I had a client once who went through new staff every six months. As you can imagine, it was near impossible to help this company grow with that kind of turn over. As much as we tried, we could not help this owner keep a staff that was willing to work with him for more than 6 months. After each departure this owner refused to look in the mirror and see he was the problem. The more I work with Restoration Contractors, the more I notice the issue with keeping good staff, and the fault always tracks to the top. Here are a few themes I have seen lead to high turn over:
Lack of defined vision
Employees don’t know what the vision for the future is, so the pain of the present has no perceived pay off. Communicate often what you see as the future for your company with all your staff members.
Lack of appreciation
Each person wants to have a sense of accomplishment. When employees are told continually they are not meeting your expectations, they start to believe effort is meaningless. Appreciation goes a long way in driving performance and keeping people working with you. Just a small “good job” can have a lasting effect.
Lack of consistency
People want to feel they know how to operate. If you are constantly shifting your priorities and your standards then your staff won’t know which end is up. If an employee feels like they constantly have to relearn policies and procedures, they’ll be tempted to go somewhere where they can focus on their work rather than learning the new rules. Try to keep some consistency in how you operate and you will keep your staff. If you do need to make a change, communicate the how and especially the why openly and often.
Consistency of staffing helps to save your company money because hiring and training are expensive activities. Taking some smalls steps like those above can help your restoration company to become a place where people want to work.
