You’ve probably heard the story of the frog in the pot. If not, or in case you need a reminder, the story goes something like this: If you put a frog in a pot of water and then slowly turn up the heat, the frog won’t register the heat change until it’s too late and it’s boiled alive.

Terrible story, but it’s a good metaphor for what we experience when we don’t notice the gradual changes happening around us until it’s so late that we have to rapidly adapt — or die.

Hmm… you may wonder how this is appropriate to your world in the trades. After all, many trades-based roles have a long and traditional history. Even so, there is a great deal of relevance.

In a way, we were all frogs cooking away in that pot. We went blithely along, doing business the same old way, year after year. And then the pandemic came, and our world was turned upside down.

There’s a term for this abrupt change in our worldview—ontological shock.

Ontological shock is what happens when you have an experience that confronts your worldview in such a way that it can’t be ignored. You look at the mirror, but what is being reflected back to you is profoundly changed.

The pandemic caused us to look at our industries in different ways. All of a sudden, long-neglected supply chains were the subject of serious and intense concern. We were accustomed to being able to order, and receive, parts within a few days. We didn’t feel a need to think strategically and plan carefully for shortages — things were always just a short time away. Supply chain issues have us taking a new look at the importance of logistics, and incentives were offered to people to seek careers in those fields. Three years later, we’re still trying to work out some of the tangles in our logistical systems.

And what of the technician shortage? That’s an issue we didn’t really realize was an issue until it became a problem. Sure, we’ve always been busy in the trades. However, the technician shortage took on a new importance during the pandemic and, in many ways, that hasn’t eased up. For the first time that I can remember, there is such demand for tradespeople that technicians can literally walk across the street to a new company and get a job, generally at a higher wage. This means it’s harder than ever to attract and retain talented field service technicians for our businesses.

Normally (as in what we did pre-pandemic), we look for people and sources of information that back up what we think of our world. We seek out like-minded people and find reasons to avoid doing the very things we should change in order to help us build our businesses. While this is nice and comfortable, ultimately, it’s holding us back.

Our view of our world in the trades has been permanently changed since 2020. And that’s not going to change back just because we’d like it to. If we don’t want to end up like the frog, then we have to adjust to those changes and find a new path.

We need to change our view of the world, beginning with the view of our own little world — our business.

In Canada, we are still experiencing a tech shortage, but it seems to be abating a little. Maybe there are more technicians entering the trades. What’s more likely is we’re getting used to the shortage. But that is not ideal… far from it. We still have the coming pressures of more people leaving the trades than entering them. We can’t keep looking in the mirror, hoping to see the view we used to have. It’s time for us to reframe our views on how to attract and retain technicians.

To begin, we need to take a hard look at the employee experience in our companies. Employee engagement is a global problem, and the trades are affected by it, just like everyone else.

Let’s begin by defining employee engagement. Per the Gallup organization, recognized for its work in the field of engagement research, employee engagement refers to how committed an employee is to their organization, role, manager and coworkers.

Why should we care? Because engagement drives performance. Engaged employees are more productive, work better with their colleagues, provide better customer service, have fewer absences and safety incidents, and are more loyal to their organizations. This means engagement boosts employee retention. This is important! In this time when it’s so challenging to attract talent, it’s crucial to retain the talent you have.

In this time, when it’s so challenging to attract talent, it’s crucial to retain the talent you have. So, what can concerned business owners and leaders do?

Begin by focusing on managers and supervisors. As said above, they are the biggest reason people leave and stay. According to Gallup, managers are responsible for 70% of the variance in engagement. They are truly the single biggest factor in employee retention.

Train and coach your supervisors and managers. Anyone in a people-leadership position should receive training on how to lead people. As said above, this doesn’t come naturally to most people. Ask managers and they will often tell you leading people is the hardest part of their jobs. Yet, that’s the largest part of their jobs. We need to provide soft skills training and support. Training in skills, like communication, collaboration and teamwork, conflict resolution, change management, and delegation, will really help them.

After they’ve been trained, hold them accountable to apply what they’ve learned in their jobs. This means, owners and senior leaders, that you have to coach and support your managers. Begin by attending the same training you ask your managers to take. We just finished delivering training to a group of new managers. Seeing the company owner there, learning along with them, held huge impact for participants. It was clear what was taught in this training is something that is expected from all people leaders in the organization, including the owner.

In training, managers should be taught the value of regular, frequent, and consistent one-on-one conversations. The impact of these conversations can’t be underestimated. It is during one on ones that true relationships are formed, helping employees connect to their manager, work, and companies. This is where trust and loyalty are formed. Therefore, it is absolutely worth it to invest the time.

Look for the things that will change what you see in the mirror. Don’t be limited by thoughts from times passed. Seek to make changes that will advance your company and lead you to success. Begin with your approach to the people who matter so much to your success. That begins with focusing on manager development. In this way, what you see reflecting back at you won’t be a frog in a boiling pot.