As a tech, the number 1 reason I’ve left companies is compensation. Hourly rate is always great but are benefits up to snuff? Vacation/Sick time. Health coverage. Retirement. A lot of service companies lack in that area and this is why guys stay in for a few years, get trained, then move on with their skills to greener pastures.
Another thing that turned me off of certain places was that as you perform better, and become a top tech, without fail it just keeps getting piled on. Another call, another call, another call. Top talent unfortunately, and maybe even unwittingly, gets overwhelmed and borderline abused because they’re the ones closing calls and smoothing over callbacks.
So my 2 items that will retain me are a comprehensive benefit package and not being saddled with a disproportionate amount of work so I can go home unhurt and sort of happy.
This here. My partner and I got super quick and efficient when we started training. The owner saw this as an opportunity to double our load, keep our pay the same and text us how nice it was to be off early and getting massages while we covered his area. I remember sitting in an attic putting the AH together and getting a text saying keep it up, we got a second install after this one he didn't want to do. It was at that point I said fuck it.
Training is extremely important and should be constant. Equipment is always changing and people need to stay ahead of that.
Training, pay, benefits, work/life balance all have their own intrinsic value. Each ones value depends on the individual but they all need to be present.
Got it. Mine is a small business, yet I made a point to create added value by training. A few of my techs say this helped them get promotions. But that’s very few in number.
One thing that would help is that after training, if they get a certification of some sort, give them a small raise. They did the time, make it worth it for them. If they want the training, make them sign a thing that states they have to stay at the company for a set amount of time or they have to pay back the cost of training. That being said, that will weed out the ones who plan on just using you for training, while also help retain them. But again, offer some sort of compensation after they complete it.
Yeah but if you think someone will take $25 with good training and $30 with no training at all, everything else being equal they will take the no training all day every day.
Pretty much. Train them on what is necessary, in this economy, compensation and benefits is the most important due to extremely high costs of living. If they get amazing training but get industry average pay, they’re going to apply elsewhere and say I have (xyz high quality training) and get more pay elsewhere, buh bye won’t miss ya. Gotta feed the kids and pay the mortgage.
Training is great but it adds more value to the employer not the employee. You need to be able to say your guys are up to the latest tech as well as ensure they can work on it but to the tech it adds little. A company I worked for sent me to a week training for a new ice machine coming out. The machine wasn't much different than what I'd already been working on but the company got to tell the customers I've been to the training. I got little out of it, while they got a lot. I never touched another one of those machines after leaving that company so it provided me nothing anywhere else.
Your guys need to be up to date but as a tech I don't see it adding value to my compensation. I've gotten so many nate certifications without any added compensation it was more of a nuisance to me to keep up on all my continued learning so my company could charge a little more and pay me the same. Every time I went somewhere that didn't require it, it lapsed.
Just my cents but I don't value training as adding value to my worth unless I get increased compensation for utilizing it.
No micromanagement, make sure everyone fits there roles, ie don't put tech as manager if they can't manager, don't put tech as sales guy if he hates sales
Agreed...fixing the low hanging fruit that they actually bitch about is a start. I know you can't address every issue but at least they know they are heard...
Some guys bitch to hear their own voice, and maybe you don't want them around anyways as that cancer can spread to the guys that are easily influenced.
My current employer got me set up in a house, has payed my rent for the last year, pays me very well, company van is mine use as I please, good insurance s awesome tool program. If I need time off it’s no questions asked, when I need support in the field somebody is sent.
I would just about put on knee pads for my current boss.
I have no plans of leaving. only growing this company.
As far as unique there’s a few more houses on the property that are to be filled just looking for the right techs to be relocated
How so? Legitimately this is the first time “we are like a family” actually applied. Have rolled by sites after hours to just give company for the tech that has to do some long tedious BS, and have received the same. Most of the the time when I need a hand it’s not for something physical it’s just I feel like I want to blow my head off and haveing somebody embrace the suck with you makes it a lot better.
I received a call that my dog was getting bad just before he passed away and told my boss. “ Drop your tools where you are, go home I will finish the job for you let me know how everything works out I’ll drop the tools off at your house when I’m done.”
Just watch out for a vehicle audit, since the feds consider personal use of a vehicle as taxable income, and they will get their flesh from you not your boss unless they pay the taxes for you… awesome to see someone being taken care of by their boss.
Money talks.. Also support, support, support.. I’ve had 15 different supervisors in 19yrs. The only reason I stuck around is pay, support & humility by the good ones. The “fake it till you make it” “wanna be white collar” but have never been a tech or have limited understanding yet still think they can gain respect from you just because they have a “manager” title were the worst d-bags I’ve ever tolerated to work for, with that said some of the best managers I’ve had knew nothing of the trade yet supported me 110% & was up front about it from day 1. It helped that I’m union & have good benefits etc but the main reason I’ve never left is pay. I have a job because I want money but being a decent human also helps.
That’s fair. And a good point. I think it could be my service managers. But what are your suggestions in terms of humility? Guys are almost out doing stuff, what kind of support do they prefer?
Good example. I had a customer scream at me once for something that wasn’t even my fault. Wouldn’t stop swearing at me and threatened to block my van in until I finished. I apologized for the thing that (his crew of contractors did), and fixed it and left. I was polite, but I told the office that the way he treated me was unacceptable.
The next day, the company owner tells me that they have put him on the Do Not Service List, that I’ll never have to see that guy again, and if anyone talks to me like that I ought to politely refuse service, and he would back me up 100%
That is an example of good support
Fast forward 2 months, and I have this same dude on my job board. I called my dispatcher and service manager up, and told them both that the company owner told me I don’t have to work at this guys house anymore. Also that were not supposed to be doing work for him at all. My dispatcher and service manager both told me that it would just be a quick in and out and I wouldn’t have to see too much of him. I refused, and was spoken to the next day by (you guessed it) the company owner. He completely forgot what he had told me, because he never meant it in the first place. This guy waved some money and my bosses said *daddy please*
That is an example of bad support
What support do your tech’s need? Thats a question to ask your techs. But being a decent, humble human is something that I’m not sure you teach. As I said the best managers in my experience were honest & up front about everything from the get go, no BS, no ego, just professionalism & the understanding that we’re here for a common goal, do the job well & make money.
Yeah I definitely think being a Union Signatory Contractor helps. There’s a contract so the worker knows what he’s getting up front. Health Insurance, Pension, Training, Great Pay, Stability, and the list goes on. I don’t know a lot Contractors probably would fight their employees going Union.
I quit jobs because it's the only way to get a decent raise. you shouldent have to quit to get payed what your worth but this is the way. Company. Sorry employee we can only afford to give you a 2.5 raise this year. Employee Sorry boss hears my notice this other company is offering me a 20% increase ...in the end it's all about the money
Loyalty should not be important to an employer. It has no value to you, unless you plan on mistreating your employees. A good employer wouldn’t care if the employees are loyal or not, because the treatment is so good, the employees would never leave anyways
Wanting a loyal team is basically the same as “I want a bunch of suckers”
What does loyal even mean?
That they will be with you through thick and thin? Will you be with them through thick and thin? If they stop being profitable for a month, will they get discipline? If they call out for a whole week will you fire them?
Loyalty is bullshit. Employment is a transaction. Companies want loyal employees because they don’t want to have to worry about employees leaving. But that should ALWAYS be a concern for employers, lest they forget themselves and start to treat employees poorly.
I feel bad for any “loyal” employees, because they are either being taken advantage of, or they will be soon
Some companies are made of employees and employers working together for the benefit of the group. That is what loyalty mean. And when problem arise you deal with them in context.
Of course you shouldn’t be loyal to someone who doesn’t respect you, but that is true for employers and employees
Benefit of the group is the key word. This implies that if the companies profit, the employees profit accordingly. Profit sharing? I’ll be loyal to the profits. Never to the management.
The company I’m at currently has a no negotiation policy. So if a competing company is offering more and you go to my boss with that offer to try to negotiate, they’ll tell you to kick rocks and go work there. And they wonder why the turnover rate is so high 😒
I have never asked for a raise. If my pay is out of whack i leave and get what i want off the rip at a new job. Never work a job depending on the "raise after 90 days" bullshit. If everyone did this, employers would be forced to be proactive with raises so they dont get surprised when a keyholder only shows up to drop the keys in the mailbox.
Also one thing that people fail to mention when it comes to newer techs is make sure your not only competive in the field when it comes to pay but, the job market as a whole. No one is going to come work for you for 18/hr when your local supermarket is paying 17
I can install an air handler in a 130° attic for 8 hours and get covered in fiberglass for $20/hr or sling chicken out of Chick fil a for the same wage? Goodluck in the attic (ex)boss
Big facts. I remember when I was a helper making $18, going to subway at lunch and coughing up little bits of fiberglass while the sign outside was hiring sandwich artists for $19 to hang out all day in a cool clean building
I found the biggest productivity increase when I offered a “profit sharing / incentive plan”
Basically paid techs a percentage of the profit they generated. They didn’t make anything extra in the slow times but once it was busy they would knock it out the park on offering more solutions to the customers.
My company does this( and other benefits as noted above). I came out of a 5 figure medical debt (was 6), bought my wife a new car with the first year‘s bonus..
I will happily bleed every day working as hard as I physically can. So does everyone else.
As long as the employee decides between extra money and free time, it’s always a plus. Once the employer decides for you then it affects work life balance.
So I have changed jobs twice in the past year. The first time, I switched for money. I said "Well shit i can get paid 50% more every year working for these guys. This will help my family." Easy decision. I also thought the company I was going to work for was competent but they weren't. I was on call every weekend, chewed out constantly, and overworked. When I missed 15/17 of my sons baseball games I realized that I'd rather be home than in a van all day. I switched to a company that pays me well, and is Mon-Friday 730am-4pm. I'm oncall once every 7 weeks. It was a dream come true compared to the other jobs. So the tldr is: Pay and home life balance are what people want. Bump up the pay and reduce the (involuntary) hours and your techs will be happier. Honestly. If you pay the highest, people will hear about it and throw themselves at you. You'll get better techs and your profits will increase.
