pays for any MECP test an employee wants to take, including paying them to take the day off for the test and providing a $50 cash bonus if they pass. Employee training doesn’t stop there, however. Two to three times a year Ramirez takes his staff to industry trainings with Sonus, Mobile Solutions and Del Ellis International. Employees are also trained on new products with the company’s vendors conducting trainings on occasion. Ramirez attends KnowledgeFest alone in Dallas to enhance his own knowledge base as well. Acknowledging that his staff are people and not just machines in a factory, Ramirez emphasizes the importance of treating his team like family to encourage better work and loyalty. This includes giving out bonuses for large jobs. “It’s a percentage of what the total build was. As long as it was done on time, I give out a percentage based on how long they’ve worked for me,” Ramirez added. All employees are salaried with Ramirez doing the bulk of sales himself. In another effort to give back to his staff, he regularly treats them to meals, requesting they bring family members when available. “If we had a rough work week, we go out. I make sure they take family. If your wife and kids hate what you do, you’re not going to be working here very long,” Ramirez said. “We go out to dinner all the time. The last employee who quit only quit because they moved. Because of the kinds of work the other shops in the area do, if an employee left for more pay, they’d be doing more work and more boring jobs.” New employees are given a threemonth internship period where they are not allowed to touch any machinery. The goal is to acclimate the new hire to the shop’s practices to ensure everything is standardized. The same goes for tools. “If an employee doesn’t have good credit it doesn’t matter. All my guys have immediate credit with Snap-on Tools. I have a list of tools you have to buy to work here. Some tools I provide. I buy the same socket set, one for each employee. Little things like that make us more efficient.”
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