Poll of the Day > Would you rather give a job to a homeless man or a hard worker?

(+) Yeah! (+)

HYPOTHETICAL: You are the manager of a fast food restaurant and you have to choose between two potential employees: a homeless man or a hard worker.

The homeless man is someone who has been on the streets for a few years and society has pretty much given up on him. If you give the homeless man the job, He will clean up his act for work (not look or smell like a bum) but he will do the absolute minimum of work to be done. This job will improve his life for the better. He'll be able to get off the streets, clean up the rest of his life. You'll make sure it happens.

On the other hand is the hard worker. He is fresh out of high school and still lives at home. He's only really getting a job because his parents are on his back about it but that doesn't mean he work hard. In fact, he'll work hard enough to be worth 2 or even 3 people. He comes in early every day and works a good half hour after his shift is over without being paid overtime.

So with that in mind, who would you employ?
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Definitely the hard worker. That's a rare employee to find and hard work should be rewarded. But I would choose the homeless man over a normal employee. So the hard working be the first in but next time there is an opening the homeless man would definitely get it.
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hard worker
it's a business, not charity
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Hire both of them and fire that one person that doesn't do any work.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Hire both of them and fire that one person that doesn't do any work.

I was thinking of this too, but I thought that option would be cheating XD
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Basically are you willing to help a homeless person off the street for a net loss to productivity?
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Basically are you willing to help a homeless person off the street for a net loss to productivity?

It isn't even that. Should someone not be rewarded for being productive and pulling their own wait and others? It's more like choosing to help a young hardworking man to find direction or to help someone down on their luck and just needs another chance. It has nothing to do with more or production for me. I just choose to invest into the future before I lift up the past.
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I would say the homeless man, since, sure the hard worker is an asset at the start, however he doesn't really want to be there,he is young, it's a fast food employment which means most talented people don't stay for long which means should he ever leave retraining a new person would a cost even more money eventually.
As opposed to the homeless guy sure he does minimum work however because he had been homeless, he probably doesn't have many options at the start which means he most likely stays longer hence you don't need to train others to replace him and hopefully if he is grateful, he becomes the hard worker who stays a bit longer than the young hard worker who probably would have left if he started college or what ever.
Or of course the homeless guy could also be an ungrateful person and becomes a liability. in which case the young hard worker
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JF7X posted...

I would say the homeless man, since, sure the hard worker is an asset at the start, however he doesn't really want to be there,he is young, it's a fast food employment which means most talented people don't stay for long which means should he ever leave retraining a new person would a cost even more money eventually.
As opposed to the homeless guy sure he does minimum work however because he had been homeless, he probably doesn't have many options at the start which means he most likely stays longer hence you don't need to train others to replace him and hopefully if he is grateful, he becomes the hard worker who stays a bit longer than the young hard worker who probably would have left if he started college or what ever.
Or of course the homeless guy could also be an ungrateful person and becomes a liability. in which case the young hard worker

That's why you promote the hard worker and give him incentives like help with college etc. That hard worker if guided the right way has the potential to be a even bigger asset. Where all you see is a short time employee, I see as an opportunity to cultivate a manager and possibly a district manager. Maybe higher, I'll give him a reason to be there. He is a kid who needs direction. The homeless man is great for a long term low level employee.
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yutterh posted...

That's why you promote the hard worker and give him incentives like help with college etc. That hard worker if guided the right way has the potential to be a even bigger asset. Where all you see is a short time employee, I see as an opportunity to cultivate a manager and possibly a district manager. Maybe higher, I'll give him a reason to be there. He is a kid who needs direction. The homeless man is great for a long term low level employee.

It's fast food. You can only have so many managers and district managers. And I'm willing to bet most hard workers won't want to be stuck managing fast food until retirement. A fast food place will churn through hard workers faster than Taco Bell can go through your digestive tract.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

yutterh posted...

That's why you promote the hard worker and give him incentives like help with college etc. That hard worker if guided the right way has the potential to be a even bigger asset. Where all you see is a short time employee, I see as an opportunity to cultivate a manager and possibly a district manager. Maybe higher, I'll give him a reason to be there. He is a kid who needs direction. The homeless man is great for a long term low level employee.

It's fast food. You can only have so many managers and district managers. And I'm willing to bet most hard workers won't want to be stuck managing fast food until retirement. A fast food place will churn through hard workers faster than Taco Bell can go through your digestive tract.

That's because that's how they run it. I'm just saying how I would run it lol they don't give a shit about hardworkers, they use em and abuse em. It isn't about being in the "fast food industry" it's a job and people can take pride in their job. Yeah the young dude will.probably leave but I rather take him under my wing for a year or so and help him start his life. Teach him to fish basically, where I'll be just feeding the homeless man. The kid has ambitions and it's good to helpnthe future. I'm not liking at this as a money thing or which will make me more money, I'm looking at it as how I can help them.
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Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

Some don't choose to be homeless... It's people like use right here proves that we wont even give the man a job either.