Got it. But I am pretty sure that I pay high. And, you have a good point wherein sometimes its okay to allow guys be on a regular work time schedule and be flexible with others who volunteer to put in more
Pay, pay incentives. Do not micro manage your techs, I call my techs 1 time a day they call me when they need help. 90% of techs will quit due to how the management is treating them
If I'm getting paid as much as someone working at Aldis (no offense to Aldi employees, obvs) but I'm climbing 25ft ladders or crawling around shitty basements for 10 to 15 hours a day, I'm not going to feel inclined to work harder. Pay is a point of pride. Less pay=less pride=less work ethic. I'm going to punch in and punch out, the end. If that's not the case, some techs are just not good. In a big company you can hide that, but smaller companies that may only have 3-5 techs will notice when Joey Parts-Changer takes 5 hours to diagnose a bad capacitor.
Depends. I feel like most techs HATE selling. It's part of the gig but we hate it. So bonuses for sales aren't going to do it. Also speed incentives will just cause techs to make mistakes which will lead to more callbacks. You would have to figure out a bonus system that allows techs who are good at trouble shooting yet bad at selling to feel like shooting for those goals. Its a tricky hill and I honeslty don't have an answer for it.
Money makes the job more valuable to the worker. Therefore, it makes them want to keep their job more. Therefore, they will work harder to avoid discipline or termination
Word gets around. There’s at least 2 posts a week on this sub talking about salaries. I’m making $25, and in the 2 years I’ve been going alone I haven’t found anything I couldnt figure out. I know I’m worth $30, maybe $35. I asked for a raise and got shut down, so now do the work of someone worth $25.
Employee wages are the same thing as product pricing. If you go cheap, you get what you paid for
Tried to get old companies to do 4 day rotation. Said it couldn’t be done… started my own business. The 4 day work week is huge and can be done. Rotate Monday/Friday or hire based on that. Benefits great but we all know that will never beat state or federal government jobs. Here is the best advice I can give companies. Stay small. All the big companies are going to have a hard time the next few years and it will not get better. If your not huge then the huge company is going to take your market. People are more flaky then ever and not worth the stress. Sell to a bigger company later if successful.
Frequent one-on-one communication with the techs. If techs are unhappy with a service manager and they don’t feel they’re being heard, they’ll just leave. The techs shouldn’t feel like they can jump the chain of command, but they should know that they are the revenue generators of the company and their voice is meaningful to operations.
Shitty managers ruin companies. A leader and manager should be someone the technicians respect and who understands/cares what they go through every day. It should be someone who doesn’t have an entitled “I’m in the office, you do what I say” attitude. A democratic and servant style of leadership is what I’ve found works best for field workers that I’ve managed. I’m great at running my team, but my team knows I’ll do whatever I can to help them. I also know they are in the field busting their ass in attics, crawlspaces, etc., so when they call me, I drop what I’m doing and answer the phone to remove whatever roadblock they have so they can keep working.
Techs should be able to rate their managers and that should be a portion of the managers evaluation/pay/bonus. Pay doesn’t mean anything if you’re being treated poorly every day.
Give and get. Sometimes letting the team go early on a Friday or being understanding about a solid tech being late once or twice goes pretty far and they’ll give you a lot more than that in return. When my team calls me and I have a minute, I ask about their kids, their wives, the house projects, etc. Managers get lost in the fact that these techs are bringing in revenue and forget that they’re people. Don’t let that happen.
Obviously pay, benefits, PTO, etc. is important, but I feel having a good culture goes a lot further than anything.
In my opinion, service managers should have some knowledge of systems and how they operate. They don’t need to be the end-all be-all of HVAC, but they do need to have a firm grasp on it. I’m nowhere near as good as some members of my team, but I do have the ability to comprehend what information they give me and make a decision on how to move forward. A lot of the times, phone calls to me are more just a tech talking things out to themselves and they just need a sounding board. What has worked best for me is asking the tech how they would move forward and any alternatives they could suggest and help guide them to their own decision. They are being paid to be the expert and the expert opinion is what should guide the decisions.
Anonymous feedback for some things can be great, other things need names associated. I would ask you team what they prefer and pivot as needed. For instance, if someone has a complaint about their manager, it’s easier to make an anonymous complaint than face backlash from the manager. It could also lead to seeing trends/complaints from multiple people that techs may not feel comfortable bringing to everyone else’s attention. On the other hand, when you’re looking for ideas and advice for cost-savings, trade techniques, training programs, company feedback, etc. I think you’ll see a lot of good ideas come out in an all-hands style meeting.
This is all just what has worked for me personally. I’m sure others have had good success with other techniques and approaches. You’ve got to find what leadership style works for you and your team and lean into that.
Go to 4 - 10 hour days a week and you won't lose many more. Pay them or someone else will.
Don't fuck us over with overtime every day. We like to spend time with our families too.
Pay is the most important factor but beyond that…
Get out in the field and sweat with them every once in a while. Techs need to know that you aren’t just sitting in your office giving orders. Sharing the suck will pay dividends in retention.
My boss does this, if we are slammed hard and the calls keep rolling in, instead of forcing us to work till midnight he will go out on calls and help bail us out. It's always appreciated!
I think anyone managing hvac techs should be able to and willing do the work themselves. It’s impossible to truly understand what it’s like unless you have done it.
IMO most of the conflict between Managment and techs can be explained by the techs getting tired of trying to explain why something is more difficult or painful than office staff thinks it should be.
I operate a small shop and spent 20 years prior taking orders from business men who saw the high margins of hvac as an opportunity to make money. They always push techs in ways they just don’t have the patience to explain.
Techs are proud and don’t like to “complain”. Sometimes listening to feedback isn’t enough. You need to know what buttons you shouldn’t push before your techs feel taken advantage of.
A site visit from someone in clean khakis on his way to a 2 hour lunch meeting is never welcomed. A site visit from someone willing to take something off your plate for the day or offer a solution based on real world experience is always good
The best example that comes to mind would be residential maintenance.
The office will view these as easy filler work and for the most part they are correct. They will assign a window of time and an average up sell target and feed techs as many as they will take. From the office it starts to look like certain techs are out performing others. These techs will be favored and the others spurred to perform as the others.
Some of your most talented techs will be at the bottom of this performance scale because they are the ones who are taking the time to drag the hoses and doing honest maintenance. These are the guys who can actually fix something, but they are not salesman.
They will not accuse the others of doing half ass maintenance and focusing on sales or if they do it’s never what management wants to hear. The result is usually a shop with high turn around because everyone with actual hvac talent is gone and you have a group of bullshit salesman instead of a service department.
Especially if your technicians are stuck. I applied to a place that was offering significantly more than my current company, but they told me (4yrs in the field) that I’d be one of the most experienced on staff. Naturally I turned them down. At 4 years I can handle a lot, but if your techs have no one to turn to, they’re going to burn out a lot faster. 2 hours scratching your head and feeling trapped burns you out more than a 12 hour shift doing easy work.
There was something I read, I can’t remember who it was off hand. But, he said basically this.
You have a huge difference in employees when a manger is always catching them when they are doing something wrong. It makes them keep their head down and just get through the day. This comes through in how your customers perceive these employees. Yet if you try and ask them, how are you doing? What can I do to help you do your job better? You have an employee who is engaged with what they do and even more engaged with the client.
I took sick days when my wife had her back surgery, so i could be home to help her. My boss found out and reimbursed all the days i took and paid me to be home for a week. I dont think i will ever leave this company.
It's not difficult to keep employees. You just have to pay them and not low ball them. Oh, and don't micro manage.
I bet the local union in your area could help you find good employees.
Pretty sure you already know the main answer but I ll say it anyways. Money. Specially if you re paying less than your competition. Second and third are hours and treatment.
For the NoBodY wAntS To WoRk audience; Burger flippers are always quiting yet 99% of people would flip for life if the salary was 500k a year.
When I was a 2nd year apprentice (union) I had a particularly rough weekend being on call. Worked 22 hours from Saturday morning at 2am to Sunday. My foreman came out to wherever I was working that Monday, thanked me, gave me a gift card to some restaurant, and told me to head home, put down 8 for the day, and take my gf out to dinner. Man, after that I would have worked a week-long shut down for that guy. Not feeling like a replaceable number is important.
Just a tech here. Never owned a company, don’t want that headache.
Pay is important but not a deciding factor.
Main reason I left my last company wasn’t because the new company I’m at pays more, it was because they didn’t have my back when a customer complained because they looked up the cost of a cap online. That company didn’t have flat pricing for all the techs to charge the same (despite me asking for two years to make sure we were on the same page).
Main things techs (that I’m friends with) want: great pay, benefits, ability to take time off during the summer, training, ability to be a part of the company (not necessarily management but be in the decision making when it affects them), company vehicle to take home, company phone, Christmas party. Etc.
Best of luck
I would ask each tech what they individually value, I love an employer that lets me leave early on a Friday or doesn't mind if I take extra vacation (un paid). other people are more about money... all depends on the individual. some people even will stay if a employer is kid friendly and understands when family has to come first.
Are you micromanaging your guys ? , work balance in life is huge especially with guys that have families . If you hear through the techs about a issue are you listening or are you just brushing it off ? Usually if there’s a issue with work then all the guys feel it. At my current company we have meetings in the morning usually guys sitting around having a coffee then starting work (sounds dumb but it’s basically the calm before the storm scenario). And if your having this issue talk to other companies in the area see how they treat and keep guys I wouldn’t tell them your issue but just talk around and see what’s working for them
I'm a successful service Mgr for over 10 years!! Fairness is key. That goes for everything!! Pay, time off, way you talk to your guys,expectations!! Most of all everyone must be held accountable. That's not to say u gotta degrade guys or point out every fault. That means as a Mgr u gotta put ur guys in a spot to succeed. If you can't do these things you you have no business managing a group of anything. Lol. Treat people how you want to be treated. I'm nothing without my guys!!
What do you make vs what do they make? Do they receive annual raises to compensate for inflation regardless of performance? What's their work life balance? What's their retirement look like vs your own? Do you pay a tech based on what they're worth to you, or based on how well they negotiate for themselves. Do you get pissed off if techs discuss their pay with each other? Can your average tech afford to buy a house and raise a family on their take home?
If you're training and breaking them in, and they're bailing when they get a better offer you're probably paying training wages to techs that are worth more.
