If you aren't getting enough out of your employees, perhaps it's time to look at what you're doing for them, advises the general manager of Levert Personnel Resources Inc.
Providing the right benefits package and incentive programs can make all the difference for small and medium sized businesses which want to attract and retain qualified employees, said Terry Zuk.
“Companies get the employees they deserve,” he said. “That's what we've found. We spend a lot of time listening to our own employees.”
Levert Personnel Resources, which was founded 25 years ago in Timmins, recruits temporary workers for other businesses. Other branches of Levert recruit permanent employees for businesses and do safety audits.
Many companies, including small and medium sized ones, provide employees with a share of the profits when business is good, said Zuk, who works out of Levert's Sudbury office.
Sales staff are those most likely to receive a share of profits, although Zuk said other types of workers may also be involved in this type of arrangement. Health benefits should be an important part of every company's benefit plan, even if the worker has to pay part of the premiums themselves, he said.
Young, healthy workers may not see why they have to pay for health benefits, but that will change as they get older, said Zuk.
“You don't know what you need until something happens where you do have a need. But things change. People develop diabetes and suffer from nervous conditions where all of a sudden they need medications,” he said.
Providing at least a portion of people's dental and eyeglasses costs is also a standard part of health benefits packages, Zuk said.
Zuk also advises companies to provide employees with sick days, and to be flexible if they need more than the allotted amount to get well again.
“If your employees are sick for a few more days than they have leave for, you have to say 'Maybe we should pay for those extra days instead of docking the employee.' The little things like that go a long way. It's a small thing for the company and a big thing for the employee.”
Some companies co-pay with employees into pension plans, and other pensions are entirely employee-funded. In other cases, companies provide employees with a mechanism to put money into their own RRSPs, said Zuk.
“Sometimes it's just a savings mechanism where I know that every week or second week, $50 of my own money is going to go into an RRSP. The nice thing is that you're saving your taxes at the source.”
At times, it's the little things that count most for employees, he said. Businesses can show appreciation for workers by paying for their expenses in charity events or providing gift cards on holidays, he said.
Todd Herold, president of Herold Supply, said providing a full slate of health benefits has allowed him to retain top-notch employees.
“Looking after staff is number one,” he said. “The right benefits package is not something that all companies offer.”
More than half of his 15 employees have been with the company for at least 15 years, he said. Keeping the same staff for a long period of time drastically reduces training costs, said Herold.
Herold Supply, which was founded 34 years ago, focuses on the mining industry, and sells supplies such as starters and alternators, pumps and fluid handling products, materials handling and storage products and lighting and safety products.
Herold also allows his employees to share in the company's success through a profit sharing arrangement.
“We don't go quarterly or biannually or anything like that. We go month to month. Any month that my business shows a profit, we do profit sharing with my staff, which is something that has been able to help us retain staff for a number of years.”
