9 minute read
CARING FOR EMPLOYEES
- WHAT CARING FOR EMPLOYEES LOOKS LIKE -
by Vicki May, Human Resources Director
Help wanted signs are in store-front windows up and down Main Street, America. Whether we blame COVID, reduced manufacturing, stressed supply chains, the ‘Great Resignation Movement’ of 2021, or however we rationalize this employment shortage we try to explain why it's hard to find workers—companies everywhere are feeling a hiring strain. Not unlike other companies and businesses, the Agricultural and Construction Equipment industry has also experienced the downturn of fewer and less qualified applicants to apply for open positions. While this certainly is a more challenging hiring environment, it is also an opportunity for companies to turn their sights to their existing workforce, and reevaluate what it looks like to care for employees. Employee retention considerations have the ear of CEOs, CFOs and business leadership teams of both small and large organizations everywhere. A renewed sense of employee retention and how companies value and care for their employees has become more of a ‘crucial conversation’. Great Plains Kubota didn’t wait for this recruiting phenomenon to occur to focus on how we care for our employees. Our employees are a work-family, and they are at the very heart of the Great Plains Mission Statement: The mission of Great Plains is: ‘To provide quality equipment solutions while conducting business in a manner that honors and respects God, our employees, our customers, our suppliers, and the communities we serve.’ Prospective employees regularly share that they are looking for new career opportunities because they have been ‘let down’ by the lack of value they have felt from employers who espoused to value their employees. From a recruiting standpoint, this can be a challenging conversation to overcome for jobseekers. Telling a prospective employee that we value and respect our employees is ‘the same line they heard from the last guy’, but demonstrating how we care for our employees makes the difference in the interview conversation, and in how we retain great talent. The best organizations know and understand the human component, and that employees are not cogs on a wheel whose only value is mechanical and routine production. Sociologists and historians like Studs Terkel, the Hawthorne studies, and others have written in depth on the subject of work and what allows employees to perform well,and also what causes us to find satisfaction and value in our work. If a 1927 experiment showed that improving the lighting in a factory not only increased productivity and made workers feel cared for, then how much more can companies do today to attract and retain great talent by owning a culture where their employees feel cared for. Retaining great talent requires a package deal–competitive pay and benefits are a given, but today’s employees are not so different from those early factory workers who felt like they mattered when the lights got brighter. Today’s employees want to work hard and to feel like they know their job duties and that they are meeting the expectations of their supervisors. They want to feel valued, respected, and recognized. Great Plains takes this understanding to heart in a number of ways. While there are numerous ways companies can care for their employees, I will share a few ways that Great Plains shows employee care.
Mission Mindedness
The Employee Hardship Fund is voluntarily funded by our employees, with employees donating on the average between one to two dollars per pay period to a special Hardship fund that is matched dollar for dollar by our owners. This fund is used to assist in financial issues that come-up tragically or unexpectedly in
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the lives of our employees—it is a ‘hand-up’, and it is a gift; family taking care of family. Our owners are Faith-driven business leaders–and their vision for the group is that we also care for one another. Also as a result of this Mission-mindedness focus, Great Plains created a website for employees to make prayer requests. We also use E-mail to communicate a need or prayer request of our entire group. Additionally, we celebrate great accomplishments, births, etc. as a group.
Compassionate Shepherding
Caring for employees begins with an understanding that employees walk through the doors at the workplace as people who are Husbands, Wives, Moms and Dads, Grandparents, Daughters, Sons, Brothers, Sisters, etc., who come to work with personal joys and challenges outside of the workspace—the everyday real-life ‘stuff’ that doesn’t go away between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM; bills, sickness, family issues, etc. The antiquated rhetoric of ‘leave your personal lives at the front door’ is a tall order. While it is true that work must occur, it is also true that employees often just need someone to know their situation, and that they are working through a tough time.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Great Plains recognizes that happy employees create positive and productive work environments that allow everyone to thrive while working toward common goals. Unfortunately, there are times when personal problems prevent employees from doing their best work. This may lead to a reduction in productivity and focus, which can negatively impact the rest of the team. Great Plains pays for the full cost of a professional Employee Assistance Program, with no out of pocket cost to our employees. Guidance resources include counseling or advisement in areas of Intellectual, Financial, Occupational, Social, Environmental, Spiritual, Emotional, or Physical dimensions of Wellness.
Benefits
Benefit packages offer today’s prospective employee with an array of offerings that send the message that companies do indeed care for their employees. Great Plains is also proud to offer an array of Employee Benefits Group sponsored health insurance where our owners pay an average of $3,300.00 per participating employee, per year to lower the plan costs to employees. Additionally, we offer Group rates on Dental and Vision insurances, an Employer paid Life Insurance policy for each employee, along with Employer-paid Short Term Disability (STD), Voluntary Group Life Insurance and Voluntary Long Term Disability (LTD). Employees in our shops, and in our Rental business also receive an annual reimbursement for a new pair of boots.
Semi Annual Employee Evaluations
Employee Reviews are vital to employees understanding how their production contributes to the success of the company. The Employee Evaluation allows the employee and the supervisor to review previous goals and to set new goal expectations, and to update the employee’s training path. Moreover, the evaluation is a time for the employee to receive feedback, and is also the opportunity for the employee to feel that she/he is heard as well. Finally, whether a company is evaluating their culture and programs for hiring, or for retention–programs that speak to a Mission-mindedness, Compassion Shepherding, Employee Assistance programs, Employee Benefits, and Employee Evaluations are programs that demonstrate how a company’s culture views employees. In today’s employee-economy, a company that can demonstrate what caring for employees looks like, will have enough cultural capital to thrive.