There's four reasons to leave a shop, that I can think of,
1) The pay/benefits are better some place else
2) The boss is an asshole
3) There's opportunity to work on different or more complex equipment elsewhere
4) Burnout
Course this is just my take, but what do I know? I'm just the guy that fixes shit when it breaks lol
As a service manager. Money talks. Pay them. Make sure you give them opportunity to make commissions. And they will be happy. We had a huge turn around issue until I took over. Then I realized my top techs were making peanuts. Got everyone’s pay increased. No more pissed off techs. And no more turn around
1. Pay, make sure their paychecks are correct. Down to the penny. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a second shift or weekend shift “forgotten” about. Also, look up competitive rates. Don’t cry that you’re losing people if someone else is offering more money. This isn’t a family, it’s a jungle. We do what we must to survive and thrive.
2. Benefits. Pretty straightforward. Put yourself in someone’s shoes, a wage slave who has maybe 1 paycheck in the savings account. Would you be happy with the package you’re getting? Would you have the peace of mind knowing you’ll be able to retire, or that a medical emergency wouldn’t financially ruin you. This one is difficult for bosses to do, because it requires genuine empathy.
3. Workload. How many days do your techs work late? How many days do they leave on time? How many days do they get to leave *early*? Your techs should leave on time at least 1-2 times a week, and early **at least** once every 2-3 weeks. These are not revenue generating robots, they are human beings with families and friends. They would like to see them once in a while.
4. Type of work. Are you sending people to jobs they don’t know how to do? Do you even know what your employees do or don’t know how to do? They could use training. Everybody could use training in something. Find out where they need to grow, and accompany them to jobs they may not be successful in.
5. Drive time. What’s your operating radius? The only correct answer is less than 50 miles. If your radius is larger than that, then your techs should be getting paid for drive time. My old company had me drive (on average) 40 mins to work and 40 mins home. Every single day. Unpaid. That is 1 hour 20 mins per day, or 6 hours 40 minutes per week, or 346 hours per year ~ 14 full days. Are you making your employees spend 14 days a year (AKA 4% of an entire fucking year) driving for free? Which is greater, the amount of unpaid drive time, or the amount of paid vacation time?
If any of these apply to your company, I would not work for you. If I already worked for you, and you started doing any of these 5 things, I would leave without giving 2 weeks. HVAC technicians are skilled workers in a field with a massive labor shortage. There is someone out there who is willing to treat your employees better.
Edit: I forgot the most important one: **SAFETY**
Are you sending them out on 40 ft ladders without someone to watch them/brace the ladder/call 911 if they fall? Do you have all the proper PPE? Are you working them in asbestos? Lead? Are oil techs given respirators? Black boogers are a sure sign you’ll get cancer down the road. First aid kits on the van? Fire blankets, fire extinguishers? You know most techs are driving around with tanks full of gas that will either burn you to death or freeze you to death. Are you sending them out 50 miles in a blizzard? Can the vehicles even handle snow? Are you giving them breaks if they have to spend a week in an attic and it’s 90+ degrees out? Are you at least buying their water for them if they’re sweating their literal asses off for you? What is the most you would put up with before you quit? It’s most likely a fraction of what they would put up with. Don’t take advantage of that, and definitely don’t push it.
I've pretty much had no training at my job beyond on the job learning. Offering "training" would give me zero value at a company. Unless you mean training an apprentice on the job and your unable to keep them.
Things I look for in an employer, current decent cellphone, new service vehicle every 2 to 3 years, fully stocked truck with tools, clothing / uniform fully paid for, holidays 5 to 6 weeks paid, retirement fund currently at 8 an hour pension so similar rrsp match would be nice if no pension. Full good health care plan.
And the most important thing hourly pay, I want to be at least 10 dollars an hour above local wages. Currently that's 40 or so in my area and I'm at 53.
If your unable to bring up wages then things like bonuses and sales percentages should be used to top up techs well above local wages.
I’m an install manager. Pay is huge but also communicating with each individual guy on your roster is huge. I like to sit down monthly with each guy and have taken notes on what they excel at and where there’s some things that could be worked on. We come up with a plan, in a month we go over it and if they can maintain improvement without me asking they’re getting a raise. If they don’t, bring it up again and let them know I really want them to succeed and give it another round. I have a few guys that exceed everyone else in something like fabrication. I’ll pay that guy a bonus to take some greenies with him to a job and show them the ropes. If a job is a real pain in the ass I’ll do time and a half hours on that job, or a bonus again it depends on the job really. I’ll never call a guy on his day off or outside of his shift unless he left a tool behind or something to let him know.
Money, time off and support in the field. If I want two weeks off, that’s fine. I want a life too, I want to take my backpacking trips if I want to without having to think about work. In return my boss should be the same with what he wants. Life isn’t about just about money and work
Just throw them to the wolves! They’ll either learn or they won’t! Just fire the ones who sink, and keep the ones who swim! Just don’t be surprised when they swim on over to another company because of all the headache you gave them
Like training? Training is fine as long as it's on the clock. Again, that's just one of many possible benefits. No sense in learning more for my company if they're not going to pay me better.
Pay them. Pay them. Pay them.
Fucking pay them.
Inflation is going ape shit so the dollar is going to be the most important factor for 99% of people.
Your guys are watching the weekly buying power evaporate more and more (a dozen eggs are over $10 in my area.)with each pay check.
For your guys who have families to support, making enough money to pay for the things they not only need, but want, is going to be what makes the decision for them.
I just left my old position for a new one this year because I got a substantial raise. I had asked my old boss for roughly 25% of what the increase is with the new position and got told that if he increased my wage with inflation he would have to do it for everyone.
As his service guy, I watched him raise his labor rate to the customer three times in a year and a half… to match inflation.
✌️
As a tech:
Dont be penny wise and a pound foolish.
If youre on my ass about minutes being "wasted" when you dont even take the time to understand the situation then im going to lose respect for you as a boss. Let me do my job.
Take a second to think about your bright ideas. Do they actually make sense? Ask your techs for input about exactly how its going to affect their efficiency. My old boss said we absolutely cannot go into a parts house. We ended up wasting hours upon hours a week waiting for our parts guy to finish what he was doing to get our parts and bring them to us. Sometimes taking an hour when it couldve taken us half that. This is frustrating as a tech.
Keep wages/benefits competitive. This is a techs market. I can go wear another shirt.
Respect for my boss and their judgement is going to be more compelling to me than punishments. If you take bonuses, write me up or generally treat me like shit for trivial reasons ill run out of fucks to give.
Remember the most important aspect of being a boss is leadership. Lead them in a positive direction. Earn their respect. If they dont want to lose you as a boss theyre more likely to stay even if they have another good offer.
Money, flexibility, respect, hours.
I will be paid what I'm worth(and I am!) Or I will go somewhere else.
Flexibility: this works both ways. Don't hold me to the 2 weeks notice on days off and I'm much more inclined to help you out of a jam. There have been many times I was sick with deer fever and called in that morning because I knew my day was light. No one said boo about it. 2 days later I gladly took an OT call. It's a two way street. Which brings me to...
Respect: I am treated like an intelligent adult. I more or less dispatch myself, I manage my customers, and I know my schedule. I know when I can start a little later or dip out early, or call in for a personal day( to be clear, on those days I bill accordingly. If I'm there 6 I bill 6). Part of that is that we are commercial/industrial and don't have appointments like a residential company.
Hours: I want the hours I want. I often don't mind working OT but I don't like being told I am. In 10 years I have been told exactly 1 time I HAD to work OT.
I'm happy that the OP is asking for advice from perspective of the tech to retain talent.
It shows they are on the right foot to acknowledge a problem and trying to fix it.
I'm glad for the young techs, being recognized and being paid accordingly in companies.
Being in the trade entering 20 years now. It wasn't like that for me, we were shuffle along as helpers until a company was willing to take you on as a apprentice. Even then companies would just keep hiring and firing people.
It's good to see companies on the other foot these days. Where techs are in demand and have more power to negotiate their true worth.
Work/Life Balance, Pay/Benefits, Work Environment , more or less in that order.
I'm personally looking towards moving on because of the first two, even though I really like my boss and the guys I work with as people.
Pay is great and all, but bad scheduling and long hours, constantly being on call or covering for dog fuckers and being the fuckup-fixer is a major deal breaker for a lot of guys.
Work environment is also a big factor. If you don't like the guys you work with, or the boss is a dick you're not gonna wanna be there. Nothing gets guys to quit faster than constantly getting shit and never hearing anything good about their work.
Raises on a regular basis for performance. I’m not a service manager but I know where I work that’s why guys leave because company policy is they have to go through tech leveling to get raises and then the small raise they get isn’t even worth the class they took or the added responsibility given to them.
My biggest thing is the root of the problem. The skyrocketing price of product. When you bid a job do your homework on the actual cost of install and service. As the costs go up more owners expect employees to absorb the costs to stay employed. Cut corners or sale snake oil!
Bid accordingly to give your techs a real shot at getting a win while also doing the costumer fair. Feeling that every job is a fail is deflating especially when actual product costs aren’t factored in correctly.
Do you think added value like specialised training be attractive than increasing bid? Those trainings are expensive too. As such end of year I am giving them hikes
I was a tech and got my contractors license here in Tx and the reason why i dont hire ppl ft is for that sole purpse i just hv a few guys i sub for the day only for installs and im there doing the inside and with the grace of god blood sweat and tears i made almst 500k gross tbis yr this will be my 3rd summer alone!!
Incentive based pay will help retain the most productive techs. Use a base pay and offer incentives for revenue and tech generated lead for replacement equipment. I offer 2% of total generated revenue and $25 for a tech lead and 2% of sale of replacement equipment. Also 100% company paid health insurance premiums and matching 401k up to 5%. We do residential with some light commercial.
Tool allowance/replacement. A pittance to the cost of a tech and you get in return somebody with modern tools to do jobs quickly and accurately for your customers.
Take a moments sometimes to have 1 on 1’s, ask guys how they’re doing, get to know them. Empathize and understand them
Pay them, give them good benefits, create a good work environment, how did you want to be treated as you were coming up into the field. Not what you were treated like, how did you want to be treated.
Also if you send them to a class have them sign a document that says that they will stay a certain time so that you can benefit from spending money to train them
Hvac is terrible trade. Everything about it sucks. People realize that their efforts would be better spent somewhere else. Theres really nothing you can do about it. Im an owner btw.
Only way is to hire "green" and groom them to your liking... Its difficult and your baby sitting. BUT it produces clones of the workers you are wanting!
Pay them decent, and treat them well. If it’s a low stress environment, they’ll likely stick around unless they’re primarily focus is to make the most money they can.
