You have a promising young employee. He or she punches in, works hard all day, giving you a good effort. That’s right now. But you wonder what the future holds. Will this gung-ho worker lose enthusiasm and turn into a so-so performer? Will he or she go out looking for another job, leaving you with the difficult task of finding another worker who will give an equal effort?
You’re anxious because you were lucky to find someone so conscientious. This is the kind of person you know you could build your business with if you could count on them to stick around and stay fired up about the work. If only you had workers who could carry a load, you’d expand the services you offer and buy that new truck you’ve been dreaming about.
But you also know the realities that have dogged your business in the past: Many workers don’t find the respect, the reward and the satisfaction they seek pumping septic tanks and cleaning grease traps. And as a small business owner, you know you can’t offer the type of salary or opportunities of advancement a bigger company can.
It may help to know that you’re not alone. Over the years I’ve heard many pumping contractors bemoan the fact that they can’t keep good employees, or simply can’t keep them motivated enough to turn them into big-time company assets.
You’d like to think every one of your employees is just as motivated as you are to get up in the morning and do a good job every day. But that’s just not realistic. Nobody will work as long, as hard and carefully as the small business owner. That’s just the way it is and it’s never going to change.
So what can you do to light a fire under the butts of your best employees? How can you convince a young septic service technician that this field — and your company, in particular — offers a long-term career option worth pursuing? Here’s a recipe for success to gain a greater commitment to excellence and loyalty from your company’s best and brightest workers:
Show them this is a profession.
In an industry that doesn’t generally get the respect it deserves, you need to always look for ways to stress that your company is on the front lines providing important environmental services. The industry includes scientists, engineers, and ever-more-technical equipment that demands trained technicians. If it weren’t for pumpers, the country would face many more problems with unsafe drinking and groundwater and would be threatened by disease.
Back up the important environmental message by providing continuing education and technical certification opportunities. Involve your workers with trade groups like the National Association of Wastewater Transporters and hook them up with top technicians in related fields. Let them network with professionals in related industries, learning from onsite system installers, treatment plant operators and the like.
Take your best employees along to the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International. I’ve heard the story many times of the pumper who brought a young employee to the Expo as a reward for hard work. The employee is amazed by the breadth and depth of the liquid waste industry, the quality of the other pumpers he’s met, and blown away by the equipment and technology on display. Seeing the spectacle of the Expo can help transform a guy who pumps waste into an environmental professional.
Show them the money.
If they’re truly professionals, pay them like professionals. Take a good, hard look at how you’re rewarding employees financially and compare your company to other local employers. Put yourself in your employee’s place; would you be excited by the wages you pay?
Sweetening the money pot doesn’t have to mean strictly paying more per hour or per week. In fact, creative ways to build on the salary package may have a bigger impact at convincing good workers to stick around.
As you can afford it, how about giving large year-end bonuses based on how well the employee performs? A top performer might have to think twice about leaving for another opportunity in June if he knows a significant bonus awaits him in December if he sticks around.
Or you might consider a more radical approach by starting a profit-sharing program or even giving a small piece of the business to an outstanding employee. Talk to your accountant and a small business consultant about how you might structure either type of program for a special employee who you deem is critical to the long-term success of your business.
The other way to pay great employees is through a Cadillac benefits package. In these days of soaring health insurance costs, this is easier said than done. But if you can provide health insurance, life insurance or vacation benefits that beat other companies in your area, it might convince top workers to stay put. Better pay and benefits than they can find elsewhere for similar work is often aptly referred to as “golden handcuffs.”
Pile on the responsibilities.
The next time you purchase a new service vehicle, involve your topnotch driver in the process, and turn the keys over to him when the rig arrives. Show your loyalty in the form of a sweet ride (don’t skimp on the comfort features) and your driver is likely to show more loyalty to you. As an added benefit, a worker is likelier to pamper a dedicated rig, and his “ownership” of the truck will show other employees what’s possible if they dedicate themselves to the job.
Maybe there’s a new service you’ve been itching to add to your offerings. Don’t take on the task of training, marketing and equipping your employees by yourself. This might be the perfect opportunity to ask your top performer to step up and help in the effort. Let the employee study the market for the new service. Give him the time to research the equipment you’ll need to do the job right. When the time comes to ramp up the new service, ask the employee to coordinate training sessions for other workers. Soon the motivated worker will be running that division of the company and thriving on management responsibilities.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
All this talk of sharing profits and turning over critical company responsibilities is heady stuff for a small business owner used to making all of the decisions. Certainly you need to be wary of “giving away the farm” to an employee who might not prove to be a top performer over the long haul. You must demand accountability and performance. And you must leave yourself an out, a process to reverse any bold initiatives you start.
There are risks to giving greater roles to your best employees. But as an entrepreneur, you know that great risk sometimes leads to great reward. What if empowering that great young worker yields a fat new revenue stream, or results in a dedicated 20-year employee/manager?
