I Wonder Who’s Gonna Show Up Today?

Dear Jayme,

My competitors are always hiring away my good employees. What can I do?
Max

 
Dear Max:

Aside from the business impact, it hurts to lose someone you’ve worked with and probably grown to like having around. It feels like a betrayal. Your employees are voting with their feet, and you’re losing the election.

First, a universal truth or three:
 

•     Perception is reality-It’s not how things really are that matters. It’s how your employees perceive how things are, and how they perceive your competitors. If they believe the grass is greener over there, it is greener. Fair? Nope. True? Yep.
•     People don’t leave a good situation for a worse one-If they’re going to your competitors, they see something there that’s better than what you have to offer. No matter how well you think you treat them, they only leave if they believe there’s a significantly better situation elsewhere.
•     Lack of complaining does not necessarily equal happy campers-Just because you’re not hearing any complaints doesn’t mean your people are thrilled with their working situation. I bet you thought those people who quit were happy just before they left too, huh?

So what do you do to prevent it from happening again (or at least, less often)?
 

•     Gather lots of information:
•         From the departed-Call a couple of the good ex-employees and buy them lunch. Make it clear that you’re not angry and that this isn’t an attempt to hire them back. Tell them that you’d just appreciate hearing what made your business less appealing than your competitor.  And did the new job turn out to be what they thought it would when they left you?
•         From the loyalists-Have a regular meeting with your employees to talk about what’s on their minds-what’s working, what isn’t, etc. The meetings should be mandatory, during regular business hours and paid. You should also establish ground rules so everyone understands the purpose of the meeting and what is and isn’t acceptable and that what they say won’t be held against them.
•         From the street-Staying a step ahead of your competition begins with knowing where they are. What are they paying? Are they hiring or laying off? Are their suppliers dogging them for payment? What benefits do they offer? Are they known for being honest, or not? Are their employees happy? What’s their turnover rate? Are they booked solid or hungry for business? And gather anything else you can find out.  Aside from keeping yourself competitive to retain your employees, this information is essential to keep you in the game.
•     Beat your competitors: Now you should know what your employees want and what your competitors are offering. You can now create a working environment that gives your employees the sense that they’d be nuts to work anyplace else.
•         The things that make a difference are often easy and inexpensive.
•         It’s the whole package that makes your place desirable, not any one thing.
•         You won’t make everybody happy all the time.
•         Don’t assume that you know what’s important to your employees.
•         You’ll still lose employees, but a lot less of the good ones.

Yes, this stuff takes time, energy and resources. But it’s peanuts compared to both the dollar cost of losing (and then finding, hiring and training) qualified people and the emotional cost to you of wondering every morning who’s going to show up and who’s not.

And as usual, this problem isn’t a mystery and the answer isn’t rocket science. Unless you’re a complete jerk as a boss, in which case no amount of communication or process can overcome your impact. All bets are off and I’d encourage your employees to run screaming out the door.

 

Construction Business Owner, April 2006