Here’s the scenario:
Techs are paid by the hour and time reporting is done on an honour system. Upon a typical random QC inspection you notice an inconsistencey in the quality of a tech’s work based on the time they claim to be spending at a contract. Instinct tells you they’re not spending the time they claim they’re spending at contracts and their time sheets read like a bus schedule with the same finish times which conveniently happens to be the time hubby picks them up from the office.

What would you do?

Rolande

All techs are required to call in or sign in/out at the time of arrival or departure from the location. Simple solution.

Wow Fred are you saying your techs are required to call in from each and every location every day? Is this standard practice for the industry? If so I’ve got a lot of work to do!

Rolande

In my experience I had weeks where I spent quite a few more hours than was alloted for at an acct. and on the other I had weeks where the plants didn’t need even a third the time alloted.
I would put down approx. the same time each week knowing it would even out and to keep a consistent paycheck, and my accts. looked great if I do say so myself.

For example: the power goes off or is turned off for the weekend in the summer, those plants need alot more work next visit.

Example 2:It’s cloudy and cool for a week or more those same plants need next to nothing since the previous visit.

I was not one to leave early or have something half done but when you’re acct. looks great there is only so much "busy" work you can do.

Rolande,
In my opinion...get rid of them. Not only are they cheating you, but they are also cheating your clients. You don’t want your clients to express to others that you have a crew that does sloppy work. Whether it’s cold, cloudy or whatever, plants still need inspection and cleaning. If you have a talk with these employees, they may shape up for a period of time, but they’ll be back to their old tricks sooner or later.
Just my opinion though.
Donna

Donna, when everything is done cleaned and it really is kinda slow as far as maint. what do you do?

And on the other hand when the temp. skyrockets and you need to spend an hour or 2 more on an account even though it means crunching some time out of another acct. because they are saying they need to eliminate overtime.(post 9-11) Then what?

I said it before, in over 5 years of working in the industry I only worked with a supervisor ONCE at an independent company in NYC.
If it wasn’t for the cost of living and owning a car in NYC I’d still be there.

Train your people,work with your people, if you send them out on there own to "figure it out" then you get the results you get.
Anybody can show up and put in there 40 hours by physical presence but that doesn’t equal performance.

Mike,

Your response to Donna didn’t make much sense ... Roland said that there were quality incoonsistencies in the Tech’s work. I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with anything if it weren’t for that.

Rolande,

Email me. I have a suggestion on a few of your posts that I would rather discuss personally. On this, and on pricing and guarantees.

Debbie

Some companies find this cumbersome, but we have weekly maintenance sheets for each customer. Time in and out are written on each, as well as what was done on that visit. The client signs off on it each time and keeps a copy. Travel time is added after leaving the site. A copy comes back to the office to match the total number of hours worked. Occasionally the client will sign a sheet without verifying the hours, but eventually it will catch up with a problem tech.

Only you will know if the time spent there is appropriate for the work done. We developed this system after losing a large client who was not exactly sure what he was getting for his money.

Julie

Our new techs partner up with various experienced techs and then when ready take over certain clients. As they gain experience and proficiency, or as we acquire new clients, additional jobs are added to their route until they reach what is considered a reasonable work day. If too many jobs get piled on one person, the tech talks to the boss and some jobs are reassigned or an additional tech is hired if warranted.

We are paid for a 40 hour week. How and when we get the work done is up to us as long as our plants look good and we visit each client weekly. Sometimes a route may be 6.5 hours. As Mike says, some weeks the plants don’t need as much work (if they’re watered, dusted, shined, rotated and mulched, it’s time to move on) and we get to leave a little early. Some weeks they need more work, or it’s time to fertilize or redo the mulch, or there are problems that take time to handle (where the heck did the client move the plants THIS time?), and we get home late. During December, we all get home late.

We don’t have to get paperwork signed (some of our jobs are lobbies where there is no management on site to sign anything) or call in when we get to each job. Of course we are supposed to call if there is a problem or question that needs to be handled.

It’s an honor system. Is there a paper trail to document if a tech is shirking? No. Does one look at the tech’s plants tell if they are getting the job done? Yep. Works for us. It helps that our boss has good people instincts and hires good employees.