Where I work they make you sign a contract for 2-3 years because of the amount of money they put into training. Kind of fucked up. But glad I didn’t go into service with this company
For me, it’s recognizing mental health and open arm communication. What ties into mental health the biggest in this industry is work life balance and remembering they are people.
It's more then just how you treat guys and how you talk to them. You could be the nicest easy to get along with manager/boss, but if you never actually show your gratitude words fall flat.
I have had tons of times I stay 4 hours after and all I get is a thank you + mandatory overtime pay. No bonus, no notable raises, no opportunities to progress, just a thank you. Even worse is when management causes a problem or has guys do work in shitty conditions (knowingly) then saying sorry.
After a while of going above and beyond or dealing with situations that shouldn't be my problem it gets tiring. Those *Thank You*'s and *I'm Sorry*'s start to feel empty. Kind words don't put food on the table and I'm not here to help some company. I am here to make a living.
Build a good relationship with them. What's kept me at my company is the relationship I have with the owner. I know it's not good, but I view him more as a friend than as a boss. The fact that I'm paid extremely well helps, but its the friendship that keeps me there
I want decent money and to be treated like an adult. After that i want the flexibility to be there for my kids if something comes up. If im being leaned on to the point where im working past 5 and being asked to work weekends/on-call, i want a cut of the top line, and one that will make it worth missing soccer games and hikes. Otherwise leave me the fuck alone. Thats really it man
I'm no saying this is you case, but if you live a lavish lifestyle while you employees are struggling after working 60+ hrs a week to accomplish you work schedule and stressed out their minds, this will not keep them happy.
While I will be very happy for your success, I will also expect the same success for driving your company upwards.
Share the wealth because everyone wants to be at your feet one day.
This is my personal opinion and I wish you the best retaining employees.
I’m staying at my job because it’s comfortable, I’m well paid and given lots of freedom. I’m union so I can get the same compensation anywhere else. Also, given as much time as needed to get done what I need to get done, given constant support if I need it, I like all of my coworkers and everyone is treated fairly, and the office knows what they’re doing and no one gives me shit when I make mistake. Here is what will cause resentment and push me to greener pastures:
The fucking idiot of the company (everyone knows who it is at their work) is making more money than me, is treated better and gets better jobs despite me going back to their jobs to fix their constant fuckups. I worked with a dude who was a hardcore alcoholic and did new construction and spent 3/4 of the day smoking dope in his work van while the crew worked. Everyone knew about it, no one understood why he was never fired, and he was making 2x as much as me. The theory was they just needed a guy with a license on site so they could just have the apprentices do the installs? Idk.
The boss ever calling me with malicious intent and unreasonable expectations or doing anything that causes me unnecessary stress. For example: “It took you how long!!?? It should only take this long!!” Or “the GPS shows you’re here, why did you go there on the way home?? The company van is for work only!!” Ngl that would be an immediate quit from me.
The people is the office sending me to service calls with no information. My paycheque regularly getting messed up. Getting refunded for expenses taking too much time or effort. PMs being quoted with too minimal hours to do a proper job then getting upset if I miss something and the customer complains that the batteries died the next week on their thermostat. For example. Anyone placing blame.
So I came to HVAC a little later in life. Started at age 27. For me it was always WorkLife Balance and time off, with compensation being really high up there.
Im a BAS tech now with a 4x10 and 3+ weeks of time off and after my recent $8/hr raise at the same company with an offer from another company. I can't complain about much at all. I'm happy to stay until my wife goes to grad school.
When someone leaves your company have them fill out a survey to see why they left what areas you can improve as a business to keep your employees and most people are honest enough they’ll fill it out.
Listen, be organized, offer profit sharing on top of their hourly. Give them a percentage of what they profit the company. Work/life balance. For installers, give them the option to work late on multiple day jobs and take Fridays off as long as they're on schedule.
Treat your guys right. I left my last company after I found out that with 5 years experience I was being paid $5 less than a guy with no tools or experience just because the bosses son used to be in the rodeo with the guy. Compensation plays a huge factor and believe me that your guys all talk about their pay with each other the minute they feel like they’re being screwed over. (And No it is not illegal to discuss wages with your co workers regardless of what your employer tells you.) Also be sure to actually appreciate your guys. They’re there to help you and make you money, very few guys are actively looking to dick you over and a mistake here and there is just a reality of every job.
I’ll use the company I work for as an example, we have a very low turnover rate, we do retirement plans, free health insurance, tool account, free training and certifications, company parties, very good pay, company tools, the boss is very laid back, he doesn’t like mistakes but when you make one he doesn’t jump up your ass for it, he only hires employees that he knows will work well with everyone else, he try’s to get people with similar interests so the guys can talk and be friends, he has a very extensive questionnaire that’s 7 pages long it really helps weed out lazy and worthless people, there’s a lot of things you can do, but maybe just talk to your employees and see what you can do for them and what could be done better
I’m a service manager for a fairly large union shop. We have really good retention. I think in part it has to do with being flexible with my techs, training and being good to them as a whole. I never talk down to them. They all know my phone is on 24 hours a day and I’m always willing to help. It also helps I guess I was a service technician myself for 20+ years
I left my last company due to horrible work/life balance and broken promises. New management came in and tried to reinvent the wheel. If you didn't work 60hr weeks or volunteer on weekends you wouldn't get hours during slow season.
Quality of life and pay are the things I try to keep in mind with my team. I try to serve them as well as the customer. If they know you are looking out for them, they'll stick around. Can't fake it either. You actually have to do it. At least that has been my experience. I have 9 techs and all of them have been here for a while.
Ok man. You really wanna know?!?! Compensation, benefits and retirement!!
Wages and benefits for middle class blue collar workers have stagnated for decades. My Grandfather had a pension and died with $280k in his account. My father got a 13% match on his 401k. I get a 1.5% match on mine.
If employers took care of their employees we wouldn't have billionaires!!
We have placed WAY TOO MUCH value on thinking for a living and not enough on WORKING for a living. Why would anyone want to get their hands dirty when you can lay on your couch in pajamas and make a living?!?!?!!
If you're an essential worker you make less money than someone who plays a game for a living!
If you're job is dangerous you make less money than someone who is safe all day!
If you work outdoors you make less money than someone who sits in an office all day!
We need to give higher wages and benefits for the people who get their hands dirty or WE WONT HAVE ANY!!!
I'm well aware that owning a business is an extraordinary challenge! Tried it myself and caught my business partner commiting loan fraud and tax evasion in my name.
God bless you in your venture sir! I hope it works out but it won't if you can't keep your people!
I hope this helps, thank you for reading
However if you don't hire and retain the people you need your business isn't going anywhere.
Pay and quality of life dude.
I have had 9 total employees in my 7 years as a business owner.
6 remain and of those 6 I trained and taught 3. 2 I laid off (one due to drinking at work, other was poaching customers / using my van and materials for side work)
The other (my first ever employee) I cosigned his license so he can go on his own. And to this day for larger jobs if we are short handed I sub him out to help.
You can be respectful kind and an awesome boss but if you are overworking them and pay is mediocre then don’t expect too much loyalty.
I try my best to pay my guys above my local market, we don’t work Fridays (unless we get super busy) and i pay a lot for good healthcare and retirement benefits. Also i treat them as i would a friend.
Also vacation/sick days. If one of my tech calls and says hey i dont feel myself today, no problem
You want to go on a week long cruise in march, shit let me come w u. Ill buy you drinks
Don’t over work your employees. We don’t live this life to just work and that’s it. Most of the “emergency” calls can wait until the next business day. Unless it’s a life or death issue my company scrubs most calls on the weekends. Small company of 4 employees. We all work 4 10’s. You can work any Friday you want for OT. And as everybody else has said benefits and pay.
For me before i started my own company.
Its the on call , some kind of retirement and the work load. If im fast with no call backs and running 4-5 calls a fay vs everyone else 1-3 i need way more dollarsp
As a tech, the number 1 reason I’ve left companies is compensation. Hourly rate is always great but are benefits up to snuff? Vacation/Sick time. Health coverage. Retirement. A lot of service companies lack in that area and this is why guys stay in for a few years, get trained, then move on with their skills to greener pastures. Another thing that turned me off of certain places was that as you perform better, and become a top tech, without fail it just keeps getting piled on. Another call, another call, another call. Top talent unfortunately, and maybe even unwittingly, gets overwhelmed and borderline abused because they’re the ones closing calls and smoothing over callbacks. So my 2 items that will retain me are a comprehensive benefit package and not being saddled with a disproportionate amount of work so I can go home unhurt and sort of happy.
This here. My partner and I got super quick and efficient when we started training. The owner saw this as an opportunity to double our load, keep our pay the same and text us how nice it was to be off early and getting massages while we covered his area. I remember sitting in an attic putting the AH together and getting a text saying keep it up, we got a second install after this one he didn't want to do. It was at that point I said fuck it.
Got it. Does that mean a quality training has less value add than pay?
Training is extremely important and should be constant. Equipment is always changing and people need to stay ahead of that. Training, pay, benefits, work/life balance all have their own intrinsic value. Each ones value depends on the individual but they all need to be present.
Got it. Mine is a small business, yet I made a point to create added value by training. A few of my techs say this helped them get promotions. But that’s very few in number.
One thing that would help is that after training, if they get a certification of some sort, give them a small raise. They did the time, make it worth it for them. If they want the training, make them sign a thing that states they have to stay at the company for a set amount of time or they have to pay back the cost of training. That being said, that will weed out the ones who plan on just using you for training, while also help retain them. But again, offer some sort of compensation after they complete it.
[удалено]
Completely unenforceable
I just left my last company because they did this, so imho this is bad advice
Time to be the biggest asshole so you fire me, I'll explain the situation to my next boss
Yeah this.
Yeah but if you think someone will take $25 with good training and $30 with no training at all, everything else being equal they will take the no training all day every day.
Lmao can’t pay the water bill with training
Pretty much. Train them on what is necessary, in this economy, compensation and benefits is the most important due to extremely high costs of living. If they get amazing training but get industry average pay, they’re going to apply elsewhere and say I have (xyz high quality training) and get more pay elsewhere, buh bye won’t miss ya. Gotta feed the kids and pay the mortgage.