Hard worker for sure. And I'd at least double his pay and maybe offer additional incentives to him in order to try keeping him around.
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If a homeless man is actually willing to take a job I'm giving it to him.
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vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

Im surprised people actually think this. Shit just happens sometimes.
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Most homeless people have untreated mental illnesses that keep them from holding a job. So I'm not even really considering this an actual dilemma.

vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.

No. Take your hateful bullshit somewhere else.

LinkPizza posted...

vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

Im surprised people actually think this. Shit just happens sometimes.

True. But far more often, shit happens for very specific reasons.

This is a very good object lesson for people who think that all a homeless person needs to get back on their feet is a helping hand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams_(voice-over_artist)


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BlackScythe0 posted...

Most homeless people have untreated mental illnesses that keep them from holding a job.

Besides being a harmful stereotype towards the mentally ill, it's also not even remotely true. The actual projected number -- used by advocacy groups, no less -- is 20-25%
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.html

Which, by the way, isn't that much higher than the 20% for the general population, many of whom also either don't receive or seek treatment.
http://www.newsweek.com/nearly-1-5-americans-suffer-mental-illness-each-year-230608

ParanoidObsessive posted...

LinkPizza posted...

vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

Im surprised people actually think this. Shit just happens sometimes.

True. But far more often, shit happens for very specific reasons.

This is a very good object lesson for people who think that all a homeless person needs to get back on their feet is a helping hand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams_(voice-over_artist)

Pretty much. While a job can help somebody who is just down on their luck, others have prolonged substance abuse issue or make poor life choices that can keep landing them in similar circumstance.
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The homeless guy. The hardworker one would be best harnessed in a better establishment.

Hard worker, regardless of if homeless or not.
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This seems rather lopsided in favour of the "hard worker". Still it worked as I voted that. In reality though I'd probably give a job to a homeless person as they are more likely to stick around then a fresh out of school "hard worker". Simply because the job is worth more to them than a stop gap. Sure the training for the homeless person and all that might be the longer option but it's better than having to start the recruitment process all over again when the school leaver wants to leave within a short amount of time.
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Homeless guy, he seems lazy but honest

I dont trust the other fucker
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Hard worker... But that's because this is an 'either-or' situation. If I had just one job opening I'd take the best, but I'd also make sure said homeless person was informed about other job openings and, if he ever became the 'ideal' candidate for the job I wouldn't be opposed at all to hiring him.
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TaKun782 posted...

vocedelmorte posted...

Lets be honest, homeless man became that directly because he have chosen to not have a job or has shitty traits that wouldn't let him keep one.
And you better be hard worker if you work in fast food

Some don't choose to be homeless... It's people like us right here proves that we wont even give the man a job either.

Key word here is 'some'. Believe me i know what im talking about, there is always minimum wage jobs, but they dont want to work

The hard worker, obviously. I need someone who can get the job done right and with the best results.
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vocedelmorte posted...

Believe me i know what im talking about

Thank fuck you said that otherwise I'd have never believed you.
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Hard worker.

I have family who lost everything while fleeing from an ethnic cleansing and over a couple of generations were all upper-middle class because they worked hard and didn't just sit around whining, begging, or drinking away their troubles.
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Zangulus posted...

The homeless man. Hes not stupid enough to work for free illegally, potentially causing far more problems. And if hes that stupid, who knows what else hes fucking up.

Surprised it took this long to point out the huge liability there.

I didn't even read your setup for each person. I voted hard worker right away.

After reading them I'm 100% sure I'd pick the hard worker.
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new poll, would you rather hire someone you know, or someone who has the right credentials for the job?

both equal footing, you would need to train both.

I would think most people would answer the "correct" response by saying "someone who has the right credentials", but the reality is most people are where they are (especially in high-income jobs) because of networking, a PR term for corrupt hiring, which is also one step away from nepotism. I know people who have been denied jobs because they didn't know the hiring manager well enough for a publicly advertised position.

personally I'd hire the homeless guy. no one asked to be homeless, and opportunities are rare for people in their position. while I'd love to hire the guy who is willing to work hard for low pay, I am sure if he is as good as he is, someone will hire him. from a business perspective though, I'd probably hire both (the productivity of one will boost profits to cover the costs of the other) and encourage the homeless guy to find more meaningful work soon (if he is so awful at his job to be doing the bare minimum, they would have to be aware they are being outperformed - quid pro quo at the very least).
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