Leadership is an important component of all successful HVAC, plumbing, and electrical independent contracting companies. But a strong and mature leader is one who desires to mentor, grow, and cultivate future leaders that are following in their footsteps. While recruiting great coworkers is always an important part of growing a company, it is also vitally important that leaders cultivate leadership skills in longtime and loyal coworkers that have been part of their company team through good and bad.

In a classic Lennox dealer meeting video, the Lennox territory manager encourages Dealer Jack to provide training for his technicians.

“What if I train them and they leave?” exclaims Dealer Jack.

“What if you don’t and they stay?” counters the TM.

As amazing as it seems, many small businesses hesitate to invest in training for their employees. They would rather retain ignorance than to risk losing competence. The irony is that by training, they do neither.

Recruiting and keeping good employees, especially service techs, is the most difficult thing I know of in the PHC service business. I’m sure that Blau Sudden Services has a better track record than most firms in the industry, simply because we offer one of the best compensation and benefits packages to be found anywhere. Our service technicians have been here an average of seven years, with two at the 23-year mark in tenure. Office personnel average five years of service, with a couple in the 10-year range.

But our track record of employee retention is hardly ideal. Several months ago we lost a service tech that had been with us for close to 20 years. This was an eye-opener to me…

In the fall of 1990, while listening to my mentor Frank Blau, I asked the questions, “When should I add a truck? When will I know it’s time to grow?” Frank looked me dead in the eye and said, “You should always be looking to grow. If you’re not growing — you’re dying.”

It’s no secret this past year has been different. This year, nearly everyone has been focused on staying alive. Congratulations! You made it this far alive. Know that many competitors around you are nearly out, or have gone out, of business. This is a growing opportunity for you. Let me explain how to grow when others are merely surviving:

I can’t help but peek across the parking lot to see if I can recognize any faces through the window of the supply house. Not always, but most of the time I can see the same guys jawing at the counter who were there when I’d go in to buy my supplies. They’re still driving the same trucks, wearing the same uniforms, having the same conversations about how business is down.

The only thing that’s changed for most of these guys is the color of their hair.

What these guys don’t realize is that they’re only verifying to one another that it’s okay for business to be slow. The thought among the group is that as long as times are slow for everyone, doing less business is okay.

No, this has nothing to do with the number of forks in an employee‚Äôs family tree. Employee Inbreeding occurs when a company continuously recruits candidates that are virtual clones of the existing employee base. It‚Äôs only natural for us to gravitate towards those who share the same likes and interests as we do. When hiring for your team, job candidates who ‚Äúclick‚Äù and ‚Äúfit in‚Äù with the established workplace culture often seem like the best candidates for your job opening. Many times these candidates have been referred to you as …

In fact, 66% of businesses believe it is “very difficult” to find qualified employees. Only 6% claimed to have “no problem”. “What can I do to find quality employees?” you ask. That’s where we come in! After doing extensive research, we found there are a number of things you can do to find quality employees and determine if they will “fit” in your company culture. Read on for more.
Where Quality Employees Look for Jobs
I think it’s safe to say we all wish there was a magical place all quality employees go! …