I had a band teacher in high school who said something that I never thought could be so
philosophical. He said “yeah the kid is odd but I need him. He’s a great tuba player and it’s not
like everyone wants to rock the F out of the tuba.” After cracking up, I realized something
special about his joke, there was so much truth to it. The epiphany I had was that a person who
becomes a master at tasks or skills which nobody wants to perform, put themselves in a high
demand class of their own. More relevant to this article, I realized the importance of retaining
these special competitors. High quality moving company employees are much like the fellow
who played the tuba; they found themselves great at something no one wants to do and thus
are valued by those wise enough to retain them. There are a few things you can do to keep the
loyalty and motivation of your moving staff.
Weekly Meetings
Humans are highly social by nature. Everyone is capable of being socialized and needs to be
when working in a cooperative environment. While too much socializing can become a
time-waster, it is important to provide short controlled periods where staff can interact in
discussion and feel heard. There’s no need for personal points of privilege but it’s great to set up
weekly meetings where the staff comes together, maybe enjoys some pizza and pop, and
discusses work related matters in a light hearted setting. This creates a wonderful opportunity
for your staff to grow comradery and for management to make announcements and requests for
work corrections while your staff is higher in openness. The cost is low and the results will be
observable in workflow and team attitude. The consistency of having weekly meetings will
create a sense of structure, which is CRUCIAL in retaining loyal workers, especially in the
unpredictable field of moving. The weekly meeting can feel like a weekly mile marker besides all
the other benefits.
Company Events
As messed up as this will sound, strange things keep relationships going. There are times
where people will even stay with their partner just to experience that trip that’s coming up for
some mile marker that’s months away. This is often the reality for a lot of workers. That’s why a
smart thing to do is invest in a company event or two. One or two banger events throughout the
year is sometimes all the incentive an employee needs to stay at a company since they are
looking forward to having a good time at the company’s expense. It’s like an additional benefit.
There’s nothing that can be done about cynical people so the idea is to stay positive and reward
your star employees with some well deserved festivities.
Set a Consistent Example
The above will do great things for the work environment and create a strong sense of
commitment to the team but the most important factor of all is what they are committing to. This
begins with you, their leader. The team will only ever be as strong as its leader. This means
making sure you are the first to arrive, the last to leave, and that you are the most positive and
solution oriented person on the team. By showing your team consistency, showing them they
are valued, and showing them exactly how to behave by example, you will have the strongest
and most loyal team in the business. Your team will conquer anything in its path.