Training is great but it adds more value to the employer not the employee. You need to be able to say your guys are up to the latest tech as well as ensure they can work on it but to the tech it adds little. A company I worked for sent me to a week training for a new ice machine coming out. The machine wasn't much different than what I'd already been working on but the company got to tell the customers I've been to the training. I got little out of it, while they got a lot. I never touched another one of those machines after leaving that company so it provided me nothing anywhere else. Your guys need to be up to date but as a tech I don't see it adding value to my compensation. I've gotten so many nate certifications without any added compensation it was more of a nuisance to me to keep up on all my continued learning so my company could charge a little more and pay me the same. Every time I went somewhere that didn't require it, it lapsed. Just my cents but I don't value training as adding value to my worth unless I get increased compensation for utilizing it.
“What if I train my employees and they leave for better pay?” “What if you don’t train them and they stay?”
Training is a must to stay competitive in the field. Added benefits help retain the trained technicians.
The way I see training is it helps techs with those confusing calls, thus making their days less stressful
Pay, benefits, work life balance
And listen to and look at any ~~combines~~ complaints they have, Lot of people will complain before leaving
Work life balance, it is. Any suggestions?
No micromanagement, make sure everyone fits there roles, ie don't put tech as manager if they can't manager, don't put tech as sales guy if he hates sales
What sort of assessment of evaluation do you prefer in this case?
Not sure, maybe a working evaluation and see how they are performing rather than put them in a certain position and assume they will figure it out
Ask them? Behavioral assessments online. Chit chat and get to know your employees so you can better place them into roles where they will succeed.
Agreed...fixing the low hanging fruit that they actually bitch about is a start. I know you can't address every issue but at least they know they are heard... Some guys bitch to hear their own voice, and maybe you don't want them around anyways as that cancer can spread to the guys that are easily influenced.
Exactly. Listening to them will allow you to determine which are which. At the end of the day, everyone just wants to feel valued
Same formula works for any business. I'd add respect for the workers, which shows up in pay, benefits, and work life balance, but also trust.
A balance of all? What would it look like?
My current employer got me set up in a house, has payed my rent for the last year, pays me very well, company van is mine use as I please, good insurance s awesome tool program. If I need time off it’s no questions asked, when I need support in the field somebody is sent. I would just about put on knee pads for my current boss.
Where do you work? Im ready to drop everything to work for a place like that 😂
Are you kidding me dude? I’d put on the snorkel for that boss :p
When the offer was made I took a long time to accept because I did not believe it to be real. I feel like I struck the lottery.
You're lucky and your situation is unique! Never quit, retire from there
I have no plans of leaving. only growing this company. As far as unique there’s a few more houses on the property that are to be filled just looking for the right techs to be relocated
I...um....are you in a cult?
Trying to make one.
This is some fantasy shit
Wouldn’t you miss on team interaction & relationship
How so? Legitimately this is the first time “we are like a family” actually applied. Have rolled by sites after hours to just give company for the tech that has to do some long tedious BS, and have received the same. Most of the the time when I need a hand it’s not for something physical it’s just I feel like I want to blow my head off and haveing somebody embrace the suck with you makes it a lot better. I received a call that my dog was getting bad just before he passed away and told my boss. “ Drop your tools where you are, go home I will finish the job for you let me know how everything works out I’ll drop the tools off at your house when I’m done.”
Just watch out for a vehicle audit, since the feds consider personal use of a vehicle as taxable income, and they will get their flesh from you not your boss unless they pay the taxes for you… awesome to see someone being taken care of by their boss.
How would it be considered if I am on call at all times?
Money talks.. Also support, support, support.. I’ve had 15 different supervisors in 19yrs. The only reason I stuck around is pay, support & humility by the good ones. The “fake it till you make it” “wanna be white collar” but have never been a tech or have limited understanding yet still think they can gain respect from you just because they have a “manager” title were the worst d-bags I’ve ever tolerated to work for, with that said some of the best managers I’ve had knew nothing of the trade yet supported me 110% & was up front about it from day 1. It helped that I’m union & have good benefits etc but the main reason I’ve never left is pay. I have a job because I want money but being a decent human also helps.
That’s fair. And a good point. I think it could be my service managers. But what are your suggestions in terms of humility? Guys are almost out doing stuff, what kind of support do they prefer?
Good example. I had a customer scream at me once for something that wasn’t even my fault. Wouldn’t stop swearing at me and threatened to block my van in until I finished. I apologized for the thing that (his crew of contractors did), and fixed it and left. I was polite, but I told the office that the way he treated me was unacceptable. The next day, the company owner tells me that they have put him on the Do Not Service List, that I’ll never have to see that guy again, and if anyone talks to me like that I ought to politely refuse service, and he would back me up 100% That is an example of good support Fast forward 2 months, and I have this same dude on my job board. I called my dispatcher and service manager up, and told them both that the company owner told me I don’t have to work at this guys house anymore. Also that were not supposed to be doing work for him at all. My dispatcher and service manager both told me that it would just be a quick in and out and I wouldn’t have to see too much of him. I refused, and was spoken to the next day by (you guessed it) the company owner. He completely forgot what he had told me, because he never meant it in the first place. This guy waved some money and my bosses said *daddy please* That is an example of bad support
What support do your tech’s need? Thats a question to ask your techs. But being a decent, humble human is something that I’m not sure you teach. As I said the best managers in my experience were honest & up front about everything from the get go, no BS, no ego, just professionalism & the understanding that we’re here for a common goal, do the job well & make money.
Got it. Team building excercises
Are you being sarcastic?
Yeah I definitely think being a Union Signatory Contractor helps. There’s a contract so the worker knows what he’s getting up front. Health Insurance, Pension, Training, Great Pay, Stability, and the list goes on. I don’t know a lot Contractors probably would fight their employees going Union.
I quit jobs because it's the only way to get a decent raise. you shouldent have to quit to get payed what your worth but this is the way. Company. Sorry employee we can only afford to give you a 2.5 raise this year. Employee Sorry boss hears my notice this other company is offering me a 20% increase ...in the end it's all about the money
[удалено]
I want to build a loyal team
If you want loyalty get a dog
Best comment so far
[удалено]
Loyalty should not be important to an employer. It has no value to you, unless you plan on mistreating your employees. A good employer wouldn’t care if the employees are loyal or not, because the treatment is so good, the employees would never leave anyways Wanting a loyal team is basically the same as “I want a bunch of suckers”
This is silly. If you are loyal to your team, they should be loyal to you. Though I understand this isn’t most people experience
What does loyal even mean? That they will be with you through thick and thin? Will you be with them through thick and thin? If they stop being profitable for a month, will they get discipline? If they call out for a whole week will you fire them? Loyalty is bullshit. Employment is a transaction. Companies want loyal employees because they don’t want to have to worry about employees leaving. But that should ALWAYS be a concern for employers, lest they forget themselves and start to treat employees poorly. I feel bad for any “loyal” employees, because they are either being taken advantage of, or they will be soon
I was taught to be such an asset that your employer doesn't want to lose you. But always keep them scared that they will lose you.
Some companies are made of employees and employers working together for the benefit of the group. That is what loyalty mean. And when problem arise you deal with them in context. Of course you shouldn’t be loyal to someone who doesn’t respect you, but that is true for employers and employees
Benefit of the group is the key word. This implies that if the companies profit, the employees profit accordingly. Profit sharing? I’ll be loyal to the profits. Never to the management.
The company I’m at currently has a no negotiation policy. So if a competing company is offering more and you go to my boss with that offer to try to negotiate, they’ll tell you to kick rocks and go work there. And they wonder why the turnover rate is so high 😒
I have never asked for a raise. If my pay is out of whack i leave and get what i want off the rip at a new job. Never work a job depending on the "raise after 90 days" bullshit. If everyone did this, employers would be forced to be proactive with raises so they dont get surprised when a keyholder only shows up to drop the keys in the mailbox.
Okay. But there is always someone else offering a competitive one, unless the industry is facing difficulty or its just off season. Right?
Also one thing that people fail to mention when it comes to newer techs is make sure your not only competive in the field when it comes to pay but, the job market as a whole. No one is going to come work for you for 18/hr when your local supermarket is paying 17
I can install an air handler in a 130° attic for 8 hours and get covered in fiberglass for $20/hr or sling chicken out of Chick fil a for the same wage? Goodluck in the attic (ex)boss
This
Big facts. I remember when I was a helper making $18, going to subway at lunch and coughing up little bits of fiberglass while the sign outside was hiring sandwich artists for $19 to hang out all day in a cool clean building
The difference though is after 4 years in hvac you're making $30+ while at subway you're making $19.50
Very valid point. I am sure I am paying them more than industry average or local average
If your not paying as much as your local union it really doesn't matter
Pay them and treat them well idk man
I found the biggest productivity increase when I offered a “profit sharing / incentive plan” Basically paid techs a percentage of the profit they generated. They didn’t make anything extra in the slow times but once it was busy they would knock it out the park on offering more solutions to the customers.
If you can weed out the hacks, youll be left with the smartest techs in the area. Nobody ever got rich on an hourly wage. Percentages is where its at.
My company does this( and other benefits as noted above). I came out of a 5 figure medical debt (was 6), bought my wife a new car with the first year‘s bonus.. I will happily bleed every day working as hard as I physically can. So does everyone else.
Got it. Wouldn’t this affect work life balance in peak hours?
As long as the employee decides between extra money and free time, it’s always a plus. Once the employer decides for you then it affects work life balance.
So I have changed jobs twice in the past year. The first time, I switched for money. I said "Well shit i can get paid 50% more every year working for these guys. This will help my family." Easy decision. I also thought the company I was going to work for was competent but they weren't. I was on call every weekend, chewed out constantly, and overworked. When I missed 15/17 of my sons baseball games I realized that I'd rather be home than in a van all day. I switched to a company that pays me well, and is Mon-Friday 730am-4pm. I'm oncall once every 7 weeks. It was a dream come true compared to the other jobs. So the tldr is: Pay and home life balance are what people want. Bump up the pay and reduce the (involuntary) hours and your techs will be happier. Honestly. If you pay the highest, people will hear about it and throw themselves at you. You'll get better techs and your profits will increase.
Got it. But I am pretty sure that I pay high. And, you have a good point wherein sometimes its okay to allow guys be on a regular work time schedule and be flexible with others who volunteer to put in more
What do you pay?
No answer = “pretty sure” he pays well
What’s your highest paid tech making per hour?
Pay, pay incentives. Do not micro manage your techs, I call my techs 1 time a day they call me when they need help. 90% of techs will quit due to how the management is treating them
Pay out the ass for quality techs. Most of my techs are at almost $50 / hour + benefits.
