Meet The Business Owner Doing It

A business owner sent this note to new employees:

“I’m writing to let you know that [the company] wants to provide a path for you to be successful with our company. You will not find another company that is willing to provide you the opportunity and training to be successful and go as far as you want to go. Please make an appointment to come meet with me on most Saturdays. Sometimes, I also work on Sundays. We can discuss a path for improvement. It is very simple to understand and achieve if you are willing to do it.”

In a tight labor market, recruiting and retaining good employees is tough but vital. Upgrading the skills of existing employees is often easier than trying to go out and recruit experienced and talented workers. And the best workers will read the note and want to continue working at the company because the owner is trying to help employees. This attitude is far more valuable for employee retention than yoga classes and other frills.

The business owner is Manuel Castaneda of PLI Systems, a soil stabilization contractor in Hillsboro, Oregon. (He and I serve together on the board of directors of Cascade Policy Institute.) Castaneda came to this country as a teenager unable to speak English. He started a lawn mowing service while in high school. In 1989 he learned how to operate construction equipment on steep surfaces to mitigate landslides and started his current company. He now has 44 employees.

Asked the motivation for his note, Castaneda said that his employees may see opportunities to make a dollar or two more somewhere else. He wanted them to know that they could do much better by staying with the company and upgrading their skills.

Tips for employees followed the lead paragraph. For example, “A CDL [commercial drivers license] gives you the freedom to be more independent. Once you know how to do the work and use equipment, you can move your own equipment and not be dependent on someone else. This allows you to grow much quicker.” He followed that tip with this comment: “If you can’t get your CDL now because you made mistakes in the past, don’t worry. Start training and learning other skills that don’t require driving for now. Eventually, time will pass and you will be ready when the opportunity presents. Just don’t do dumb things again to be suspended.”

Other tips were straightforward: “Learn how to read plans. We provide classes for plan reading. Just let me know and we can make it happen.” This offer was made to entry level laborers who had no current need to read plans, but for whom the skill would be valuable in taking on more responsibility.

In the first two weeks, half of the new employees made appointments to talk to the owner.

The company helps owners of buildings on steep hillsides or with drainage challenges. That’s not solving all of the world’s problems, but it’s solving specific problems faced by specific people. Castaneda doesn’t brag to employees about saving the world. Instead he offers them a path to gain pay, responsibility and respect. The workers probably start out thinking about more pay, but earning the pay comes from being worthy of more responsibility, and the result is not only pay but also more respect—both self-respect and the respect of others.

Every CEO is a sales person, and part of the role is sell jobs to current and prospective employees. Sales people are coached to emphasize the benefits of their product to customers. In today’s labor market, an employee doesn’t have to buy a job from you; he or she can get a job most anywhere. So the CEO’s pitch to employees, both for retention and recruiting, must include what’s in it for the employee. Notes such as this one focus on potential benefits.

Castaneda concluded the letter with a final piece of advice: “Find habits that help you improve your life and think of a brighter future.” That’s good advice for anyone.