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Dean, ----- Soap Box --- errr, ERRR, I need to take exception with one small point here! In spite of the fact that I also am a contractor, and that on occasion I find in-house staff that might be lacking in knowledge about the latest bells and whistles, on the whole I believe that it is unfair and unprofessional to draw a generalized conclusion about clients! ----- End Soap Box --- ______________________________________________________________________ ___ Howard Weatherly hweatherly@dlis.dla.mil howard.weatherly@ctg.com hweath@ibm.net X4324 <<Re: Consultants who have to work on junk equipment>>
- Subject: Re: Consultants who have to work on junk equipment
- From: DAsmussen@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 03:06:36 -0500
Hank, In a message dated 98-11-16 02:31:23 EST, you write: <<snip>> > One of the things that was pointed out to me was that the high salaries they > were paying for the contract coders was making the regular staff jealous, so > they felt justified in giving the new people poorer conditions to work in. Errr, Errrrrrr, ERRRRR! Numero uno problemo mis amigo -- the existing staff should _NEVER_ know what your people are making!!! In the first place, it's none of their %$##@&* business (do they know what their co-workers make?). In the second, it undermines your ability to work effectively with the in-house staff. The latter arrangement (in those rare instances in which they're not completely worthless) can save both you and your client _TONS_ of time and money. Whoever "let the cat out of the bag" regarding your compensation should be taken out and flogged, regardless of whether they worked for you or the client. Even if you want them, you cannot ethically hire any member of a client's staff, so what good does it do for them to know your billing rate? While I'm personally opposed to our industry working at any one site for more than a few months, I'm also opposed to employers that subsidize worthless employees with our services instead of giving a deserving employee a perm job. We definitely fill a need for "one-time" jobs like Y2K or mentoring staff on a new application/platform, but for the love of Pete just "toast" people that refuse to work or learn new methodologies. > My reply was that I was there to bring the project in on-time, under- budget, > and with a very high level of quality. The quality of the workplace would > reflect the quality of our production. If they want junk work, write it into > the contract, and we'll deliver it in the junk environment. > > Funny thing is, the manager that I fought this battle with - he's one of my > best references. And they always will be. Don't ask for more than the "real" employees get (like the "Big 5" do), but don't accept less, either. Managers respect someone that will stand up for their people, especially if they do the same for theirs. If you walk in with the "I can help you" attitude instead of the "I'm better than you" attitude, you'll win friends and influence people. Otherwise, you can watch the client switch between the other "Big 5" as each one proves worthless... JMHO, Dean Asmussen Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc. Fuquay-Varina, NC USA E-Mail: DAsmussen@aol.com "If you had to identify, in one word, the reason the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings'". -- Dave Barry +--- | This is the Midrange System Mailing List! | To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com. | To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com. | To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com. | Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com +---
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