Our Last and Possibly Most Important of the 3-R’s: RELAX!
Residential service contractors: Motivate your employees! Recognize, reward creatively, and prioritize their relaxation to boost morale, performance, and retention.
KickStart: The 1) why, 2) when and 3) how of helping your employees (and yourself) to RELAX?
“Greetings, all!” 😁 See what I just did there? I cheerfully greeted you all… with a big smile. Are you feeling more “relaxed”?
You should be, if only to prepare for our third and final point of this series on using my “3-R’s” to motivate your employees! Of course, you’ll remember our first “R”?
#1- “RECOGNIZE”! As in commend, praise and thank your employees. (In public if at all possible.) And then…
#2- “REWARD”! But instead of just throwing money at an employee reward them “creatively”. (And ALWAYS sincerely say, “Thank you”!) 🙏
I’ve already dissed on why you personally as a high-stress, residential services entrepreneur or manager needs to…
#3- “RELAX”! But A) why, B) when, and C) how should you help your workers relax? Let’s tackle the much easier “WHY” first…
WHY should you focus on helping your employees "relax"? Because…
It is the right thing to do, plus you don’t want to “lose them”. (Possibly forever!😱)
“Oh, there you go again, Steve! You are always so high drama! My guys are all young!” Agreed. (Even on the “high drama” charge!) Even so, let’s check in with Mayo Clinic…
“Stress that's not dealt with can lead to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes.” Remember, this stuff hits younger people too! Plus, it isn’t just your techs…These guys have kids and families. If your employee is constantly stressed it gets passed along to their families and everything (including their mood and work performance) goes downhill.
They won’t remotely be focused on “Service Engineering”! Y’all know as regular KickStart readers that Steve Toburen is all about each employee building a professional relationship with their customer. Now honestly...
...If your employee is “on the edge” and all stressed out emotionally are they going to feel up to “Service Engineering” each and every client relationship? Exactly.You don’t want ‘em to quit on you! Remember, the Very Best People (VBP), the employees you want to keep long-term, want to work (and live) in a balanced, fun, family-type work environment. Trust me, a VBP will bail out quickly from an emotionally toxic workplace! (And who can blame them?)
WHEN should they relax? (And with WHOM?) After all, your people do need to actually produce ummmmm… WORK! As in cover payroll, overhead and of course…
Your absurdly luxurious lifestyle! (Are you nodding your head right now? Hey, lighten up! I’m just checking to see if you’re paying attention!) So back "when to relax and with whom"...With each other. (Hopefully including their families!) Seriously, the last thing I wanted to promote was my married techs heading out together to the local beer joint after work! (Or even worse to a stripper bar!) 😮 But hey, whatcha gonna do? I'm glad you asked...
Hire stable, family focused Very Best People. True, you can’t legally ask before hiring re: their family status. But hey, you can listen during their interview and/or when checking a candidate’s references!
NOTE: I’m not saying here to not hire single techs. I do recommend looking at the whole picture. (Trust me, I’ve had employees with families that had some serious issues!)Promote family-oriented company events. Picnics, bowling, a family day at a local amusement park or a mini-golf tournament are all great. (We did after-work First Friday potlucks at the shop every month.) 💖
HOW to help and promote your staff relaxing? Above all else…
Keep overtime to a minimum. I find most of my coaching clients routinely overwork their techs. Sure, I know. Your people crave the extra hours. (Especially at overtime pay!) But consistent heavy overtime will burn employees out and damage their families. ☠️
NOTE: This is such a huge issue in our industry I’m gonna devote our next KickStart to the “The Why and How of Avoiding Constant Overtime!” Thanks for the idea! 👏👏👏Set the example. Looking back, a big regret (one of many) I have in my 20+ years as a residential services entrepreneur was being too focused, too driven and just plain too obsessed! My family suffered, I suffered, and my employees suffered!
NOTE: Remember much of our HFS training content is based on my bone-headed mistakes in starting and building home service companies. Don't be me! 😡
So, there you have it! Steve’s “3-R’s” which are 1) Recognize, 2) Reward and, 3) Relax! We started out focused on motivating employees and somewhere along the way morphed into helping you build a truly successful Critical Mass Business- one that will run smoothly without you!
The result? You really will achieve the “True Wealth” of Personal Freedom! After all, I did it without any of the resources HFS brings to you! Go git 'em, tiger!
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