One of the greatest problems in the business world today is keeping qualified and trained employees.  This is not restricted to any industry or type of business.  It affects Food service, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, banking, and other service companies.  Before proceeding with this discussion, some terms need to be identified and parameters put in place.

An employee is someone who works for you.  For the purposes of this discussion, this includes hourly, salaried, commissioned, and contract-type workers.  Anyone that receives money from you or your company for products or services.  Admit that it costs money to retrain every person that works for you.  Even if you will not acknowledge this point, it does.

Qualified workers are those that will come to work, spend the full business day concentrating on your business, not their own, and not complain about everything that a customer or fellow employee does or says.  They are qualified to be productive and efficient and not waste time and money.

Training costs money.  The fast-food worker who fries the hamburgers has to be trained.  It may not take as much time and money as the machinist or the surgeon, but training is still needed.  Constantly replacing and training workers is an expense that cannot be eliminated.  However, it can often be reduced by keeping good people.

The main criteria for employee wages are, how much are they worth to you?  Many times, this is not determined when they approach you about leaving your company.  They have an offer from another firm and the pay is more to start than you currently provide them.  You should rarely have this kind of conversation with the people that you desire to retain.  I only left a company because they did not treat me properly. Those were not financial concerns. Only those that do not operate to your high standards should be looking or considering leaving.

What are some of the questions that need to be asked to determine what an employee is worth to your business?  Management or ownership may forget some of these factors.

What is the total cost to the company for this employee?  Wage, training, benefits, and other standard costs are often all that are thought of.  What about the cost associated with lost time, accidents, sick days, theft, and other intangibles that may be difficult to count?

Can this employee do more than he or she is currently responsible for?  When a worker is responsible for little, they may appear not to be worth as much as they could be.  What if this person was given the opportunity to be a lead worker, supervisor, or manager?  This can often be determined by trying them before promoting them.

My first position as a purchasing agent was on a six-month trial basis. My pay was not increased, and I was told I would receive an increase after the six-month period. I agreed to this. At the end of six months, the owner of the company that had made the agreement with me told me I would be given a pay raise as usual on my employment anniversary. I left there four weeks later for another purchasing agent position. I was with that company for twenty-five years.

This brings up the question, how much would my competition pay to get this person? I later met my old boss and his current Purchasing Agent. I had hired and trained that man.

Does this employee have training or knowledge that would be difficult or impossible to find in others?

Is there a way that raises and increases in benefits can be tied to increasing productivity?  This is done in sales and other professions.  Can you use it for office employees or other staff that normally do not receive incentive-based wages?

Are there values gained by working at your company that is not shown on the check stub?  Is your management staff easy to work for and with?  Do your workers think of their supervisors and bosses as friends or just the one that is always on them?  Are the communication lines wide open?  Can complaints and suggestions be made easily?

Remember the company I stayed at for twenty-five years? I began as PA and was promoted to inside sales, office manager, outside sales, and left as operations manager. My boss, the Branch Manager chased off many good people in the twenty years she held that position. I worked with her for twenty years. What would I have been able to accomplish if I had not been forced to leave after she died?

I managed people, documents, departments, and even branches. Over the decades I was chased away and terminated by many poor managers and owners. I asked for pay increases when they were promised and not given, and never threatened to leave. When I gave my notice, it was because I had not been treated as I should have been and already had another position.

My experience and talent were well rewarded when I left my long-time employer and returned to purchasing. I began as a buyer. Three months later I was promoted to Purchasing Supervisor. When I retired, my title was Purchasing Manager. I tell people that I have occupied both sides of the purchasing desk.

Answer each of the questions I have asked. Don’t assume that employees are leaving because the pay is low. Avoid the reputation of a company that matches other offers. Avoid rehiring former employees that left you for better pay. They almost always leave again when there is another better offer.

I had one employee that I rehired three different times. He was a hard worker and only wanted to work part-time. We laid him off each time because my boss thought someone else that would work full-time would be better at his job. This was never the case. I’ll talk more about my management philosophy in another column.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger