A Young Site Supervisor Who Can't Do Anything
Recently, I went to a construction site to lend a hand. There, a site manager in his 40s and two young site supervisors in their early 20s had been assigned to work under him.
As soon as I arrived at the site, I sensed that the atmosphere in the site office was very somber. No one was saying a word; in an atmosphere reminiscent of a wake, everyone was staring at their computers.
I went out to the job site and spoke to a young site supervisor who was standing nearby.
When I asked, “Since we’ve finished spreading the base gravel, do we really not need to take any photos?” I got an unbelievable response.
"Is that a photo? How do you take it?"
I was surprised… because he was an employee who had been with the company for over a year.
However, at the time, I figured that for some reason or another, I just hadn’t been allowed to handle the photo management yet, so even though I had a bad feeling about it, I asked a few other questions as well.
When I asked, “What kind of work do you usually do?” the reply came back, “Usually? I write KY reports and safety logs and file them.”
A whole year has passed, and that's all I've been doing...!? I found that very hard to believe, so I kept asking questions.
"Haven't you received any instructions from the director?"
Then, I received a surprising answer.
The Presence of a Boss Who Yells Constantly
They say that when they first joined the company and didn’t know their way around, they were assigned to their current worksite, where the site manager has been yelling at them relentlessly every day since their assignment.
The reason I was yelled at was pretty awful, too.
Apparently, when he was setting up the light wave for the first time, he was told to “just try setting it up” with almost no explanation on how to do so, and when it took him too long, he was furious.
At first, he would ask questions about things he didn’t understand, but gradually, every time he asked a question, he was met with harsh remarks like, “If you don’t even know that, don’t come to the worksite,” and he eventually became afraid to ask questions.
When I heard that story, I sensed the dark side of the construction industry.
Bosses who can do nothing but yell should stay off the front lines.
These days, it’s no longer the case that people will just do what you say if you yell at them.
As times have changed, people now have more freedom of choice, and workers are no longer drawn to exploitative work environments; under these circumstances, behavior such as yelling—which constitutes power harassment—is utterly unacceptable. Moreover, I cannot imagine that someone who can only control others through fear is fit to serve as a site manager.
As expected, the site manager had a very poor reputation among subcontractors and enjoyed very little trust from the client.
As for the situation on-site, since the person in charge didn’t even show up and hadn’t provided proper training, there were occasional instances of photos being forgotten and construction work that didn’t match the blueprints—it was a complete mess.
"What a pathetic site manager..." I was stunned.
It is important for the entire company to work together to train new employees.
I think the biggest problem at this site is that the training of the younger employees there has fallen behind.
A year is an incredibly valuable period of time for a site supervisor. It’s ridiculous to make them spend that time with almost no training, relying solely on the outdated “learn by watching on the job” mentality.
What’s more, new technologies—such as ICT and construction management systems—are being developed one after another. We are entering an era where young professionals can compensate for their lack of experience by learning and mastering these tools to advance construction management.
The site manager doesn't seem to understand this. Furthermore, I think his tendency to yell stems from poor communication skills. Because he can't convey his thoughts concisely and in a way that's easy for others to understand, he ends up getting emotional.
People like that often go on and on using technical jargon in a self-centered way, even when speaking to clients or neighbors who have no knowledge of construction. Personally, I wonder how well-suited someone who’s so poor at explaining things is to be a site manager.
――I believe it’s important for the entire company to work together to train new employees, rather than placing the burden on any one individual.
Even if it’s just once a month, it’s a good idea for company executives to visit the worksite to observe the young employees working there and assess their progress. If they find a worksite where the young employees’ growth is extremely slow, it’s highly likely that there are issues—such as problems with interpersonal relationships—at that location.
There’s no need to assign young employees to workplaces where some people aren’t capable of providing proper training. I believe on-site visits and company-wide support for new hires are necessary to understand the reality of such workplaces.
Last but not least, a director who can do nothing but yell has no place on the job site.
