Being an owner or manager in a service business is fast
paced, grinding, and can be total consuming
of all your faculties and
inter-resources. This also holds true for your inside staff and your field
Technicians. So here are 13 tips to improve the culture in your company by
small things you as a manager or owner can do on a regular basis.
1. Morning Greeting
As you walk in and some of your staff is already at the
office, greet each one by name and with a positive greeting. I know you often
come in with things on your mind, or lack of sleep, but this can give your
staff a boost which can carry over to the customers they touch that day.
2. Feed the Crew
Having a meeting? Stop at Mickey D’s or Dunkin Donuts and
bring in something for them to eat. It doesn’t need to be exotic or expensive.
They will feel you care about them. Be sure to recognize any food allergies or
dietary issues and take care of those individuals also.
3. Acknowledge
Acknowledge years of service with your company for each
employee. You can do this on social media, send them a card, post it on the
company bulletin board, have a cake with their name on it, or even have something like a special hat or
jacket for 1 year of service, 5 years of service, 10 years of service and so
on.
4. Celebrate
ALWAYS celebrate wins. When you reach a goal within the
company such as meeting the monthly budget for sales and profit, reaching a
specific number of Maintenance Agreements, excellent customer reviews, or a successful
change within the company celebrate. This can be as simple as an announcement
at a meeting or something more like lunch for everyone. Be sure to include
everyone and show the benefit of the success to the employee.
5. Orient
When a new employee comes into a company, they have a great
sense of uneasiness. Introduce them to every employee you can. Let them know
who to go to for payroll, uniforms, truck issues, in the warehouse and so on.
When they agree to come on board, send them a letter welcoming them and their
family to your family (company).
6. Suggestion Box
Have a suggestion box where employees can express their
ideas on improving the company. When a suggestion saves the company money or
greatly improves customer service and revenue, acknowledge that suggestion and
reward the employee. Incidentally, all suggestions must be answered by
management within 1-2 weeks with an answer why or why not the suggestion will
be implemented. If you don’t, the employees will stop giving suggestions.
7. Ring the Bell
Have a bell and ring it when a replacement system is sold, a
maintenance agreement is sold, or an add-on sale by a Technician. People like
wins so celebrate wins. Casinos have bells, sirens, lights, and other devices
to acknowledge wins.
8. Post Results
Post goals and employee results to meet those goals. This
could be sales, maintenance agreement sales, CSR sales, number of customer
calls vs. closes and so on. This will increase sales just by posting and create
some competition among employees. Also post a simple monthly company financial statement
for all employees to view.
9. Play Games
With the daily grind, employees get bored and their job
becomes a heavy task each day. Have some games from time to time. Have everyone
bring in a baby picture and post it. See if someone can guess whose picture
each one is and have a small prize for the most correct guesses. There are books with ideas for games that
companies can play.
10. Think Family
Each employee has a family outside of your business that is
very important to them. Many employees are lost because of issues outside of
work that deal with family. Look at your company policies and view them from an
employee and family perspective. When you have a company activity, such as a
Christmas party or picnic, think about making them family focused to include
spouses, important others, and kids.
11. Safety
Be sure to have a safety manual for the company and be a
stickler for safety in the office, warehouse, and on the jobsites. Think of
safety as an employee benefit that is reasonable to conduct and tells each
employee that you care about them. If you bypass safety issues they feel you
don’t care for their wellbeing and will not give their best to the company.
12. Image
The image of your company is displayed every day by your
trucks, employees and building. Employees don’t want to work for a company with
dirty bathrooms, messy warehouses, poor uniforms, filthy office carpets, and so
on. They want to work for the companies with the best images because it is a
direct reflection on them. This is not an overnight or cheap change for some of
you but if you make strides in the right direction without back-sliding, they
will notice the change.
13. Career
Most employees are looking for a career not just a job. For
each employee, layout a career path they can achieve over a period of time. I
would suggest over the next 5 years. There should be title changes as they
advance, improved compensation, company provided training, and direction for
them. They should have specific goals and skills to reach in order to move to
the next level. They should be evaluated at least yearly but I would recommend
semi-annually. Your employees are being enticed by other companies with
opportunities. What are their opportunities at your company? Show them!
14. Bonus Idea
A simple “Thank You” to an employee for doing a great job or
going beyond the call of duty, goes a very long way!
Change Starts
Change starts at the top. These are “nice ideas” but if you
don’t change and implement them or other cultural changes, your company
will not change for the better. The culture will not improve and you will
continue to struggle with many more employee issues and greater turnover.
Help
Need help with change? Give me a call or email me, I can help
if you are ready for cultural change.
You can get more information at our website www.SayYesToSuccess.com
Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com
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