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| Subject - Employee Motivation | |
| John A. Peters | Do your men work any better when you are there than when you are not not there? How would you know? |
| Mike Delaney | I know when I'm working on the job with my employees, the chit-chat is down, everyone is moving, and the job gets done. Some bosses like to talk alot too, bragging about jobs they are bidding, and complaining about other employees. I still think when the cats away the mice will play...but that's o.k....and that's life. |
| Mike Delaney | But....I quess that's not talking much about how to motivate employees. I've wondered about giving performance bonuses. We give one Christmas bonus now. What happens when you get a job that loses money? Or an employee breaks something and the customer won't pay their bill, or the constant rise of insuarance, and gas, etc...Sometimes extra money on jobs is needed to cover the jobs that don't do so well...Will you dock the employees pay if he can't get the job done on time, or makes a customer angry?....Just curious. Maybe a performance bonus will keep people hopping?? |
| ecarbine | Hi John, I agree, I think the Greenbacks are a huge motivator, But I think it is human nature to want to be recognized for deeds well done. I am currently trying to come up with a rewards and recognition policy as we speek so any suggestions would be very haelpful Ed |
| zol_man | Have you guys thought about using an open book management system. i have heard about it but have not looked into it yet. there are percentages spelled out for compensation and who gets what up front. if there is extra profit then it also gets divide by the preset formula. this might be a motivator for employees who se that the profit can come to them, but also be withdrawn if job losses wipe out the profits previously generated. |
| wilkie | We run a form of open book management and I also have incentive based pay plans. They are key components to keeping employees motivated, but it is not as simple as sticking a carrot out. More importantly, it allows them the insight into the risk and limited return the owner is involved in. I give each employee a snapshot of whatever they would like to know. It not only lets them see that they already are compensated well, but that I am also on the battlefield with them. As their leader, they need to know that you have vision, and a plan to take the company in the right direction. Through open book management we can all share in where we're at, where we want to go, the milestones necessary to get there, a team approach to meeting our goals, and yes, the rewards we share along the way. You will find that your employees yearn for this respect, trust, and team approach. Who doesn't want someone to ask his or her opinion? Is it better for our company for me to tell a tech what needs to be done, or is it better for everyone involved for me to constructively set the direction and mission of the company and inlist the help of qualified, goal oriented team members. Don't miss the forest for the trees. Your employees want to work for the same type of company that you want to own. They want to play for the winning team. They want to drive nice, clean fully stocked trucks. They want to take advantage of training opportunities. They actually want more than you probably do, and its not really about money. Thats just how we all keep score. "In order to get what you want, you need to help enough other people get what they want." Zig Ziglar |
| Mike Delaney | wilkie, That sounds like good incentive. Today I gave one of our guys a raise. He's been with our company for one year, he's a second year jourymen doing primarily residential new construction. He makes $21.00/hr, which in Fort Collins CO, that's not to bad, 6 paid holidays, 1 week paid vacation, and a Christmas bonus. We are a small company, which I think makes it hard to keep uping there pay. I felt bad I couldn't give him more than a dollar raise, but you can always can find cheap labor to wire houses. I think I'm going to start getting into more commercial work to facilate employees that wuold like to make more, plus the company too. I'm defenetely going to keep an open mind. |
| zol_man | Jamie, Great post! Gentlemen, dont forget that your people can only do for you what they do for themselves. this pertains to asperations, personal responsability, finances, and general character. if you hsve a good guy, try to keep him and mold him inyour way of doing business. i have been told things about employee relations that i said i would never do, be there banker, therapist, etc. well i did them(banker) and it turned out just like the story of the person that told me his. now that person no longer works for me and is out of touch! shame on me, i know, for letting more money go than what is in his next paycheck. you still try to do helpfull things for your guys because they help you with your business. if this was easy everyone would be doing it. hopefully we can all share our experiences to better our own individual companies. in fellowship, carl |
| Speedwire1 | First of all...zol man...thank you for letting me know about this site. You were right on the mark concerning the quality of the people you have been dealing with here. They are the best of the best, and I'm sure we will all be able to learn a lot from each other. Second...employee relations and motivation are one of the most difficult things in this business as far as I'm concerned. You really do have to do more than throw money at them. I had to give someone a $4.00 p/hr raise one time (long story) and he didn't even show up or call the next day...Ouch! That told me all I needed to know about him right there. It also reminded me that money can only be part of it. I look forward to some of the motivations that people will be posting, as it has always been a mystery to me how you can really keep your employees stimulated, and do the best you can for them. As far as helping an employee out with money, I have done it a couple of times myself. To the best of my recollection, at least on the two times that come to mind, I was not paid back in full either time. It's bad policy, but you hate to make your employees feel like your not interested in their well being. It's a slippery slope indeed. Thanks again to all. I look forward to your responses. Chris |
