I went through an electrical apprenticeship and worked for various contractors in a major metro area for years and years. I'd spend 3 to 5 hours a day in a vehicle without being paid anything for that time, and I hated that weekend were my only time that was mine. I lost time with my children and I was pretty miserable. I went into business for myself doing electrical work and have since left that industry to take over a small remote off grid remote campground and store.
In my electrical days I hired a guy who asked me for $20 an hour. At the table I countered him with $22 an hour, fuel cost and mileage for his commute, and company tools so he wouldn't have to pay so much just to work. Within 6 weeks this guy stole some of my tools, lied about his mileage repeatedly, and fucked me over by doing shoddy work on a job that had to be redone.
Owning the place I do now, I've hired various people and have done my best to be the kind of employer that I would want to work for. I pay better than other businesses, I provide housing (camper, but I live in one too, it's hide the way it is here) and buy groceries and cook for my employees. I take care of the hardest and grossest tasks around the campground. I ask people to tend the store and keep it tidy. I give gifts and bonuses for holiday weekend work and accommodate time off without issue. I even let people choose their schedule and I structure my life around theirs.
Of the 9 people I've had work for me over the years here only one of them actually did the job right. He cleaned in his down time and communicated well with me if he needed anything. He's also the only one who didn't need a job. He worked the full season and I gave him a $1k bonus at the end of the season as a thank you, along with various bonuses for offering to work holiday weekends etc.
The rest of my employees fit a pattern… Enthusiastic at first, and I try to establish a pattern of respect for their feedback and rewards for their efforts… And then they all stop working. I give a bonus, then the store stops getting cleaned, and employees start sitting on their phones all day.
The last straw for me was last year when I hired a couple… One wanted to ciean and the other to help guests and they needed a place to stay and income so even though it was a lot more expensive to me, I accommodated them. They took a family camping vacation and I bought them a $450 roto molded cooler for their trip. My best friend and father figure passed away while they were gone. The funeral was the following week during their chosen work week. They didn't show up Monday. They called Monday night to tell me they wouldn't make it back Tuesday (the day of the viewing) or Wednesday. I had to close my business to be a pall bearer at my best friend's funeral. I let them go when they came back and they were shocked. Most people I've fired have been utterly flabbergasted.
I just don't get it. I do everything in my power to accommodate employees and only 1 person in a decade has ever reciprocated. Explanain to me what I'm doing wrong, or I'm bound to jump on the “entitlement” train.