Masonry Magazine June 1998 Page. 24
Rich is a terrific employee. He's been with you awhile and always been reliable and responsible. He gets to work on time, doesn't question orders (at least to your face), and lately begun to show leadership skills. Better yet, the other guys on the crew are beginning to look to him as a leader. Now, you know these kind of guys don't come along everyday and it also happens that lately you've been far too swamped with the "business" end of things to pay much attention to the crews.
So you weigh the situation. You need a field leader - he's got potential - and your work-load sure isn't getting any lighter. True, he's a little rough around the edges (especially business-wise) but the good clearly outweighs the bad and you decide to offer him more of a leadership role in the company. You call him in, let him know your thoughts offer a modest raise and a company truck and he leaves your office enthusiastic and committed to his new role.
A week later he quits!
In your final talk, he relates problems and complaints that you'd never heard before negative things about his co-workers and the company. You take it in-shocked and a bit confused. You really never knew that there were so many things that annoyed him.
He finishes speaking. Your mind is swimming with all this new input, but you still manage to spit out that you really were unaware that so many things were bothering him, ask him why he didn't come to you sooner, and tell him you'd like a chance to remedy his concerns.
But, it's too late. He's already accepted the position with your competitor and, besides, you can tell by the tone of his voice that he's not going to stay. Frustrating? Read on...
The Problem
Investing in an employee whether it be bonuses, training, or other incentive is a paradox... and one of the thorniest decisions an owner/contractor has to make. On one hand, there's little argument that a company needs competent people to represent them, and yet once trained and recompensed, there is the very real peril of that employee having become cognizant of his or her new value and marketability searching elsewhere for what they perceive as greater opportunity.
Taking a Look Inward
So, what's the answer-stop training employees? Of course not. Not training your people is akin to giving up and if you own or run a contracting firm, you're probably not the type of person who gives up easily. Ok, so now what? Well, perhaps it's time for a little self-evaluation.
Ask yourself honestly, "why did Rich leave?" Your knee-jerk response might be, "Well, the ingrate left for more money plain and simple", yet in reality, there probably were other less obvious reasons that compelled Rich to do what he did. And surprisingly, those reasons likely had little to do with money or material incentive and everything to do with Rich's morale within the workplace poor morale that is which over time slowly but steadily eroded and undermined his self-esteem, motivation, and personal satisfaction.
"But I gave him a promotion ... and I paid for training", you say, "how much more self-esteem does the guy need?" Well unfortunately, although offering Rich elevated status in the company seemed like a grand gesture in your mind, it (and here's the hard part to swallow) may not have been enough to keep him motivated, content, and loyal to your company.... and the result was another turnover statistic.
Recognizing Turnover
as a "Real" Problem
There are two crucial considerations when discussing turnover.
■Employee turnover is a very real, tangible, and profit-depleting business liability dipping into profit dollars just as sure as a missed line-item on a bid or the correction of faulty carpentry work. As a matter of fact, the only viable difference is that poor morale (leading to turnover) is more ethereal more ghostly and therefore harder to visualize, grasp, and address than the more tangible items "bid miss" and poor trimwork items.
Increases in employee turnover are in direct relationship to and a product of poor worker morale. To stop turnover you need to first address and remedy its root cause- the poor morale - and the morale issues will not be addressed until you 1) admit that you have a problem and 2) be sincere, patient, and complete in providing remedy.
So, let's see if you have a problem. Consider the following questions:
■ Are people leaving the company with greater frequency than before?
■Has there been any increase in employee complaints or health claims?
Have you noticed greater absenteeism and poorer punctuality by workers
■ Have there been more spontaneous outbursts and disruptions by workers?
■What about the quality of the work ? Do they care as much as they use to?
If the answers alarm you, then you need to act now. Poor morale doesn't go away by itself. In fact, it's just the opposite. Besides offering up an extremely fertile breeding ground for employee turnover, poor morale only seems to grow with time - festering and contaminating everything in its path... if left unchecked.