| John A. Peters | I found this reply from Jamie earlier in this thread. Lets explore what he is sayingquote: Run accounting reports for them. (If you mean sales reports this year vs last year on a per day, per week and year to date bassis and give them part of the action? If so, then what is the formula? Set company goals (the direction and mission of the company ) and help them achieve them. (This sounds like a mission statement. Any one care to share thers?) Provide nice, clean fully stocked trucks. (Maybe with a GPS so you don't have to have a garage to store them?) Provide training opportunities.]/i] (Code classes, use of flat rate books, estimating, right?) [i]Help them get what they want. (When you ask them what they want, what have you found?) |
| John A. Peters | [quote]Originally posted by wilkie We run a form of open book management and I also have incentive based pay plans. They are key components to keeping employees motivated, but it is not as simple as sticking a carrot out. More importantly, it allows them the insight into the risk and limited return the owner is involved in. I wonder if you could share a bid more here? |
| electroman | I have never been on the contracting end, but to share one experience I had may help with your question. As an apprentice, I worked for a shop which had two people running the business. One of them wouldn't acknowledge that you existed, and the other one had nothing positive to say about any employee that was there. Towards the end of my apprenticeship I had an opportunity to leave for something better and having felt I wasn't very welcomed were I was at didn't see any reason to stay. When I left, they gave me a hard time about it even though in my mind they weren't satisfied with anything I had done for them. I guess what I'm getting at is if you want to keep dedicated employees it isn't only monetary rewards that keep an employee around, but they need to feel that they are an important member of the team. Treat people the way you would like to be treated and it will solve alot of your employee problems. |
| stedder | You can't motivate somereone who doesn't want to be motivated I've seen employees work harder at finding a way to not do something than to just go ahead and get it done, imo they go a.s.a.p. and you look for some one who wants to work send the slackers to mickie dees, I know that's not motivation 'cept for the fact that if you screw off (not up) your're done. Everybody makes mistakes and if you are any judge of human nature, the difference is obvious (between a mistake and a screw off). And yea, knowledge is power responsibility and proper guidance leads to knowledge,and by guidance I mean correct a mistake by working with the person and the worthwhile employee will seek knowledge because they understand the direction of the guidance. Maybe this is too transplendent! Ommmmm |
| D.O.A | Hey guys great posts. I'm not even an electricain but i have been introuced to Audiotronics at a school in Orlando. I know that in my feild that the school i attend has a placement department. My degree consist of Audio Engineering but there must be electrical colleges as well. I would get in touch with those schools and take on a few graduates as interns and menitor them into a good mold of how you do things. All they lack is the doing they have the theory even the newest theorys but the need experience to get to the jobs that take years of experience. You can learn from each other. It's about allowing your workers the chance to learn and apply what you've taught them. but that's from a student but an old student 31. The money helps pay the bills but a stagnate job leads you into starving for a change. Just a thought |
| wilkie | 1) I show and educate them on where we get every dollar and where we spend it. 2) Our company goals include our sales objectives, and how we intend to reach them. 3) I personally believe in GPS and the employee takes the vehicle home. I would rather have the exposure in the community than have them in a locked yard somewhere. 4)Training opportunities would include anything that helps the employee reach his/her goals. We provide sales and technical training, but if someone wants to better themselves by taking a class in the community, once passed we will reimburse them. 5) They want to be professional, treated with respect, and given an opportunity to succeed. |
| dcid420 | This is a great topic, hears my opinion from the point of view of an electrician that actually likes to work. in the company I used to work for, there were the guys that worked, and the guys that slacked off. The only guys that got bonuses were the formen, and Im not sure how the amount was determined. As for the workers, there was no bonuses, but definatly "perks". If you were a guy that cared about your work, and about getting the job done, and you had to take a personal day off, or go home early for any reason, it was paid for. If you need a few boxes and some wire for a small side job, just take it, no problems. When I had to have surgery on my ear (non job related injury), my project manager and forman called to see how I was doing, and told me to take as much time off as I needed, with pay (no vacation time used). I think that its those little "perks" that show the good guys that we're appreciated, and that does wonders for moral. As for the slackers, If they were 15 minutes late, they were written up. If they needed a personal day off, they either didnt get paid, or had to take a vacation day. One hand washes the other. On another note, there was a forman in out company, that thankfully I never had to work for, that tacked up a pick slip in the trailer for every guy on the job, and tried to scare his crew to work hard. Not to mention he was a hack. Needless to say, those were miserable guys, that didnt respect there forman. The jobs did get done, and some did make a profit, because of him cutting corners, but not because of a productive crew. One day while killing a 30 pack in the trailer, the project manager said that hands down, giving "perks" to the good guys is well worth the investment, because its the good guys that make the company the millions. dave |