As the popular narrator, podcaster and TV host (Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, etc.) Mike Rowe once said, "The flaw in our character is our insistence on separating blue-collar jobs from white-collar jobs and encouraging one form of education over another."

To his point, it’s clear to even the most casual observer that service industries have struggled to find employees to fill entry-level and experienced positions in the last several years. This appears to be an ongoing problem. To reverse this trend, we as an industry need to act now.

Rowe suggests that a contributing factor to this employee availability problem is an unfortunate cultural disdain for people who work in blue collar jobs, especially those in which people work with their hands. Often, this social stigma pushes young people into attending college, when that choice may not be the best fit for them. This has created a severe lack of talented and available tradespeople for blue-collar jobs that don’t necessarily require a college education. The recent popularity of remote work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic also contributes to our existing worker shortage. So, how do we change this untenable trajectory?

Educational opportunities

People choosing to go into the trades usually look for personal and professional skill development opportunities, just like college students. Some of our team members have college degrees or have attended college.

Over the past three years, we have invested significant time and energy in training and developing our team in skills like leadership, project management, budgeting and planning, customer service, and effective communication. They appear excited about the opportunity to learn these skills practically in our work environment without seeking them in a two- or four-year college program. We now see serious returns on our investment and a happy, fulfilled, and committed work culture in our organization. Instead of feeling like they weren’t good enough for college, our team members without college experience feel they are gaining valuable soft skills that will serve them well as they advance in their careers. Many skills they learn are not even offered in a college curriculum.

Ours is a slow and steady approach. Such an approach should be top of mind with everyone in your organization. As 19th-century poet, novelist and playwright Alfred Mercier once said, "What we learn with pleasure, we never forget." A corporate culture of learning with pleasure while working and earning an income is a recipe for attracting and keeping talented team members. We committed our entire organization to ensuring we have more bench depth than ever. This learning-while-working-strategy helps us attract and retain team members – even when salaries may be higher elsewhere.

While employees will inevitably come and go as needs in their lives change, the main core of our team and the culture we created cannot be eroded. We realize that if this core learning and development culture is lost, it’s very hard to recreate. So, once you’ve built it, protect it!

Charting a path

Creating, building and maintaining a pleasurable learning and working environment and culture is a huge commitment. Time and money must be available and dedicated for this to happen. Your staff needs to know which positions will open next and when.

You might be thinking, "OK, Mike. Great ideas, but what specifically do we need to do to make this happen?"

• Make a list of the talent you believe your company needs, when you will need it, and how soon you can get it. Include your growth plan and any new projects or service offerings you anticipate introducing to your market.
• Create an operational chart of the new positions you anticipate adding and what skills are needed for each position. If you have less-skilled employees, they might be interested in learning those key skills to be eligible when the new positions open.

You may wonder why sharing this vision and plan with your team is important. Depending on how long they’ve worked with your company, they know how the company operates. They know how to get things done and the most efficient ways to complete tasks and projects. They generally, and often specifically, know what the company needs to do to be successful because they are in the trenches doing the work every day.

Most are vested in making the company successful because doing so moves everyone ahead. Greater success = greater job longevity = higher compensation = a more enjoyable workplace. Listen to them and let them help. Once your team sees that their thoughts, ideas and opinions are valued, they will start to see a true growth plan that invites their engagement and input. This creates a sense of job security, as well as learning and growth opportunities they will find engaging and rewarding. This makes them want to stay…and tell others about the great place where they work.

Spreading the good news

And this is where the real fun starts. Employees who see growth opportunities feel good about where they spend their time. Your staff will naturally start looking for others to join your incredibly successful and high-performing team. They will tell their friends about this great place where they work and how it’s stable, fun and forward-looking.

Of course, you will eventually run out of referrals from current employees and must create a solid recruiting plan. A powerful positive message about your work environment, told by current employees through testimonials and social media, will attract the type of folks you want to add to your team.

When seeking new talent, we’ve had good luck working with churches and faith leaders, since they know people at different stages of their lives and can help recommend some excellent talent. Let people know that you are looking for talented and committed employees. Equipment operators may be looking for additional work. They might not be able to help during a 7 a.m.-5 p.m. workday, but they can help on the evenings and weekends when you need all the help you can get, especially during multi-day storms.

If your local high schools or vocational schools have mechanics classes and HVAC trainings, the teacher could refer your company to young people interested in working right out of high school. Be sure to meet with those teachers and let them know about your company and employment opportunities. Teachers are very protective of their students, and they are not likely to recommend a student to a company they don’t know. The key to business success is not what you know or who you know but who knows you.

Invest the time in becoming known in your community (in a positive way, of course!). Also, remember that you need to be recruiting year-round. Finding people who can handle our working conditions in both summer and winter can be difficult and time-consuming.

My dad always said that some of the best people he worked with in the Army had zero experience but had an incredible attitude and work ethic. He was spot on! You can always teach skills, but changing perceptions or attitudes is hard. Finding and training employees who fit your company’s culture will be challenging.

Turn your company into a place where those inspired to work with their hands in blue-collar trade jobs are eager to join your team. Think about how you can start to grow your corporate culture into one that helps people to continue to grow and develop professionally and personally. Stay positive and good things will happen.

If you would like more details about how we create and sustain our culture, please get in touch with me. I’m happy to chat.

Mike McCarron is president and founder of Image Works Landscape Management, a commercial landscape maintenance and snow removal firm in the Northern Virginia market. He has 20+ years of industry experience. Email him at mike@imageworkslandscaping.com.