Way to Grow: Three Ways to Keep Your Company’s MVPs

When it comes to your employees, do you feel like you’re speed dating versus building long-term relationships? That’s understandable, especially if your business happens to be in the food services industry, which suffers an annual turnover rate of 90 percent to 130 percent, according to the National Restaurant Association. But Sidney Brodsky (right), chef and owner of James Gerard Foods (a 2011 IMPACT Award finalist), has concocted the “secret sauce” that makes talented employees stick around. Here, he reveals his winning three ingredients.

1. Create a strong and supportive culture within the company. The most important thing to realize is these are people who are working for you, not machines that you can turn off at the end of the day. They have the same kinds of needs as you and I — to provide for themselves and their families. We realize people need to make a living, and we offer benefits — health insurance, a 401K plan and a profit-sharing plan. While most small companies only pay health insurance for the employee, we pay 50 percent across the board, for the employee and their family.
2. Recognize top-notch performance. If one of our hourly employees goes above-and-beyond, they get a thank-you card. After they get three cards, they can cash them in for $10 to $15 gift card at Target or for gas. It’s the nature of our business that there are some days people have to work 10- to 12-hour shifts to fulfill last-minute orders. Employees are often excited about the overtime, but we also recognize them for those last-minute arrangements they need to make with their families.
3. Be approachable and nurture two-way communication. If anyone in the company has a personal problem or needs a $100 advance off their paycheck, they know they talk to me and I’ll do my best to accommodate them — within reason. I also try to know the big important things going on in employees’ lives. One way I stay in tune with my employees is to work production with them occasionally. I’m not encouraging everyone to do that, you can also hang out in the lunchroom, take an employee out to lunch or have informal employee meetings, which we do regularly.

The good news is it’s really not that difficult to build employee loyalty, and the payoffs are huge. With well-trained and proficient employees, your company will enjoy a big competitive advantage.

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James Gerard Foods
www.jgfoodsonline.com

This story is part of the Chamber's monthly Business Driver email. To sign up for any or all of the Chamber's monthly email communications, click here.To learn more about James Gerard Foods, click here to read their 2011 IMPACT Award finalist profile.