Mike, are you saying you only partnered with someone ONE DAY in your entire industry experience? Or only once with a supervisor? Or only at one company? Please clarify.

Our new techs work with existing techs for many days or weeks (depending on experience and ability) before we turn them loose on their own. Often they spend some time helping the installation and holiday crews while they are new, which helps them get a feel for how the company works overall, how to install plants, what the standards are before a plant needs replacing, etc.

Shelia, Well when I worked at a smaller company in the ’90’s I was by myself mostly but I mainly did installs.

After it was aquired and merged with 2 other companies for over 2 years I worked by myself, no other techs. , no supervisor just me every day and some times I had to even take out my own replacements so I learned it the only I could.

I went to NYC and worked a couple days a week with different supervisors on different routes,they didn’t "hawk" me or anything and it was a great idea you get done earlier, you get to have someone to eat with and they can see what kind of work you do.

I like the way your company does it because it does vary and as long as the client is happy...

Check out Best Buy and how they’re trying to do things.

And if he’s having a quality issue and not spending enough time find out why. Don’t assume. Maybe she could use a few pointers,help BUT if she’s skipping out or has another job and is trying to get away with something then yeah can her.

Mike your reasoning is flawed. I gotta tell you that if you were putting down that you finished at 4:30PM when in fact you left for home at 2PM that is called stealing. That would explain your being terminated in the past.

When you’re paid by the hour you’re paid for the time you put in ON THE JOB,... period. You are not in the position to make up your own rules and "average" it out in the end.
To be even close to the realm of being honest, you would also be putting down 4:30 PM on the days you worked overtime right? Leave the salary calculations up to the payroll department. Your job is to maintain plants and budget your salary (set aside and don’t spend it) overtime to make up for the short weeks.

On those short days, would it not make more sense Mike to put down the true time so that your employer sees that you get the job done in less time than most? Maybe you’d be rewarded with more contracts and hence more responsibility and ultimately more hours (more money)? Better yet why not call the office and offer your services to help out other techs who might be experiencing a time crunch?

Sure there are weeks when you have to put in some overtime but if an employer is paying you for time actually worked they would have the funds to cover overtime and wouldn’t have to try to eliminate overtime, get the picture?

Rolande

You know I could go back and forth a long time about this, I guess you had to be there.

Whether I was there or not it still doesn’t justify lying about your time actually spent on the job,..nuf said.

Roland said:
"Maybe you’d be rewarded with more contracts and hence more responsibility and ultimately more hours (more money)?"

True, but that to me is a negative incentive, you get your work done and your reward is what...? More work!

My problem is that I’m TOO honest and I nedd to keep my mouth shut (which I’m sure will get rounds of applause from this board) LOL.

Rolande Said:
"When you’re paid by the hour you’re paid for the time you put in ON THE JOB,... period."

I need to walk in circles more then. Sorry I’m just not that good at "looking busy".

Happy Holidays.

My apologies Mike, I was assuming the reason you were reporting longer hours than in reality was due to needing more money during a less than 40 hour week. Hence the suggestion of proving yourself worthy of more contracts, more hours yada yada yada.

So is it time off you want more of?

This brings up an interesting issue that pervades the thinking of American employers and workers:

What is an employee worth?

To stay with the example currently under discussion, is it better in the long run to pay interiorscape technicians by the hour or by the account? The pros and cons of both are obvious and it really depends on whose perspective you take.

Paying by the hour can either encourage techs to take more time with the detail work and customer care (provided their schedule is not overloaded with unrealistic expectations by management) or it can simply result in having them "walk in circles more", as Mike suggests.

Paying by the account can either encourage techs to work more productively with respect to the amount of time put in on each account, or it can lead to cutting corners and poor quality of workmanship in order to squeeze in more accounts and, hence, generate more income for the tech.

Which is less risky to the employer? There is no cut and dried answer. It always will depend on the quality of each individual employee and that employee’s motivations, character and abilities. Talented, diligent, honest employees will be better suited to working "by the piece", so to speak...that is, the more accounts they can handle, the more they will earn. This entirely hinges on their ability to maintain a high level of quality in their work while simultaneously handling a high volume of accounts. A high-stress regimen like that can produce burnout after awhile, though, so be careful to avoid techs becoming too dependent on volume for their livelihoods.

More "average" techs probably will perform best on an hourly rate basis, with incentives of some sort added as a way to boost their income. For example, if you’re a small company, maybe your techs can do some "on the job marketing" to the existing clients and/or neighboring companies in the building or neighborhood. That could allow you to pay bonuses for new accounts or just for leads that pan out for your salespeople to close. However, most working class Americans tend to feel more comfortable with the known quantity of 40 hours of work a week times their hourly rate. The kicker here is that they will have to realize that, at some point, there will be a "glass ceiling" above which their hourly rate can no longer escalate, depending on the business climate within your client roster (i.e., how much you are able to increase their service rates each year). If there aren’t opportunities to earn more in other ways or a chance for promotion within the company, they will hang around for awhile and then leave...something each of us dreads as managers.

There really is no good rule of thumb here. It depends on your individual business structure and philosophy, client base, market, and the prevailing business climate at any given time. Some may say that employee ownership is the only "guaranteed" way to ensure continual growth and quality of workmanship, since direct financial benefits accrue to good workers in good companies under that setup. And rank-and-file American labor is forever suspicious of the motives and goals of management and ownership as a matter of course...seeing creative compensation ideas as "gimmicks" designed to evade paying employees more per hour worked while getting more work out of their employees. That perception can become a cancer in your company, so be sure that your employees can feel confident in "buying into" your business philosophy by rewarding great work and company growth in the appropriate fashion.

Clem

What if -

You give each account a time .... how long it takes. Even be a bit generous about it to allow for unexpected things. Notice I said "a bit". The Tech is paid for a 40 hour week. As Quality Control you pick 5 random accounts and check them, based on a check sheet, ie ... containers cleaned, plant nicely trimmed ...... we all know the drill and what is expected. If the Tech gets 5 out of 5 rating excellent ..... they get $50 cash bonus. They have to get 5 out of 5. This keeps the QC very good. The Tech has the potential to earn $200-$250 more per month, also known as incentive ... CASH .... and all is good. Wouldn’t perfect on your QC be worth that ? That makes for happy Tech, happy client, happy boss. That’s a win win as far as I’m concerned.

As far as replacements, and those times where the top 2" of soil are replaced (remember, my accounts are 100% subirrigated), installations ........ these things aren’t done by regular Tech’s ........ they are done by installers.

I’m sure I’ll get a thousand emails on ... but the IRS and the cash. Whatever. This comes out of MY pocket, I pay the tax, and pay it happily. I haven’t found an employee yet who doesn’t like this. And yes, they’re being payed an incentive to do their job and do it right. So what ? I get what I want, they get what they want, the client gets what they want and everyone is happy. Isn’t that the REAL bottom line ?

I got this tip from a company that has 12 Techs .... so it can work on the bigger ones too.

Debbie

Well I like what Debbie and Sheila are saying too.

Rolande, more time off would work but I guess what I was getting at was the industry has variables and trying to make it a 40 hour a week job won’t really work every week, some are less some are more but my rent and car payment etc. don’t flucuate.

I never headed home early,’cause I figured as sure as I did someone would have a complaint or want to meet with me so I did kinda "hang out" but there’s only so many leaves you can wipe.
Sometmimes I went snooping to see if maybe that company down the hall needed plant service.

When I did exterior landscaping the managers/owner new in the spring we’re working harder/longer so you get paid for it but in August after no rain for 3 weeks you’d get 40 but that’s it and sometimes we only had 30 hours worth of work.

Debbie, I love the cash bonus idea. Makes a lot of sense.

Our techs don’t routinely do replacements, but sometimes we’ll take a few small plants if the installation crew is backed up or if the account is really out of the way.

However, during holiday season, any replacements have to be done by techs because everyone else is swamped with holiday stuff. Last year I had to replace three 14" canes. At the time, I was dealing with a bad shoulder but I managed to get the seats out of my minivan and the canes into the van (I lived on Advil for weeks afterwards, too). I got one cane installed, then ran out of time and had to take the other two home with me. I planned to do them during the rest of the week as I went to the accounts. Then it got REALLY cold, so the two canes plus the two van seats stayed in the foyer and the living room for about three weeks until I could get them installed safely. We have a very small house and my husband was none too pleased to be tripping over "those d*mn plants"!