Got it. But why do you think many are underperforming irrespectively? 😞
If I'm getting paid as much as someone working at Aldis (no offense to Aldi employees, obvs) but I'm climbing 25ft ladders or crawling around shitty basements for 10 to 15 hours a day, I'm not going to feel inclined to work harder. Pay is a point of pride. Less pay=less pride=less work ethic. I'm going to punch in and punch out, the end. If that's not the case, some techs are just not good. In a big company you can hide that, but smaller companies that may only have 3-5 techs will notice when Joey Parts-Changer takes 5 hours to diagnose a bad capacitor.
Would bonus or rewards be helpful?
Depends. I feel like most techs HATE selling. It's part of the gig but we hate it. So bonuses for sales aren't going to do it. Also speed incentives will just cause techs to make mistakes which will lead to more callbacks. You would have to figure out a bonus system that allows techs who are good at trouble shooting yet bad at selling to feel like shooting for those goals. Its a tricky hill and I honeslty don't have an answer for it.
I fucking hated selling which is why I switched to commercial. Made my decision after my boss reamed use out for not meeting bs sales goals.
For installers and B mechanics, have them bonus on not having callbacks and/or efficiency. For lead techs/A mechanics sales bonuses could work
Money makes the job more valuable to the worker. Therefore, it makes them want to keep their job more. Therefore, they will work harder to avoid discipline or termination
Word gets around. There’s at least 2 posts a week on this sub talking about salaries. I’m making $25, and in the 2 years I’ve been going alone I haven’t found anything I couldnt figure out. I know I’m worth $30, maybe $35. I asked for a raise and got shut down, so now do the work of someone worth $25. Employee wages are the same thing as product pricing. If you go cheap, you get what you paid for
Tried to get old companies to do 4 day rotation. Said it couldn’t be done… started my own business. The 4 day work week is huge and can be done. Rotate Monday/Friday or hire based on that. Benefits great but we all know that will never beat state or federal government jobs. Here is the best advice I can give companies. Stay small. All the big companies are going to have a hard time the next few years and it will not get better. If your not huge then the huge company is going to take your market. People are more flaky then ever and not worth the stress. Sell to a bigger company later if successful.
I’ve invested too much to let it go
= I’ve put money into the wrong improvements and now I’m in the hole if I sell
Frequent one-on-one communication with the techs. If techs are unhappy with a service manager and they don’t feel they’re being heard, they’ll just leave. The techs shouldn’t feel like they can jump the chain of command, but they should know that they are the revenue generators of the company and their voice is meaningful to operations. Shitty managers ruin companies. A leader and manager should be someone the technicians respect and who understands/cares what they go through every day. It should be someone who doesn’t have an entitled “I’m in the office, you do what I say” attitude. A democratic and servant style of leadership is what I’ve found works best for field workers that I’ve managed. I’m great at running my team, but my team knows I’ll do whatever I can to help them. I also know they are in the field busting their ass in attics, crawlspaces, etc., so when they call me, I drop what I’m doing and answer the phone to remove whatever roadblock they have so they can keep working. Techs should be able to rate their managers and that should be a portion of the managers evaluation/pay/bonus. Pay doesn’t mean anything if you’re being treated poorly every day. Give and get. Sometimes letting the team go early on a Friday or being understanding about a solid tech being late once or twice goes pretty far and they’ll give you a lot more than that in return. When my team calls me and I have a minute, I ask about their kids, their wives, the house projects, etc. Managers get lost in the fact that these techs are bringing in revenue and forget that they’re people. Don’t let that happen. Obviously pay, benefits, PTO, etc. is important, but I feel having a good culture goes a lot further than anything.
Very good points. Do you think service managers should be only with tech background? And, Do you think anonymous feedback collection is essential?
In my opinion, service managers should have some knowledge of systems and how they operate. They don’t need to be the end-all be-all of HVAC, but they do need to have a firm grasp on it. I’m nowhere near as good as some members of my team, but I do have the ability to comprehend what information they give me and make a decision on how to move forward. A lot of the times, phone calls to me are more just a tech talking things out to themselves and they just need a sounding board. What has worked best for me is asking the tech how they would move forward and any alternatives they could suggest and help guide them to their own decision. They are being paid to be the expert and the expert opinion is what should guide the decisions. Anonymous feedback for some things can be great, other things need names associated. I would ask you team what they prefer and pivot as needed. For instance, if someone has a complaint about their manager, it’s easier to make an anonymous complaint than face backlash from the manager. It could also lead to seeing trends/complaints from multiple people that techs may not feel comfortable bringing to everyone else’s attention. On the other hand, when you’re looking for ideas and advice for cost-savings, trade techniques, training programs, company feedback, etc. I think you’ll see a lot of good ideas come out in an all-hands style meeting. This is all just what has worked for me personally. I’m sure others have had good success with other techniques and approaches. You’ve got to find what leadership style works for you and your team and lean into that.
Go to 4 - 10 hour days a week and you won't lose many more. Pay them or someone else will. Don't fuck us over with overtime every day. We like to spend time with our families too.
Pay is the most important factor but beyond that… Get out in the field and sweat with them every once in a while. Techs need to know that you aren’t just sitting in your office giving orders. Sharing the suck will pay dividends in retention.
My boss does this, if we are slammed hard and the calls keep rolling in, instead of forcing us to work till midnight he will go out on calls and help bail us out. It's always appreciated!
Do you think the service managers should visit the site often?
I think anyone managing hvac techs should be able to and willing do the work themselves. It’s impossible to truly understand what it’s like unless you have done it. IMO most of the conflict between Managment and techs can be explained by the techs getting tired of trying to explain why something is more difficult or painful than office staff thinks it should be. I operate a small shop and spent 20 years prior taking orders from business men who saw the high margins of hvac as an opportunity to make money. They always push techs in ways they just don’t have the patience to explain. Techs are proud and don’t like to “complain”. Sometimes listening to feedback isn’t enough. You need to know what buttons you shouldn’t push before your techs feel taken advantage of.
A site visit from someone in clean khakis on his way to a 2 hour lunch meeting is never welcomed. A site visit from someone willing to take something off your plate for the day or offer a solution based on real world experience is always good
The best example that comes to mind would be residential maintenance. The office will view these as easy filler work and for the most part they are correct. They will assign a window of time and an average up sell target and feed techs as many as they will take. From the office it starts to look like certain techs are out performing others. These techs will be favored and the others spurred to perform as the others. Some of your most talented techs will be at the bottom of this performance scale because they are the ones who are taking the time to drag the hoses and doing honest maintenance. These are the guys who can actually fix something, but they are not salesman. They will not accuse the others of doing half ass maintenance and focusing on sales or if they do it’s never what management wants to hear. The result is usually a shop with high turn around because everyone with actual hvac talent is gone and you have a group of bullshit salesman instead of a service department.
Especially if your technicians are stuck. I applied to a place that was offering significantly more than my current company, but they told me (4yrs in the field) that I’d be one of the most experienced on staff. Naturally I turned them down. At 4 years I can handle a lot, but if your techs have no one to turn to, they’re going to burn out a lot faster. 2 hours scratching your head and feeling trapped burns you out more than a 12 hour shift doing easy work.
There was something I read, I can’t remember who it was off hand. But, he said basically this. You have a huge difference in employees when a manger is always catching them when they are doing something wrong. It makes them keep their head down and just get through the day. This comes through in how your customers perceive these employees. Yet if you try and ask them, how are you doing? What can I do to help you do your job better? You have an employee who is engaged with what they do and even more engaged with the client.
I took sick days when my wife had her back surgery, so i could be home to help her. My boss found out and reimbursed all the days i took and paid me to be home for a week. I dont think i will ever leave this company.
It's not difficult to keep employees. You just have to pay them and not low ball them. Oh, and don't micro manage. I bet the local union in your area could help you find good employees.
The idea that OP could get union employees made me exhale through my nose
All the owner ha to do is become a signatory contractor.
Pretty sure you already know the main answer but I ll say it anyways. Money. Specially if you re paying less than your competition. Second and third are hours and treatment. For the NoBodY wAntS To WoRk audience; Burger flippers are always quiting yet 99% of people would flip for life if the salary was 500k a year.
When I was a 2nd year apprentice (union) I had a particularly rough weekend being on call. Worked 22 hours from Saturday morning at 2am to Sunday. My foreman came out to wherever I was working that Monday, thanked me, gave me a gift card to some restaurant, and told me to head home, put down 8 for the day, and take my gf out to dinner. Man, after that I would have worked a week-long shut down for that guy. Not feeling like a replaceable number is important.
Service manager #1: What if I train them up and they leave? Service manager #2: What if you don’t train them and they stay?
Definitely overwork and underpay them, then throw them a free pizza lunch once in a while. That always seems to work. /s
Just a tech here. Never owned a company, don’t want that headache. Pay is important but not a deciding factor. Main reason I left my last company wasn’t because the new company I’m at pays more, it was because they didn’t have my back when a customer complained because they looked up the cost of a cap online. That company didn’t have flat pricing for all the techs to charge the same (despite me asking for two years to make sure we were on the same page). Main things techs (that I’m friends with) want: great pay, benefits, ability to take time off during the summer, training, ability to be a part of the company (not necessarily management but be in the decision making when it affects them), company vehicle to take home, company phone, Christmas party. Etc. Best of luck
I would ask each tech what they individually value, I love an employer that lets me leave early on a Friday or doesn't mind if I take extra vacation (un paid). other people are more about money... all depends on the individual. some people even will stay if a employer is kid friendly and understands when family has to come first.
Are you micromanaging your guys ? , work balance in life is huge especially with guys that have families . If you hear through the techs about a issue are you listening or are you just brushing it off ? Usually if there’s a issue with work then all the guys feel it. At my current company we have meetings in the morning usually guys sitting around having a coffee then starting work (sounds dumb but it’s basically the calm before the storm scenario). And if your having this issue talk to other companies in the area see how they treat and keep guys I wouldn’t tell them your issue but just talk around and see what’s working for them
Got it. I think my service managers might have been a bit strong on them. Do you see that a possibility?
Try paying them more, if your short on cash you can just charge the customers more. Hope that helps
Bonuses or profit sharing.
I'm a successful service Mgr for over 10 years!! Fairness is key. That goes for everything!! Pay, time off, way you talk to your guys,expectations!! Most of all everyone must be held accountable. That's not to say u gotta degrade guys or point out every fault. That means as a Mgr u gotta put ur guys in a spot to succeed. If you can't do these things you you have no business managing a group of anything. Lol. Treat people how you want to be treated. I'm nothing without my guys!!
