Tag: customer

Happy 2018

As 2018 closes, I can genuinely say that I am starting the part four of my life of which I hope there are five parts.

• The first part of my life was my formative years in North Dakota where I grew up, and my base persona developed. Growing up in the 60s and 70s as a cop’s kid was interesting.
• Part two of my life was my time in the Navy and initial family time where I developed further but was still wet behind the ears. During this time, I was on submarines, tenders and traveled the world.
• The third part of my life was my civilian career where I worked for many small companies in South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Georgia, and California. During this period I honed many of my professional skills.
  • This is the period of my life I regularly had my finger(s) and other body parts in the dike to keep things running for ownership.
• Part four of my life starts in 2018 and I will be working for a multinational company as a solutions executive where I take everything I have learned in life and work and make it stick.
• The fifth part is unknown as of yet, but I believe I will be cruising in an RV with my bride of forty (40) plus years, with fur babies and grandchildren, while riding ATVs and side by sides.

Five (5) Parts Of Life

So here I sit, fifty plus going on fifteen about to start a new career and this is when I reflect on what has changed or what I will modify to make the fourth part of my life a success.

I owe it to my bride, children, and me to not only challenge myself but also be content for the duration of this period of my life.

Overall, this is a significant change since I have always been the person that accepts critical fill positions, takes control of broken situations, and turns it around.

It is time for me to pull my finger(s) out of the dike to prevent flooding for ownership groups that did not always reciprocate the efforts and finally do what is right for my family and me.

Pull My Finger Out Of The Dike

I could name specifics on the companies but will not since I left these companies sometime back but was limited in career choice due to employment agreements.

My goal was to be involved in sales during my fourth part of my life before a long-term employer sold the business to a group that did not understand the market they were entering so ended up traveling a different path the last couple of years.

This change in plans delayed my entry into part four of my life which I commence tomorrow, and I am excited that I will be working for and with an established innovation leading company.

Additionally, this change will be sales and program development oriented which was my goal career at this point in my life, so all is looking good.

With this change, I will not need to deal with:

• Unfunded paychecks.
• Past due vendor payments.
• Ensuring HR is servicing employees.
• High employee turnover rate with new ownership.
• Customer issues based on manning and logistic challenges.
• 365 day, 24-hour availability to resolve problems.
• Direction to change numbers for an investment group.
• The list goes on, but I will keep it short.

Today, I need to button up work for some of the smaller companies I have worked for and with the last two years. The experience with these companies has added more tools to my toolbox, but in the end, I need to do what is best for my family and me.

The new career decision does not change my long-term goal of establishing a small business consulting/coaching website, but that is a 3 to 5-year goal for my family and me.

Working in this new direction also gives me the ability to help develop and sell a service that is needed, so I am incredibly excited about this opportunity.

Move On To Something Bigger And Better For Part Four (4)

Please stay tuned for updates on how this goes and feel free to comment on similar situations and how you are doing.

• What part of life are you in currently? 
• Are there more than five (5) parts to life?
• Have you had similar experiences and situations?

I wish you health, safety, and success in 2018. Being fifty plus going on fifteen can be exhilarating.

Happy New Year!!

Jay Patterson

It is tough as a manager or as an employee to decide to fire an employee that works for you, the company you work for, and/or a company you do business with.

Sure, you can always figure out a reason to not fire but in most situations, if the thought passed your mind, it is probably the right decision.

I have been in this position during my military and civilian careers and I want to again state that if you have thought it, firing is probably the right decision.

In the military, it was extremely difficult to fire someone even when you had the proper documentation and historical issues.

During my time in the military, one situation is still painful since I tried to get the sailor removed from submarine service and was unsuccessful.

• The reason why the sailor needed to be fired from submarine duty was mental instability. Mental health experts nixed my request and sadly, the kid committed suicide a few months after he was stationed on a submarine.

While in the military, there were many situations where personnel needed to be fired and may or not have been for many reasons.

• The primary reason personnel was not fired was that the goal fleet size was 500 ships, so all sailors were critical.
• Firing sailors normally involved transferring an individual from an operational vessel to a vessel in the shipyards of similar.
• Some sailors were fired but if they were it was normally due to drugs, alternate lifestyles, or similar situations.

Late in my military career, it became much easier to fire people when the Navy was being downsized after the end of the cold war but that is not to say the best people were maintained.

Twenty (20) plus years ago I joined the civilian workforce after retiring from Navy and I quickly learned it was just as difficult to fire someone on the outside as in the military. I also learned that you could fire the company you worked for an experienced customer/vendor firing.

• My first civilian job was a computer monitor repair facility In South Dakota whose primary customer was Gateway Computers. I worked as the assistant plant manager and quickly realized that it was difficult to terminate crackheads that damaged thousands of dollars of inventory so after six (6) months decided to fire the company.
• I next worked for an international sales and service company as a remote technician in Iowa and once again it became clear that firing technicians that did not want to work were nearly impossible. Later I was advanced to a district management position and the management team goal was to overwork those that worked and live with those that did not work After Y2K, I fired this company.
•    For the next sixteen (16) plus years, I worked for a sales and service company that had a goal to cover the entire US market. I started my career as a technician and ended it as the Senior Vice President Of Operations. We did a pretty good job of keeping our workforce cleaned up through firing and hiring until the company was placed on the market for sale in 2014. We were purchased in 2015 and challenges with new ownership and lack of scruples resulted in my firing them in early 2016.
• In 2016, I started consulting for businesses and worked short term W2 jobs trying to find the right place for my third long-term career. I have fired several customers, vendors, employers, and employees during this timeframe and I still believe sometimes you need to say, “Your Fired”.

Saying “Your Fired” should be a two-way street between employers and employees much like between customers and businesses.

• Perhaps that sounds harsh, but I have realized since leaving my second-long term career in 2016 is that if the relationship is not right in the first three (3) months, staying longer is not a recipe for success.
• Furthermore, there have been many situations where I have run into individuals I have had to let go for various reasons and they thanked me because it helped them find a career that fits better.

Please leave comments and thoughts regarding this subject and specifically what are your thoughts on the following questions.

• Have you ever fired an employer and was it best for you and the employer?
  
• Have you ever been fired as an employee and was it best for you and the employer?

Appreciate your visiting my blog and wish you health, safety, and success. It is great being fifty plus going on fifteen.

Jay Patterson