Would YOU Work Here?

Would you join your own company?

In the past few years, many company runners have complained about their workforce. They tell me that the government is paying people too much money not to work, that young people are not interested in working every day, and that there is just not the work ethic there once was when they were young.

Many of these leaders tell me that they hire ten people at a time, and in the end, only four of them stick to the job longer than a week, and the rest stay only a month tops.

Seth Godin, in his book “The Song of Significance,” claims that in 2012, Amazon lost a quarter of its profits, more than eight billion dollars, to attrition. Only one out of three hires stayed more than three months.

From what I hear and read about working in those Amazon distribution centers with strict hours, surveillance cameras, and regulated bathroom breaks, I am surprised they can keep anyone in those jobs.

Now, when it comes to our industry and those complaints I hear from people who own or run those shops, I have to ask, “Would you work there if you were starting?” I ask them to take a look at their own companies. I mean, take a really serious and critical look at the working conditions they provide to their employees and ask them if this is the kind of company they would like to join and work at today. Or even when they started a million years ago?

I was lucky. I started my career at the top of the industry, Rockwell International company, from the very beginning. From the first step I took into that shop, I felt pride in being something great. And I certainly felt an immense pride in the product. But then again, that was Rockwell. We built boards from the Minuteman Missile to the MK-92 Frigates to the Space Shuttle. Even when we went to the movies and watched blockbusters like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” those engineers around the foreign space wore white lab coats with the Rockwell logo on the backs.

But today, sorry guys, your PCB companies don’t seem glamorous.

Does it look like a great place to work? Do your people understand the vision and mission of your company? Do they know why you are in business? Do they have pride in the product? Do they even know what your products and your boards go into? When is the last time you have a regularly scheduled all-hands meeting? When was your last meeting, especially one designed to make your folks feel good about where they work? Have you laid out a clear and well-defined career path to your future with your company? Think carefully about these things because if the answer to any or all of these questions is no, then you have met your enemy, and it is you!

Speaking of career paths, John Mitchell (yes, our John Mitchell), in his book, “Fire Your Hiring Habits: Building An Environment That Attracts Top Talent in Today’s Workforce,” gives a great example of how one company is succeeding at hiring and keeping the best people.

The company he talked about had developed a clear and well-defined path to promotions and success. From the book, "The People at the Factory," I could think, "If I stay here and learn these things and these skills, then I can become a level two at this position in four weeks. Then, in another six weeks, I can move to this position. And then in another four weeks, I could be at this level if I work hard.”

Mr. Mitchell goes on to state in Bold, I might add. “Every day, employees know exactly how they could become the supervisor- and more importantly, that is possible. They could see their peers moving up in the organization.”

I think that’s brilliant! And I am sure that there are certain milestones they can strive for where monetary rewards will be realized.

Earlier in the book, Mr. Mitchell had said that the headcount turnover in that country was 20 to 30% but that this company’s turnover rate was less than 10%, a true measurable testimony that their plan is working.

Think about that. Getting the employees so turned on that they are self-motivated to learn and grow on their own. And that they can grow at their own speed.

Of course, you, as a company runner, will have to develop and implement the plan. But that exercise in and of itself will be a tremendously productive and rewarding project.

In the end, if you implemented a training and growth plan, creating a true path to success, your company would be so much better. It would become a company that you would want to work for!

It’s only common sense.