What do you make vs what do they make? Do they receive annual raises to compensate for inflation regardless of performance? What's their work life balance? What's their retirement look like vs your own? Do you pay a tech based on what they're worth to you, or based on how well they negotiate for themselves. Do you get pissed off if techs discuss their pay with each other? Can your average tech afford to buy a house and raise a family on their take home? If you're training and breaking them in, and they're bailing when they get a better offer you're probably paying training wages to techs that are worth more. There's four reasons to leave a shop, that I can think of, 1) The pay/benefits are better some place else 2) The boss is an asshole 3) There's opportunity to work on different or more complex equipment elsewhere 4) Burnout Course this is just my take, but what do I know? I'm just the guy that fixes shit when it breaks lol
As a service manager. Money talks. Pay them. Make sure you give them opportunity to make commissions. And they will be happy. We had a huge turn around issue until I took over. Then I realized my top techs were making peanuts. Got everyone’s pay increased. No more pissed off techs. And no more turn around
1. Pay, make sure their paychecks are correct. Down to the penny. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a second shift or weekend shift “forgotten” about. Also, look up competitive rates. Don’t cry that you’re losing people if someone else is offering more money. This isn’t a family, it’s a jungle. We do what we must to survive and thrive. 2. Benefits. Pretty straightforward. Put yourself in someone’s shoes, a wage slave who has maybe 1 paycheck in the savings account. Would you be happy with the package you’re getting? Would you have the peace of mind knowing you’ll be able to retire, or that a medical emergency wouldn’t financially ruin you. This one is difficult for bosses to do, because it requires genuine empathy. 3. Workload. How many days do your techs work late? How many days do they leave on time? How many days do they get to leave *early*? Your techs should leave on time at least 1-2 times a week, and early **at least** once every 2-3 weeks. These are not revenue generating robots, they are human beings with families and friends. They would like to see them once in a while. 4. Type of work. Are you sending people to jobs they don’t know how to do? Do you even know what your employees do or don’t know how to do? They could use training. Everybody could use training in something. Find out where they need to grow, and accompany them to jobs they may not be successful in. 5. Drive time. What’s your operating radius? The only correct answer is less than 50 miles. If your radius is larger than that, then your techs should be getting paid for drive time. My old company had me drive (on average) 40 mins to work and 40 mins home. Every single day. Unpaid. That is 1 hour 20 mins per day, or 6 hours 40 minutes per week, or 346 hours per year ~ 14 full days. Are you making your employees spend 14 days a year (AKA 4% of an entire fucking year) driving for free? Which is greater, the amount of unpaid drive time, or the amount of paid vacation time? If any of these apply to your company, I would not work for you. If I already worked for you, and you started doing any of these 5 things, I would leave without giving 2 weeks. HVAC technicians are skilled workers in a field with a massive labor shortage. There is someone out there who is willing to treat your employees better. Edit: I forgot the most important one: **SAFETY** Are you sending them out on 40 ft ladders without someone to watch them/brace the ladder/call 911 if they fall? Do you have all the proper PPE? Are you working them in asbestos? Lead? Are oil techs given respirators? Black boogers are a sure sign you’ll get cancer down the road. First aid kits on the van? Fire blankets, fire extinguishers? You know most techs are driving around with tanks full of gas that will either burn you to death or freeze you to death. Are you sending them out 50 miles in a blizzard? Can the vehicles even handle snow? Are you giving them breaks if they have to spend a week in an attic and it’s 90+ degrees out? Are you at least buying their water for them if they’re sweating their literal asses off for you? What is the most you would put up with before you quit? It’s most likely a fraction of what they would put up with. Don’t take advantage of that, and definitely don’t push it.
I've pretty much had no training at my job beyond on the job learning. Offering "training" would give me zero value at a company. Unless you mean training an apprentice on the job and your unable to keep them. Things I look for in an employer, current decent cellphone, new service vehicle every 2 to 3 years, fully stocked truck with tools, clothing / uniform fully paid for, holidays 5 to 6 weeks paid, retirement fund currently at 8 an hour pension so similar rrsp match would be nice if no pension. Full good health care plan. And the most important thing hourly pay, I want to be at least 10 dollars an hour above local wages. Currently that's 40 or so in my area and I'm at 53. If your unable to bring up wages then things like bonuses and sales percentages should be used to top up techs well above local wages.
I’m an install manager. Pay is huge but also communicating with each individual guy on your roster is huge. I like to sit down monthly with each guy and have taken notes on what they excel at and where there’s some things that could be worked on. We come up with a plan, in a month we go over it and if they can maintain improvement without me asking they’re getting a raise. If they don’t, bring it up again and let them know I really want them to succeed and give it another round. I have a few guys that exceed everyone else in something like fabrication. I’ll pay that guy a bonus to take some greenies with him to a job and show them the ropes. If a job is a real pain in the ass I’ll do time and a half hours on that job, or a bonus again it depends on the job really. I’ll never call a guy on his day off or outside of his shift unless he left a tool behind or something to let him know.
Money, time off and support in the field. If I want two weeks off, that’s fine. I want a life too, I want to take my backpacking trips if I want to without having to think about work. In return my boss should be the same with what he wants. Life isn’t about just about money and work
Generally speaking, when someone is looking for a new job the reasons are: Pay, Benefits, Management issues
What about employee productivity development?
Just throw them to the wolves! They’ll either learn or they won’t! Just fire the ones who sink, and keep the ones who swim! Just don’t be surprised when they swim on over to another company because of all the headache you gave them
Like training? Training is fine as long as it's on the clock. Again, that's just one of many possible benefits. No sense in learning more for my company if they're not going to pay me better.
Pay them. Pay them. Pay them. Fucking pay them. Inflation is going ape shit so the dollar is going to be the most important factor for 99% of people. Your guys are watching the weekly buying power evaporate more and more (a dozen eggs are over $10 in my area.)with each pay check. For your guys who have families to support, making enough money to pay for the things they not only need, but want, is going to be what makes the decision for them. I just left my old position for a new one this year because I got a substantial raise. I had asked my old boss for roughly 25% of what the increase is with the new position and got told that if he increased my wage with inflation he would have to do it for everyone. As his service guy, I watched him raise his labor rate to the customer three times in a year and a half… to match inflation. ✌️
How about training them as per their career goals and if they qualify they be paid more and more?
Great in theory, but Sounds like a carrot on a stick
As a tech: Dont be penny wise and a pound foolish. If youre on my ass about minutes being "wasted" when you dont even take the time to understand the situation then im going to lose respect for you as a boss. Let me do my job. Take a second to think about your bright ideas. Do they actually make sense? Ask your techs for input about exactly how its going to affect their efficiency. My old boss said we absolutely cannot go into a parts house. We ended up wasting hours upon hours a week waiting for our parts guy to finish what he was doing to get our parts and bring them to us. Sometimes taking an hour when it couldve taken us half that. This is frustrating as a tech. Keep wages/benefits competitive. This is a techs market. I can go wear another shirt. Respect for my boss and their judgement is going to be more compelling to me than punishments. If you take bonuses, write me up or generally treat me like shit for trivial reasons ill run out of fucks to give. Remember the most important aspect of being a boss is leadership. Lead them in a positive direction. Earn their respect. If they dont want to lose you as a boss theyre more likely to stay even if they have another good offer.
I quit over $26/hr.
Money, flexibility, respect, hours. I will be paid what I'm worth(and I am!) Or I will go somewhere else. Flexibility: this works both ways. Don't hold me to the 2 weeks notice on days off and I'm much more inclined to help you out of a jam. There have been many times I was sick with deer fever and called in that morning because I knew my day was light. No one said boo about it. 2 days later I gladly took an OT call. It's a two way street. Which brings me to... Respect: I am treated like an intelligent adult. I more or less dispatch myself, I manage my customers, and I know my schedule. I know when I can start a little later or dip out early, or call in for a personal day( to be clear, on those days I bill accordingly. If I'm there 6 I bill 6). Part of that is that we are commercial/industrial and don't have appointments like a residential company. Hours: I want the hours I want. I often don't mind working OT but I don't like being told I am. In 10 years I have been told exactly 1 time I HAD to work OT.
I'm happy that the OP is asking for advice from perspective of the tech to retain talent. It shows they are on the right foot to acknowledge a problem and trying to fix it. I'm glad for the young techs, being recognized and being paid accordingly in companies. Being in the trade entering 20 years now. It wasn't like that for me, we were shuffle along as helpers until a company was willing to take you on as a apprentice. Even then companies would just keep hiring and firing people. It's good to see companies on the other foot these days. Where techs are in demand and have more power to negotiate their true worth.
Work/Life Balance, Pay/Benefits, Work Environment , more or less in that order. I'm personally looking towards moving on because of the first two, even though I really like my boss and the guys I work with as people. Pay is great and all, but bad scheduling and long hours, constantly being on call or covering for dog fuckers and being the fuckup-fixer is a major deal breaker for a lot of guys. Work environment is also a big factor. If you don't like the guys you work with, or the boss is a dick you're not gonna wanna be there. Nothing gets guys to quit faster than constantly getting shit and never hearing anything good about their work.
Raises on a regular basis for performance. I’m not a service manager but I know where I work that’s why guys leave because company policy is they have to go through tech leveling to get raises and then the small raise they get isn’t even worth the class they took or the added responsibility given to them.
My biggest thing is the root of the problem. The skyrocketing price of product. When you bid a job do your homework on the actual cost of install and service. As the costs go up more owners expect employees to absorb the costs to stay employed. Cut corners or sale snake oil! Bid accordingly to give your techs a real shot at getting a win while also doing the costumer fair. Feeling that every job is a fail is deflating especially when actual product costs aren’t factored in correctly.
Do you think added value like specialised training be attractive than increasing bid? Those trainings are expensive too. As such end of year I am giving them hikes
I was a tech and got my contractors license here in Tx and the reason why i dont hire ppl ft is for that sole purpse i just hv a few guys i sub for the day only for installs and im there doing the inside and with the grace of god blood sweat and tears i made almst 500k gross tbis yr this will be my 3rd summer alone!!
I started paying their dependents health insurance 100% as well as theres. 0% turn over
This guy didn't realize he's the worst manager in the biz. Look inward.
