I want to share with you a story about a fellow contractor. We’ll call him “Ron.” Ron has enjoyed a great deal of success. He owned several residential-service companies in different trades over his decades in business. Not long ago he acquired a competitor and took on most of its employees, as he was impressed by the company’s culture and employee performance. (But he knew everyone was only scratching their potential.)
You see, Ron has always pushed for drug testing in all of his companies. Well, these new employees didn’t understand Ron’s insistence on regular drug testing. They felt it was outdated. After all, marijuana was becoming increasingly legal. Why should Ron tell them what they can do on their time off? Ultimately, nine solid technicians told Ron’s GM that they were refusing to take the test.
Ron caught wind of this upheaval among his new employees and announced a company meeting. He had it early in the morning so everyone could be there and he could look them all in the eye. At that meeting, he set out what he was there to do. He shared his vision of building a dominant company. He shared his vision of giving 100% satisfied service where the client couldn’t lose. He shared his vision of a completely drug-tested company.
But he didn’t just share a vision of a drug-tested workforce―with two stories he told them why it was so important to him. The first story happened in the mid-80s at Ron’s HVAC company. Two employees were moving a boiler upstairs when the person on the bottom slipped up. The boiler fell and smashed his foot, and he had to have his foot amputated. Here’s the thing―the employee who allowed the boiler to slip had smoked marijuana that morning before his first call. It was a bad situation. That’s when he made the decision to conduct drug testing at his company.
The other story he told was a recent one from Florida news where a homeowner was attacked and robbed by a service technician whose defense was that he was on drugs.
Ron told these two stories to illustrate the dangers of working with fellow employees who are on drugs, and to show how drugs can cause you to do harm to another human being. The point is that drug testing isn’t only for the company―it is for the safety of its employees and clients, too.
With that, Ron shared what they would gain if they followed his vision. His employees now have full medical care for the first time ever. They have a 401k, paid vacations, and more. All of the changes were made to create a better environment for the employees so everyone wins.
In fact, here’s a great example of the impact of these changes. One of the Spanish-speaking installers came up to Ron after the meeting and had a friend interpret for him. He told Ron how he’d worked for the company for years. Two years ago when his first child was born, they didn’t have insurance, and it had taken him two years to pay off the hospital bill. Now, he’d just had his second child, and under the new insurance plan, the bills were completely covered. He was crying as he expressed his gratitude for how much better life would be for his family. Instead of paying the hospital for years, he’d be able to invest in his child’s future. He was so thankful. Even though he’d been there the whole time, it took Ron sharing his vision in person to get that story out of him and for the other people to hear the enthusiasm and excitement he had for the new environment.
I share this story to say this: Change isn’t easy. Whether you’re making changes to a business you acquire, like Ron, or the more likely scenario of making even small changes in your current business―you’re going to face resistance. To eliminate resistance your business must have these three important things:
- Vision: Your employees must share the vision you have for your company and the future you’re trying to build. Vision is where you want the company to go.
- Culture: You must develop the culture to achieve your vision. Culture is how your team works to achieve the vision. What do you want in your company―honest, dependable people; new and clean trucks; a place where everyone works as a team; drug-tested workforce; benefits for employees?
- Company Benefits: Not only do you need them, but you need to explain them. Let employees know how things will be different. People don’t know the value of benefits until they don’t have them―and they cost you a lot. Be sure to lay out the benefits of following your vision.
Amazingly, two weeks following that meeting, Ron’s employees were $220,000 above their goal. What changed? It was the same company, the same employees, and the same customers. What changed was their internal pride and perspective. Whether you’re acquiring a company or not, share your vision with your team and let them know where your company is headed. If you do, they’ll help you make money every day.