raises, or stuck with miserable tasks...

Not saying don't stand up the boss, but just because there isn't an immediate negative consequence doesn't mean it won't happen.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[moltenmetal]

There's a way to avoid working uncompensated time without being an @ss about it. Chances are, the person telling you that the uncompensated work needs to be done is getting the shaft by the people making the real money, just like you are- or perhaps only a little less than you are.

Brown-nosing by working for free is unreliable at best. They may remember your extra efforts during slow times, or the people who are supposed to remember may get fired or laid off and therefore the whole business will simply forget. Your efforts will have been absorbed for no benefit to you whatsoever. And since you gave it, for free, what was it worth to you anyway, or to them? They got it for free out of you...

I recommend that you sell your extra time, rather than donating it. If you really have the extra time and effort for donation, donate to a truly worth charity- not to a for-profit business. Again we're not talking about a short term thing that is truly short term, with an end in sight- in that case you can and should help out. But when it becomes compelled rather than asked for, it's no longer fair game in my opinion.