Even if you have a dedicated human resources department that lets new employees know about the programs you offer, make sure your administration staff is sufficiently educated to talk about what all of these things mean and their potential impact on your employees’ financial wellness. 

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once stated, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Have you ever found this to ring true as you think back on some of your conversations with your employees?

When Wendy’s International LLC created its employee handbook, the company probably never imagined it would become the poster child for what not to do. Yet the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held up Wendy’s efforts as an example of illegal, overbroad rules and regulations in violation of federal labor laws.

A large part of the message you send to your team is based on demonstration. What you say and what you do must be aligned for your message to gain traction with your team.

Many professional sales agents dream of owning their own business. At James M. Pleasants Company Inc. (JMP), the sales agents do own their own business — as do the vast majority of other JMP employees. JMP, one of the largest HVAC sales representatives in the Southeast, operates under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

I specifically titled this blog The Power of Questions, and I want to be clear that questions differ greatly from questioning. I define these terms like this: questions are asked to gain understanding; whereas questioning is a behavior used to pick something apart to criticize or even ridicule.

If you have a hard time relating to people in your HVAC company, maybe it’s not what they’re saying, or even how they are saying it, but actually how you are listening. This is especially true with feedback on you or your team.

I speak with many HVAC contractors who are frustrated with the way things run in their businesses. When we get to the topic of employee performance, and I ask, “How do employees know what is expected of them in this specific situation?”, I get an answer that just drives me crazy: “They just know.”