What a busy day it has been here in Market Harborough Basin. There have been many hire boats in and out and several private boats come to use the facility block of just wind. It has been interesting to see the various approaches to boat handling in the circumstances. Even once the wind picked in the afternoon it was noticeable that the privateers were much more gentle on the throttle than hirer's and the hire boats company personnel. I did see one or two using bow thrusters though which makes it easier to use less throttle. The boat yard people were very full ahead/full astern but then again I suppose that is natural as they don't own them and don't have to pay for scratches, dents etc.
Photo just to illustrate difficulties of boat handling rather than anything else!
It was also instructional to hear snatches of the chat that the company gives to the crews hiring. The best bit I heard was after pointing out the emergency numbers and saying that they will not mind getting a call out in the middle of the night unless... then pausing whilst the hapless people interjected with what they thought may be the reason for the company's ire... you don't know where you are was the answer. Then telling them to go and find the next bridge number if they didn't know their location.
One side of the electricity pillar at the pontoon we are on is broken and today a bloke arrived to fix it. It was a subcontractor to C&RT and they seem to go all over to do this work. Yesterday he was down in London fixing one.
He said it wasn't a very skilled job and any DIY competent person could do it. It makes you wonder when the use of subcontractors is cheaper for C&RT than employing a few people in an area to do such jobs as these. Obviously if you use subcontractors you aren't liable for pension, NI, sickness etc etc and do not have to keep them fully employed all the time and so paying then 365. There is also the fact that there will be competition for the work helping to keep the price down. But the premium added on by subcontractors to cover their extras surely must mean that there comes a time when it is cost effective to employ your own troops. This time would be earlier it seems to me if the workers were multi-functional. There must be loads of work that a bloke (or blokess), with training, could do. A little electricity, a little joinery, a little construction, a little mechanics etc meaning that there is more chance to have him employed all the time.
The benefit would be the jobs could be jobs may get carried out quicker and in house so to your own specification. Less paperwork and easier to plan for costs etc. However it would mean that you had to have the equipment at hand all the time and then that wouldn't be cost effective. I suppose you could hire the larger items of kit when required. I basically think that this wont happen again as there is a problem with Health and Safety. There is no place for employed multifunctional people as they would have to conform to so many different health and safety policies and complete so many different pieces of paperwork that it would be time inefficient.
Photo just to illustrate difficulties of boat handling rather than anything else!
It was also instructional to hear snatches of the chat that the company gives to the crews hiring. The best bit I heard was after pointing out the emergency numbers and saying that they will not mind getting a call out in the middle of the night unless... then pausing whilst the hapless people interjected with what they thought may be the reason for the company's ire... you don't know where you are was the answer. Then telling them to go and find the next bridge number if they didn't know their location.
Shire Cruisers handling lessons.
One side of the electricity pillar at the pontoon we are on is broken and today a bloke arrived to fix it. It was a subcontractor to C&RT and they seem to go all over to do this work. Yesterday he was down in London fixing one.
1 comment:
Hi Tony, I think CRT has joined the current bandwagon of outsourcing as much work as possible, in the mistaken thinking that it is cheaper. It usually isn't cheaper as the fact that is forgotten is the work that goes unmeasured when identifying the job descriptions in order to determine what needs to be contracted out. What I mean is that there is work done by employees that is incidental to their job descriptions and not included in the external contracts; so more contractors need to be engaged and more money spent ... What is winding me up at the moment is finding that CRT has a chaplaincy service and is looking to hire another person to help with the workload. Why a secular organisation needs a chaplaincy when there are huge numbers of churches and their personnel within coo-ee of any part of the canal I am at a loss to understand. GGGRRR!!! I'd rather they put money into training up some generalist repair personnel and outfitted them with vans to go around and sort out small issues early which would turn into big issues if left. OK, rant over. Cheers, M and D
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