Author: Taylor Carmichael, Technical Content Developer of PSA
Human Resource professionals within the cleaning and restoration industry have collectively been largely impacted by the havoc caused by that of the COVID-19 global pandemic. One major component of this is a spike in employee turnover rate which is currently at an all-time record high. Other key factors have indeed played into the 2021 – 2022 Great Resignation, but we need to remain cognizant and be sensitive to the fact that today’s team members are dealing with new struggles that weren’t as common and prevalent as little as 5 years ago. Struggles with mental health and wellness, company culture, dynamics of a team, remote and/or hybrid work, burnout, and increasing technology demands all play a correlated role in why good people and why good talent leave their jobs.
Salary vs. Making an Impact
In a recent book that I read, according to the Co-Authors of Why Workers Quit, Leighton T. Healey and Travis Parker Martin, today’s worker is demanding change, and it is our responsibility to ask the right questions to determine what that change is and how we can cultivate it. We can start by understanding the frontline workers prospective. According to the Restoration Workforce Survey: 2022 that is powered by The KnowHow Team, it has been determined that a vast number of workers today care less about salary, and care more about making an impact on others that surround them, in addition to desiring a healthy team culture. In the wise words of Zig Ziglar, “You can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Being kind and leaving a positive impact on those that surround us, whether external customers or internal team members, have a direct correlation to the happiness of team members, thus increasing employee retention rate and decreasing employee turnover rate.
Adopting New Technologies
Another key factor that plays into the success of team member retention is adopting new technologies. It is no secret that adopting a new technology is one of the top 5 challenge areas amongst many cleaning and restoration companies, but the great thing about embracing new technologies is they create consistency, efficiency, systemization, and allow team members to be more effective in their roles which allows them the space and ability leave that positive impact on others that they so greatly yearn to do. While adopting new technologies is a challenge, it is also proven that top talent will stay at their jobs when they are challenged, involved, trusted, and on a mission to impact the core. The restoration industry is constantly evolving and is an unashamedly growth-oriented industry.
Structure
Today’s worker desires STRUCTURE. Adopting and embracing new technologies can cultivate that need and desire for structure and organization. Much of the technology in the restoration industry centers around documentation for different aspects and components of the project. This type of documentation makes it easier to hold team members accountable, ensures execution, and demonstrates the scope of work to key stakeholders such as customers, Insurance Companies, Adjusters, and even Third-Party Administrators which in-turn also provides the structured parameters and framework that today’s worker desires. While introducing new technologies can be challenging, with the PSA ERP System there are numerous tools and features designed to create a structured framework that creates areas of accountability for managing your restoration projects, customer relationships, and accounting/finances. We have a specialized Training and Support Team that desire to assist you and your team in reaching your goals of adopting new integrated technologies that can play an important role in employee retention. To learn more, please contact our team at sales@canamsys.com. To learn more about Why Workers Quit and “other powerful insights from the largest workforce survey ever conducted on the restoration industry”, please visit The KnowHow Team.