Back in November of 2023, I discussed building a team, or at least my approach to building a team.  This month, I’d like to cover keeping that team together. Regardless of how big your company is, I think the most important element of maintaining a team is to be acutely aware that your employees are human. Run a company that you’d really like to work for if you were the one receiving paychecks, instead of writing them.

I’m not a perfect business owner, but my goal is to be a better owner today than I was yesterday. Nor is my company’s benefits package perfect either. For example, I’m working on getting a company-sponsored retirement plan set up, and it’s taking longer than I’d like to admit.

Workplace Roulette

An observation struck me a while ago while watching the NFL draft with my son. Pro sports franchises trade people like I traded baseball cards as a kid. Employees in the real world have greater control over where they’ll go than a fourth round NFL pick, but we’re seeing much of the same team-hopping in the private sector.  

Technicians will spend 12 or 18 months with one company before going to a competitor, and it’s not uncommon to see them return to their previous employer within a few years.  

Is this a symptom of a discontent society? Yes. Could it also be indicative of an employer who doesn’t listen or put his or her people first? Again, yes. In most cases, it’s a bit of both.  

Every paragraph in the typical employee manual was written because, once upon a time, an employee deceived, scammed, or took advantage of the employer. These actions were likely justified in the mind of the employee. The question isn’t whether those actions were justified or not.  The question should be, “Why would someone do that?”  

Sure, there are bad apples, but the vast majority of trade professionals want to be paid fairly, treated with respect, and receive benefits that help them raise a family and retire.  

I’d be willing to bet that some companies have a great deal more trouble with people leaving on bad terms than others, and the differentiating factor is the quality of management at the firm.  

The Employee Experience

I believe that the better you treat your people, the more successful you’ll be at retaining them. I’m not just talking about pay, either. I’d pay my associates a million dollars a year if I could. But I can’t, and they know that.  The “employee experience” extends beyond pay.  

I do what I can to improve that experience. Here’s an example.

A lot of the work we do is in the recreational space, which includes water parks, commercial swimming pools, etc.  In this corner of the industry, the week before Memorial Day is known as “Hell Week.”  Everybody is trying to open their pools for the holiday, and summer break is about to kick off.  The phone rings off the hook.

Instead of falling victim to Hell Week, we hustle the weeks leading up to the holiday, check and double check that our customers’ facilities are ready, and then we enjoy the holiday. On the Friday before Memorial Day, our techs were done working at 11 a.m., and they were paid for a full eight hours. By noon we were all at my house drinking beer and eating BBQ.

On the last workday before a holiday, our associates work half a day but receive full pay. This year, July 4th was on a Thursday, so we took the 4th and 5th off, paid.

It’s consistently doing the small things that can really make the difference in an employee’s experience at work.  Our crew hustled hard in May, so everyone got a bonus in their paycheck.  

Mutual Respect

As the employer, you also have to respect that your employees are adults with lives outside of work.  Interacting with team members should in no way resemble the relationship between a teacher and a middle schooler. Team members should know that if they need personal time, it’s available to them. They shouldn’t have to beg for it. In return, they should respect you enough to avoid taking advantage of that flexibility.  

Giving a team member time to handle personal issues gives them the sense that they’re part of a work family, which should be the case.  

We all have a business to run and money to make, so, for example, it’s never an opportune time for a child or a parent to get sick. When it happens, employers need to respect personal time. Communication is key here.  

Many of the management/employee issues I witnessed before being self-employed were silly. If there’s an issue, talk to the employee. Most issues can be solved easily enough when the problem is laid out in the open. Don’t lose a good person over something stupid.

As the business owner, it’s as important for me to show the crew that I’m here for them, just like they’re here for me. I hear from other business owners that doing this will lead to their employees taking advantage of them. I’ve found that if I’m doing the best I can and an employee takes advantage, that’s an employee that shouldn’t be on the team.

If an employee doesn’t respect a good business owner, they’re unlikely to respect their coworkers. In such a case, keeping them onboard is a disservice to the rest of the team. Likewise, hiring the wrong people is a disservice to your team.   

Hiring For The Team

Technical skills aren’t the number one consideration when we hire new talent. Sure, it’s a factor, but I want to know what their values are. You can train most intelligent people to do a specific task, but it’s nearly impossible to instill new values. I need to know that a new hire will fit my team. 

I want to know when, how and why they left their last position. I ask about their previous co-workers. If the potential hire is negative about their past few positions, employers, and colleagues, they’re likely to be the common negative denominator.  

There are other attributes I’m looking for, too. Do they want to be a team member? Is their family life important to them? Do they have work/life balance?  Are they passionate?

If someone is passionate and you can channel that passion into the company vision and direction, it makes all the difference in the world.  

Passionate people that have balance in their life and look forward to becoming a team member are the kind of people I want to introduce to my employees. After all, I’m hiring as much for my team as I am for myself. If I improve my business through the right hire, I improve the work experience of my existing employees.

Benefits

While I have yet to set up a retirement package, my team members have good vacation, flexibility, and solid healthcare. We pay 100 percent of their healthcare costs.  

We also have a disability insurance plan. If someone gets injured at work or at home, they can choose between short-term or long-term disability payout. We pay 100 percent of this, and the employee elects how much disability they want, and for how long. The money comes out of payroll deduction and the employee doesn’t pay taxes on this money.  

We are currently looking at retirement plan options. In the meanwhile, I’ll keep trying to improve every day. My employees do, so I owe them the same.