This year I swore I wouldn’t take anything over 10" and luckily it’s been really warm. Happily, my shoulder has gotten a lot better too. (Shoulder has rotator cuff damaged by moving a bazillion flats of annuals in my former job at a nursery, not by lifting anything heavy!)

Please people, we all know that in a matter of minutes of leaving a account things happen. Ooooooooooooooooooooo’s just failed the inspection. The fact is sign in and sign out (not always a person available), or call in or call out. Ofcourse you all don’t like this, IT WORKS! LOL You know that if you call and say "I am here" you better damn well be there, because Head Honcho could be there waiting on you to call. Rolande do as you wish. It works. Our OPS MGR spends over 8,000 min. a month on his cell phone since we started this. It cost us $30.00 extra in the bill. Labor cost has been cut by 15% on average saving litterally thousands of dollars in lies. IT WORKS MAN.

Fred,

8,000 minutes a month is about 16 and a half days of his time per month spent on the phone. And the Ops Manager makes how much ? That seems pretty expensive to me. What things cost is not all just about $30 added to a phone bill. It’s deeper than that.

And an FYI .......... the scaper owner that gave me that tip and has twelve employees rarely has a fail. Less than a dozen a year for all Tech’s combined.

Debbie

Debbie, Yes you have done your math I see. How much he makes is not your business. It is between 7-8000 mins a month 6-7 days a week with 3-4 weeks off fully paid a year. oh and for those of you that doubt it Verizon can verify. I had them check recheck andtripple check it. Because I did the math. I can tell you for a bonus last year he got a new 2005 Ford mustang GT convertable all the bells and whistles from the factory. So you can guess what he makes....just figure out what the car cost.......He handles over 200 accounts for us 50-100 employees depending on the time of year and has been with me for over 7 years now. I found him on the back of a walk behind mower 7+ years ago making turf grass look like professional ball fields. I figured if the guy paid that much attn. to detail with a lawn mower imagine what he could do in a management position. He has made us proud. Very proud mind you.

LOL@12 employees. Not saying that’s bad but please. 12 employees is not a major player in any industry

Fred where is your company located? How many employees do you have? Are you hiring?

"Fred where is your company located? How many employees do you have? Are you hiring?"

Very good except you forgot to put my e-mail address in "my" post keep working on the craigslist thing.

See how easy it is to make people think someone said something they didn’t.

I must have struck a chord with Fred. Since you went into the rant of "yours is bigger than everyone else’s" my meanings were obviously lost on you. I won’t waste my time trying to explain it, though I’m sure just about everyone else got them.

And no one said 12 Tech’s (35 total employees) was a major player. Neither is 200 accounts.

No one attacked you, so back off "anonymous" this isn’t a pissing contest.

Are you sure you aren’t from Texas ?

Clem you’re right that there’s always something sending you back to the drawing board. With piece work perhaps a way to avoid the burnout potential would be to attach some sort of quality control measure and/or contract renewal bonus at year end to temper things. To deal with gimmick minded folks I’d be tempted to open the books (if it were my company) and invite creative cost cutting solutions and pay out a percentage of the savings to the one responsible. Profit sharing sounds ideal except that some techs bring down the margin while others are striving to meet goals and that’s just not fair because people’s values are different. Giving the techs some autonomy when it came to upselling a client on their route by offering a comission may work but again not everyone is sales oriented.

Then you have the dynamic nature of a contract (plants come and go, clients move, techs change) on top of the tedious job of implementing a plan and then to track data. Debbie your MONTHLY cash incentive eliminates a lot of the above issues of dynamics and fairness. With some slight adjustments it’s worth investigating (sound of copying and pasting).

I can’t see a "one size fits all" solution. We have to find the "currency" that gets the juices flowing and work with each person individually because it’s not always about the money. Values vary from one person to the next so that praise, acceptance, feeling needed, autonomy, social status, family time and other rewards/incentives and can play an important part in the formula.

The promsing thingin all this is that most of us are fortunate to be small enough that it could be possible to achieve.

