Acquiring and Motivating New Employees

One comment I hear a lot is “I can’t find anyone who wants to work!” or “I can’t get my employees motivated!” I’ve always said, “Manage processes, not people”. If you have the right processes in place, with the right people, include the right motivating factors, they won’t need someone to tell them what they need to do, they will already know and they will want to do it, the right way. One of the best articles I ever read about getting better employees was “Business Buzz” by Tom Grandy in last month’s issue, titled, “The Tech Shortage is Really a Pricing Problem!”. I encourage you to find it and read it. Mr. Grandy points out that increasing employee pay and benefits, plus, transitioning over to a flat rate pricing system, is a very simple way to encourage potential employees to come work for you. Want the best employees showing up at your door? Be the best place to work by offering the best pay and benefits anywhere! Since Mr. Grandy did such an awesome job pointing out how to get people showing up wanting to work for you, I will focus on motivational factors of new employees. Over 44% of the workforce in HVAC will retire in the next ten years*. That will leave a huge hole in an industry whose employment needs are projected to grow 21% through 2022*, faster than any other occupation! So now we have an aging workforce leaving with a new generation of workers coming in with a set of different motivating factors and different goals. We need to be ready to handle this. Below is a report put out by “The Intelligence Group” a business investigations and intelligence firm. Here are the results of a study about millennials in 2015; • Will make up more than 40% of the workforce by 2020 • 64% of them say it’s a priority for them to make the world a better place. • 72% would like to be their own boss. But if they do have to work for a boss, 79% of them would want that boss to serve more as a coach or mentor. • 88% prefer a collaborative work-culture rather than a competitive one. • 74% want flexible work schedules. • 88% want “work-life integration,” which isn’t the same as work-life balance, since work and life now blend together inextricably. • 80% said they use social media and the internet as a primary source of news and information. • 64% would rather make $40,000 per year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring. How do these statistics apply to an HVAC business? Since I am limited in space for this article, I cannot get into great detail or specifics, but I will say that all of these factors have to be taken into consideration when hiring and managing employees. For example, since 88% prefer a collaborative work culture rather than a competitive one, set up goals and contests that reward the team along with individual compensation. As far as offering flexible work schedules, I already know of several contractors who have set up four-day work weeks, allowing a longer period of time off. Some employees may not mind working four, ten or twelve hour days if they could get a long weekend. Since they consider work and personal life blended, a company should consider having the employees spouse or family involved in company activities if possible. Insight into a person’s workday may help the spouse have a better understanding into what is really going on every day. I would also highly recommend that your set of work rules and employee handbook be rewritten by the employees every 2-3 years simply to get input from the team. If they made the rules, they are more likely to agree and go along with them. Being that social media and the internet is such a big part of their life, make the use of technology as part of their jobs. Everything an employee should need to perform their job should be made available when they need it. Those who have the most information always do best. I encourage you to look at some of the technologies available that make it easier for employees to do their jobs by having the information they need to do it available through a link online. If you don’t know where to find these systems, go to my website at frankpresents.com. I have a list of various resources that will help. We have to begin looking at people differently. Getting people to do something just for the pay isn’t enough. The employees of today and the future want more, they want to have some control over their routines, they want some say into the future of the company they work for, they want to have more time with their family and they want to feel like it isn’t just work. They want to have access to information when they need it. They want to believe what they do makes a difference. They want to be proud of what they do and enjoy doing it. Changing everything to meet the needs of the future workforce doesn’t happen in a day. A few steps at a time will eventually get you there. Focusing on the needs of your team has to be a priority, because if it isn’t, you wind up with people who just show up to get paid, instead of driven, hard-working team members who want to win. Start making the change by asking and talking about what they want to see or do differently. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn.