Yearly goals for a machinist 7

[floattuber]

It's time to set goals for our yearly reviews and our machinist is having a hard time coming up with some. The problem is that he's going to retire in a year or two so training isn't really going to help him much. In fact, our manager even told him not to put down training for just that reason.

Anybody have some suggestions?

 

[possumk]

I would suggest safety, quality, or productivity goals. OR since he's retiring, how about a goal to mentor a trainee?

 

[MikeHalloran]

1. Get through the year without getting killed or maimed.

2. Train his own replacement.

3. Write down or otherwise record the stuff that only he knows, in excruciating detail, so that his replacement's replacement has a decent chance of picking it up.

4. Recommend which machines need to be rebuilt or replaced. A machinist who grows old with a machine learns to compensate for the way the machine ages. A machinist, even an old one, new to an old machine may never be able to achieve the performance that the old guy could deliver.

5. Document, with photos and drawings and instruction sheets, the special tools he's made over the years, and how to use them, and what to use them on. You know, the odd lumps of metal that he keeps in his best toolbox for no apparent reason?




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[ctopher]

I agree with Mike. Nothing more valuable than documenting what you know before retirement.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 03-26-07)

 

[Beggar]

Nothing more valuable for the company, that is.


For the employee, the best bet is keep it all to himself and then charge $125/hr to come back as a contractor to help his replacement get things figured out for himself.

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[rhodie]

That's a great answer, Mike.

 

[btrueblood]

Mike, another star for that post. Esp. training his replacement.

Beggar, a star for you too. Worked for a company who gave early retirement to our aged EDM operator (to help reduce our overhead), then hired him back (via his new start-up EDM machine shop) to produce the parts we couldn't make right anymore, at an absolutely outrageous hourly rate.

 

[floattuber]

Thank you all for the responses. I talked to my manager a little and he said training a replacement is too early right now.

So far we have
1. Safety
2. Keep our charge number system updated
3. Inventory supplies

Machine replacement and document special tools are good ones.

 

[Beggar]

training a replacement is too early right now

I'll bet you'll come to rue his words.

Your PHB should keep in mind that said machinist's interest in adequately training a replacement will drop off exponentially as the day of his departure gets nearer and nearer (or is he figures out the exorbitant rate he might earn later as a contractor).

If this machinist has been around for a long time, it will take months and months to adequately expose somebody to the bulk of his "tribal" knowledge.

If he's really liable to walk in a year, get his successor appointed and begin the apprenticeship now.

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[tygerdawg]

And he could get hit by a turnip truck and not show up tomorrow. Better strike while the iron is hot.

Also, why not consider some of that outofthebox thinking? If the guy's gonna retire, why not offer him something he'll need AFTER retirement that will benefit HIM like finance and stock market basics training, entrepeneurship, basketweaving, whatever. It may thrill the guy enough to keep him interested, and buy some goodwill too.

TygerDawg

 

[dgowans]

tygerdawg,

What an excellent idea. I don't know of anyone at my company that's in a similar situation as the machinist the floattuber works with, but it's sure to come up here sooner or later. When it does I certainly hope I remember this thread.

 

[KENAT]

A course on all the Medicare plans.

I'd agree that training and/or recording some of the things he knows but no one else does should be priorities.

Training/handover can probably never start too soon, even if its fairly limited to begin with.

While it rarely seems to happen I guess there should be a succession plan for pretty much everyone, especially those with specific/unique skills & knowledge, not just those likely to retire soon. If he wasn’t' retiring soon he could still look at leaving for another job or that darn turnip truck might be speeding one day and...