Merry Christmas to you all!
Rolande

Hey you! Hey you over there, yes you. Hit a chord? Well if that’s what you call getting an answer TO WHAT YOU ASKED I guess so. HEY YOU TURN THE LIGHTS ON UPSTAIRS AND GET OFF MY POSTS. If you are shooting in the dark just waiting for your chance to get some road kill to eat "I must have struck a chord with Fred". Like the ************ you seem to be. Then I wish you well. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not ever address me PERSONALLY AGAIN in any way shape or form from this day forward. You took the context of my statement and turned it into a debate of minutes? Not to mention asking how much a person makes? AND THEN HAVE THE ODASITY TO LATER SAY IT’S NOT A PISSING CONTEST?
Get a life. Move on. Get out of mine. I did say PLEASE 3 TIMES. Oh and by the way you did say "And an FYI .......... the scaper owner that gave me that tip and has twelve employees (NOT TECH’S) rarely has a fail. Less than a dozen a year for all Tech’s combined."

He said she said BS. Say what you say, I will say what I say and our paths shall not ever cross this way again. TYVM have a great day. Woooooooooo Hoooooooooooo It’s Friday....Happy Holidays all!

You know who -

It’s spelled audacity.
Take a chill pill there why don’t ya.

Geeez. Someone’s had a little too much stress this season.

You still don’t get it. I don’t think anyone but YOU expected an answer on the salary question, I certainly didn’t. I was making a point that the way you do it costs more than just $30, and I was bringing that to your attention so that others may realize that. Let’s not go postal there Skippy.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone !!!!!!!!

Debbie

You are correct I didn’t get, why, could it be because the way we do it saves the company money. Hello! He’s no having to work any more time than he was in the past. Neither is the Tech. Hello! And if it costs 40.00 or 50.00 or 1,000.00 to save thousands in wasted wages? WHAT IS YOUR POINT? Now I refuse to debate the point further. You are like a pesky insect crawling on me. Get off!

I did work at an interior company where we clocked in every day so no question about time reporting there, but then you’ve got drive time in the morning and afternoon that you’re paying for.

I think the way I do it is better. You think the way you do it is better. I’m sure if you ask ten other people, they will think they do it better. Rolande asked for an opinion. I’m as entitled to mine as you are to yours.

No reason to denigrate because someone doesn’t think the way you do. We agree to disagree, nothing more, nothing less. I still stand by the ONLY point I was originally trying to make - that 8,000 minutes is not just a $30 phone bill.

No amount of your screaming, name calling and fit throwing will change my opinion.

Apparently we disagree, it’s that simple.

Fred, I think that what also sticks in people’s craw is when an anonymous poster makes some bold claims about something or other and expects instant cred. How can anyone take what you say seriously if you won’t identify yourself? I’m sure your Ops Manager’s technique has some merit and may even be worth the hours spent on the phone doing it, but unless people can believe that you’re for real, they won’t believe what you say.

Again, if there is something worth saying on this board, it’s worth signing your name to it.

Clem

Clem,

Forgive me if addressing you personally is offensive to you. <smile>

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP !!!!!!
Well said !!!!!

Debbie

Like I care if you or her or he or she believes me.

It has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. You clock in and clock out. BY PHONE OR MECHANICAL DEVICE. Do I need to sign my name and where I work to that? Do I, or did I take credit for the proven method? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I don’t think it’s rocket science to figure out 8,000 min. is not 30.00 I believe what I said....no I know what I said was

"OPS MGR spends over 8,000 min. a month on his cell phone since we started this".

It cost us $30.00 "extra" in the monthly bill.

DOES THAT SAY IT’S ONLY 30.00, Ya lil insect still crawling around? I continue to swat you but you refuse to get off me. I think I might keep you around for a pet. You might be good bait one day when I really go fishing.

Again the point was ideas and suggestions. I made mine and you found it necessary to involve yourself in a debate over what the cost is of doing things the way we do.

DID I EVER SAY IT COST US ONLY 30.00 FOR 8,000 MIN? NO I DIDN’T "CLAP CLAP CLAP".

And for you people who claim to dislike the bashing and the BS you sure involve yourself in it quite often.

Hey FREDDY,

You sure speak out of both sides of your face.
Read up PAL ...... you directly put down and attacked MY suggestion before I ever questioned yours. Are you off your meds or what ? You make NO SENSE.

I’m sure that being the Last Word Jerry, I mean Larry that you are, you will undoubtedly reply with something equally as nonsensical as your other postings ..... to which I reply in advance ......... "WhatEVAH !!!!"

