Keeping top-notch employees in a high turnover field can be a real challenge.
What to do? Consider strategies employed by one business. The two owners started their home and commercial repair business because, as landlords of rental properties, they were frustrated when they had to call three different people in order to get a job done. The drywaller was always waiting on the electrician, and the electrician was always waiting on the plumber — and nobody was satisfied.
So they created a company that coordinated skilled services for other commercial and residential businesses. They have found that keeping quality, dependable employees is essential to their success.
Before they started their repair business, the two owners had several decades of experience being on the other end as employees. They had some bad bosses and some great bosses. As employers, they wanted their own employees to feel they were trusted to handle problems without micromanaging.
Here are several tips from the owners for retaining employees:
And the payoff for the repair business? One of the owners explained it this way: “We believe the employees are more productive, happier and more willing to give the extra effort when we need it. If I tell them that we have a job that we can only do on Saturday or Sunday, they readily pitch in to get it done.”