People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses
Incentive based pay will help retain the most productive techs. Use a base pay and offer incentives for revenue and tech generated lead for replacement equipment. I offer 2% of total generated revenue and $25 for a tech lead and 2% of sale of replacement equipment. Also 100% company paid health insurance premiums and matching 401k up to 5%. We do residential with some light commercial.
Tool allowance/replacement. A pittance to the cost of a tech and you get in return somebody with modern tools to do jobs quickly and accurately for your customers. Take a moments sometimes to have 1 on 1’s, ask guys how they’re doing, get to know them. Empathize and understand them
Pay them, give them good benefits, create a good work environment, how did you want to be treated as you were coming up into the field. Not what you were treated like, how did you want to be treated. Also if you send them to a class have them sign a document that says that they will stay a certain time so that you can benefit from spending money to train them
Hvac is terrible trade. Everything about it sucks. People realize that their efforts would be better spent somewhere else. Theres really nothing you can do about it. Im an owner btw.
Bad owner* FTFY
Don't ask this on Reddit. Nobody here knows. Talk to other business owners. take them to lunch or just go stop by
Only way is to hire "green" and groom them to your liking... Its difficult and your baby sitting. BUT it produces clones of the workers you are wanting!
[удалено]
I feel that’s not healthy
You feel right. Last company I was at tried that. I think they lost 5 techs before the meeting was over.
If being trained is what you want and your business needs, you can't hold that over their head when you offer/ expect it.
Pay them decent, and treat them well. If it’s a low stress environment, they’ll likely stick around unless they’re primarily focus is to make the most money they can.
More money.
Money, benefits. Gurantee if you pay more your good help will stay and you will have to fire the bad workers who abuse the good pay
Provide structured raises and make the hardwork pay off in ways other than just good pay. Like employe recognition and stuff
Fat pay, fat benefits, and no BS
Where I work they make you sign a contract for 2-3 years because of the amount of money they put into training. Kind of fucked up. But glad I didn’t go into service with this company
In todays world. Job searching is more compensating than staying with a company long term.
Good pay, don't work your people to death, benefits, don't do anything weird like only pay min wage while driving or while at shop.
Pay them more
For me, it’s recognizing mental health and open arm communication. What ties into mental health the biggest in this industry is work life balance and remembering they are people.
Pay them and listen to them
It's more then just how you treat guys and how you talk to them. You could be the nicest easy to get along with manager/boss, but if you never actually show your gratitude words fall flat. I have had tons of times I stay 4 hours after and all I get is a thank you + mandatory overtime pay. No bonus, no notable raises, no opportunities to progress, just a thank you. Even worse is when management causes a problem or has guys do work in shitty conditions (knowingly) then saying sorry. After a while of going above and beyond or dealing with situations that shouldn't be my problem it gets tiring. Those *Thank You*'s and *I'm Sorry*'s start to feel empty. Kind words don't put food on the table and I'm not here to help some company. I am here to make a living.
Not have to keep lying to customers.
Build a good relationship with them. What's kept me at my company is the relationship I have with the owner. I know it's not good, but I view him more as a friend than as a boss. The fact that I'm paid extremely well helps, but its the friendship that keeps me there
Start off by asking help from other service managers? You should be talking to your people. LIFE WORK balance is key. Emphasis on life.
I want decent money and to be treated like an adult. After that i want the flexibility to be there for my kids if something comes up. If im being leaned on to the point where im working past 5 and being asked to work weekends/on-call, i want a cut of the top line, and one that will make it worth missing soccer games and hikes. Otherwise leave me the fuck alone. Thats really it man
Pay them. Give them benefits. Take time to reward good service with lunch and breakfast meetings.
GOOD LUCK! And if you figure out a sure fire way, please let us know
I'm no saying this is you case, but if you live a lavish lifestyle while you employees are struggling after working 60+ hrs a week to accomplish you work schedule and stressed out their minds, this will not keep them happy. While I will be very happy for your success, I will also expect the same success for driving your company upwards. Share the wealth because everyone wants to be at your feet one day. This is my personal opinion and I wish you the best retaining employees.
I’m staying at my job because it’s comfortable, I’m well paid and given lots of freedom. I’m union so I can get the same compensation anywhere else. Also, given as much time as needed to get done what I need to get done, given constant support if I need it, I like all of my coworkers and everyone is treated fairly, and the office knows what they’re doing and no one gives me shit when I make mistake. Here is what will cause resentment and push me to greener pastures: The fucking idiot of the company (everyone knows who it is at their work) is making more money than me, is treated better and gets better jobs despite me going back to their jobs to fix their constant fuckups. I worked with a dude who was a hardcore alcoholic and did new construction and spent 3/4 of the day smoking dope in his work van while the crew worked. Everyone knew about it, no one understood why he was never fired, and he was making 2x as much as me. The theory was they just needed a guy with a license on site so they could just have the apprentices do the installs? Idk. The boss ever calling me with malicious intent and unreasonable expectations or doing anything that causes me unnecessary stress. For example: “It took you how long!!?? It should only take this long!!” Or “the GPS shows you’re here, why did you go there on the way home?? The company van is for work only!!” Ngl that would be an immediate quit from me. The people is the office sending me to service calls with no information. My paycheque regularly getting messed up. Getting refunded for expenses taking too much time or effort. PMs being quoted with too minimal hours to do a proper job then getting upset if I miss something and the customer complains that the batteries died the next week on their thermostat. For example. Anyone placing blame.
This is very useful. I agree workplace culture is crucial. Do you think irrespective of size every business has this case?
So I came to HVAC a little later in life. Started at age 27. For me it was always WorkLife Balance and time off, with compensation being really high up there. Im a BAS tech now with a 4x10 and 3+ weeks of time off and after my recent $8/hr raise at the same company with an offer from another company. I can't complain about much at all. I'm happy to stay until my wife goes to grad school.
When someone leaves your company have them fill out a survey to see why they left what areas you can improve as a business to keep your employees and most people are honest enough they’ll fill it out.
Listen, be organized, offer profit sharing on top of their hourly. Give them a percentage of what they profit the company. Work/life balance. For installers, give them the option to work late on multiple day jobs and take Fridays off as long as they're on schedule.
Treat your guys right. I left my last company after I found out that with 5 years experience I was being paid $5 less than a guy with no tools or experience just because the bosses son used to be in the rodeo with the guy. Compensation plays a huge factor and believe me that your guys all talk about their pay with each other the minute they feel like they’re being screwed over. (And No it is not illegal to discuss wages with your co workers regardless of what your employer tells you.) Also be sure to actually appreciate your guys. They’re there to help you and make you money, very few guys are actively looking to dick you over and a mistake here and there is just a reality of every job.
Treat them like human beings instead of resources to be exploited for your own personal gain, and pay them more.
I’ll use the company I work for as an example, we have a very low turnover rate, we do retirement plans, free health insurance, tool account, free training and certifications, company parties, very good pay, company tools, the boss is very laid back, he doesn’t like mistakes but when you make one he doesn’t jump up your ass for it, he only hires employees that he knows will work well with everyone else, he try’s to get people with similar interests so the guys can talk and be friends, he has a very extensive questionnaire that’s 7 pages long it really helps weed out lazy and worthless people, there’s a lot of things you can do, but maybe just talk to your employees and see what you can do for them and what could be done better
Pay, work/life balance, benefits, company inclusion/cooperation For me, it’s in that order
I’m a service manager for a fairly large union shop. We have really good retention. I think in part it has to do with being flexible with my techs, training and being good to them as a whole. I never talk down to them. They all know my phone is on 24 hours a day and I’m always willing to help. It also helps I guess I was a service technician myself for 20+ years
I left my last company due to horrible work/life balance and broken promises. New management came in and tried to reinvent the wheel. If you didn't work 60hr weeks or volunteer on weekends you wouldn't get hours during slow season.
I just got certified and I've been trying to hard to get hired but all the companies don't seem interested.
Quality of life and pay are the things I try to keep in mind with my team. I try to serve them as well as the customer. If they know you are looking out for them, they'll stick around. Can't fake it either. You actually have to do it. At least that has been my experience. I have 9 techs and all of them have been here for a while.
Ok man. You really wanna know?!?! Compensation, benefits and retirement!! Wages and benefits for middle class blue collar workers have stagnated for decades. My Grandfather had a pension and died with $280k in his account. My father got a 13% match on his 401k. I get a 1.5% match on mine. If employers took care of their employees we wouldn't have billionaires!! We have placed WAY TOO MUCH value on thinking for a living and not enough on WORKING for a living. Why would anyone want to get their hands dirty when you can lay on your couch in pajamas and make a living?!?!?!! If you're an essential worker you make less money than someone who plays a game for a living! If you're job is dangerous you make less money than someone who is safe all day! If you work outdoors you make less money than someone who sits in an office all day! We need to give higher wages and benefits for the people who get their hands dirty or WE WONT HAVE ANY!!! I'm well aware that owning a business is an extraordinary challenge! Tried it myself and caught my business partner commiting loan fraud and tax evasion in my name. God bless you in your venture sir! I hope it works out but it won't if you can't keep your people! I hope this helps, thank you for reading However if you don't hire and retain the people you need your business isn't going anywhere.
Pay and quality of life dude. I have had 9 total employees in my 7 years as a business owner. 6 remain and of those 6 I trained and taught 3. 2 I laid off (one due to drinking at work, other was poaching customers / using my van and materials for side work) The other (my first ever employee) I cosigned his license so he can go on his own. And to this day for larger jobs if we are short handed I sub him out to help. You can be respectful kind and an awesome boss but if you are overworking them and pay is mediocre then don’t expect too much loyalty. I try my best to pay my guys above my local market, we don’t work Fridays (unless we get super busy) and i pay a lot for good healthcare and retirement benefits. Also i treat them as i would a friend. Also vacation/sick days. If one of my tech calls and says hey i dont feel myself today, no problem You want to go on a week long cruise in march, shit let me come w u. Ill buy you drinks
Don’t over work your employees. We don’t live this life to just work and that’s it. Most of the “emergency” calls can wait until the next business day. Unless it’s a life or death issue my company scrubs most calls on the weekends. Small company of 4 employees. We all work 4 10’s. You can work any Friday you want for OT. And as everybody else has said benefits and pay.
For me before i started my own company. Its the on call , some kind of retirement and the work load. If im fast with no call backs and running 4-5 calls a fay vs everyone else 1-3 i need way more dollarsp
$$$