Does it say only 30.00?

I was merely clarifying that it doesn’t ONLY cost you $30 to check up on your employees in case newbies thought that’s what you were saying. 8,000 minutes IS labor somewhere.

Did you not denigrate my post first before I CLARIFIED yours ?

OK so you got it. It does not cost us anything to have them report in. It actually saves the company money. WOW you are smarter than I gave you credit for...

Funny. You still can’t admit you bit first can you ? I find it quite interesting psychologically that you feel you can jump and stomp all over everyone on this board but can’t handle it when someone dare question anything you said. As if .......

C’mon ...... step up. A real man could. It’s right there in black and white ..... you jumped first.

And as far as being smart ..... I don’t need the likes of you to confirm anything. My IQ has qualified for MENSA since I was five.

And yes it DOES cost you something for them to call in. It’s called time ..... labor. The time to answer the phone ....... the time to make the call ...... it’s called LABOR. 8000 minutes of it to be exact PLUS another 8,000 for the people he is talking to. It’s YOU who still doesn’t get it. This isn’t hard Fred, Jerry, whatever your name is.

An you are just upset because I am RIGHT. The phone does not call nor answer itself, right ?

All you guys are joking right? You can not be for reals, flipping out like this. Its a joke right? I hope so

http://www.chronotek.net/?trackcode=bizcom


1 Employees Dial to Clock In
Employees dial a toll-free number to clock in to work. It only takes a few seconds for them to enter their employee code and location code.

2 Employees Dial to Clock Out

At the end of the shift, your employees call the same number to clock out. The system automatically calculates the amount of time that they have worked.

3 View Time Cards in Web Browser

All of your employee data is available to you 24 hours per day from any internet-enabled computer.

No waiting until the end of the period for your data
No wasted time spent collecting time cards
No ’padding’ of time cards
No calculation errors
Perfect for ALL Off-Site Employees


What would you say if we told you that the Chronotek system is FREE! For most of our customers, it IS free because they save more than they spend each month on the service.



If you currently use hand-written time cards, chances are good that you can

SAVE ENOUGH MONEY by using the Chronotek system to pay for it and have money left over!



If you had to guess the amount of time that the average hourly employee "pads" their time card how much would you say..... 2 minutes per day, 15 minutes per day, more......

... For an $8.50/ hour employee it only takes a savings of less than two minutes

per day to fully pay for the Chronotek System. When you add in the benefits of reduced payroll administration and real-time information, it’s easy to see why our customers are so happy.

As you start to pay employees for actual hours worked, you begin to see savings that you never knew were possible. To illustrate this savings, we have created a Savings Calculator that shows the benfits of switching from manual time cards to the Chronotek system.




IT IS A NO BRAINER.


The last post you will see from me on this matter.


Rolande you make up your mind.

This is the last you will here from me also about this subject.

I still don’t agree and you still don’t get my point.

We agree to disagree.

Fred,

OK, so you cut and pasted the text from the Chronotek site and I took a look at it. Are you using this system yourself?

You stated in your initial reply to Rolande that " All techs are required to call in or sign in/out at the time of arrival or departure from the location", but you never replied to her question "Wow Fred are you saying your techs are required to call in from each and every location every day?" I’d be curious to know the answer too. Do your Tech’s actually call in and out from each stop on their route? If so has this been effective for you/your company?

Steve

No offence Fred but unless I were dealing with robots this calling in idea just wouldn’t work for us. We ask that the downtown walking routes call in first thing in the morning when they arrive at the contract. First of all the calls are coming in from pay phones (caller ID) before they get to the sites. Sometimes they forget to call in all together! We’re dealing with human beings with a lot more on their minds besides work protocols. I have time in/time out columns on the route sheets where the times are supposed to be written for tracking the time in a particular job. Sometimes, they forget to have the receptionist fill in the time so it gets done by the tech and I must trust that it’s legit until proven otherwise.

So what do you do, fire them all? It’s not realistic. Sure there are some I’d love to give the boot but it’s not in my power and hence the frustrating situations I frequently find myself in. Short of playing detective and following them around to ’catch them’ at it, there’s not much I can do now is there?

Rolande

I think I would invest in cell phones

Rolande, you really need to get this under control. It is costing you (the company) money.