Retaining Building Services Engineers
Talented Building Services professionals are highly sought after so if your firm manages to recruit a great BS engineer you’ll want to hang on to them. Here Chris Wright shares tips for employee retention.
Having gone to the lengths of recruiting the best talent for your firm, you won’t want to lose those highly sought after building services engineers. If you’ve recently been through the recruitment mill you’ll know that it’s not always easy to find great candidates, and when you do speed is of the essence as there are plenty of other firms looking for building services professionals.
Factor in the cost of recruitment and on boarding new staff, and I’m sure you’ll agree that there are compelling reasons to have a robust retention strategy in place.
Energi People’s Employee Retention Checklist
To keep your valued staff from looking around for new job opportunities, and to fight off the headhunters, here is our employee retention checklist for building services firms.
Competitive Salary – goes without saying that money is always in the equation. However much an employee values working for your company if their salary is not competitive they may have to make an economic decision to leave. A salary that reflects the market rate, the skills and the value you place in that individual is vital.
Work Environment – you may not be able to control how muddy a site is but you can provide your staff with a reasonable site office. Likewise if you have employees who travel a lot, make sure that their travel expenses are fair and send the message that they are valued members of your team. For those employees who are office based investing in the workplace environment can have a positive impact on productivity as well as commitment and retention.
Benefits – benefits and perks can go some way to addressing a non-competitive salary. Simple incentives such as a season ticket loan can make a real difference to an employee’s finances. The Childcare Voucher scheme can be claimed by both parents, so do not discount enticements like these just because you have a predominately male workforce.
Company Culture – whether it’s a regular post work pint or croissants and coffee for breakfast, there are lots of ways to encourage staff to embrace your company culture. Company culture includes your business goals and ethos, but it’s also about the people who work for you and how you all work together. Creating opportunities for employees to feel part of the bigger picture is important and should be an ongoing process. Small gestures are just as important as big show off ones, so whilst an annual staff day out might be a highlight on everyone’s calendar, a lunchtime kick-about can go a long way to building commitment and loyalty for a business.
The Right Tools – not having the correct equipment to do your job is not only frustrating but also means you cannot perform your role effectively. Whether it’s a computer that has seen better days, or not having access to specialist equipment, employees will find it an unsatisfactory experience trying to perform without the proper resources. Invest in your team and provide them with the tools they need to do the job, and they will reward you both in productivity and in staying power!
Training and Development – some employers are reluctant to offer further training to their staff because they believe it could be used as a ticket to another job. This is a false economy, if an employee is actively looking to develop their career and skills they will find this whether it’s through your company or another. Instead you should encourage learning and benefit from a more skilled and qualified workforce.
Provide Opportunities – having the skills but not being able to use them is a major factor in an employee’s dissatisfaction with their employment. For some people working in one role without the prospect of promotion or career development is fine, this is their choice. But many people do want to progress in their career and therefore employers should, where possible, make provision for this. Generally it’s much easier and makes better business sense to promote your existing staff and recruit for more junior positions, than the other way around.
To find out who out of your workforce is looking for new challenges, has acquired new skills, or has gained sufficient experience to take them to the next level, implement a system of performance reviews. This should be a collaborative process that gives your staff an opportunity to discuss the direction they want their career to take.
Energi People are specialist building services engineering recruiters. If you would like to talk about your recruitment requirements and explore how partnering with us can help you attract and retain the top talent in the sector, please get in touch. Call +44 (0)1252 413 080 or email me at [email protected]