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#4: How to Grow Your People with Randy Keys
Randy Keys just hired his 91st employee the morning we recorded this podcast. This is epically serendipitous because this is our first-ever Talent Matters Podcast episode, and Randy is someone we have watched grow from technician, to sales, to owner of Schaal Heating Cooling & Plumbing.
Last year, Schaal was nominated again for Top Workplace for a Small Business in Iowa and has been listed as one of the top five workplaces in the state for the past four years. Creating a work environment like this one doesn’t come without a few bumps and bruises along the way, and Randy has seen his fair share while growing this business over the past decade.
When Randy bought Schaal, there were just 18 employees. At first, he acted as general manager, hiring manager, human resources, and whatever else he needed to be, but around the 75th hire, he realized he was going to need some help. But he was very careful about what kind of help it was and where that help was coming from.
At the core of his business is people, and Randy’s main focus is growing his people. Rather than going out and hiring as many people as possible, he asks himself two questions:
The answers to these questions lie in knowing where people’s strengths are and helping people learn to recognize their personal strengths.
Randy learned early on that if you put people in the wrong place, they lose their joy and you lose their commitment to their position and their career. You can’t just assume your employees are having a good time, Randy says. Rather, he takes time to ask each employee how they feel about their position and what they expect from him. That’s the best way to guarantee he’s answering those two questions correctly.
But employee engagement involves so much more than a questionnaire at the end of the year, so Randy makes sure every leader at Schaal is doing something every month to engage employees. He shares which coaching and leadership courses prepare his team to engage with employees on an individual level, and we discuss the youth initiative programs that offer the skills training kids need to start a career with Schaal.
Showing this kind of investment upfront, proving that a company is willing to invest in the growth of its employees, can send engagement skyrocketing. When employees see that their leaders are excited about their success, they will follow your lead. Listen now to hear how Randy Keys is leading by example.
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By Results Group LLC
5
22 ratings
Randy Keys just hired his 91st employee the morning we recorded this podcast. This is epically serendipitous because this is our first-ever Talent Matters Podcast episode, and Randy is someone we have watched grow from technician, to sales, to owner of Schaal Heating Cooling & Plumbing.
Last year, Schaal was nominated again for Top Workplace for a Small Business in Iowa and has been listed as one of the top five workplaces in the state for the past four years. Creating a work environment like this one doesn’t come without a few bumps and bruises along the way, and Randy has seen his fair share while growing this business over the past decade.
When Randy bought Schaal, there were just 18 employees. At first, he acted as general manager, hiring manager, human resources, and whatever else he needed to be, but around the 75th hire, he realized he was going to need some help. But he was very careful about what kind of help it was and where that help was coming from.
At the core of his business is people, and Randy’s main focus is growing his people. Rather than going out and hiring as many people as possible, he asks himself two questions:
The answers to these questions lie in knowing where people’s strengths are and helping people learn to recognize their personal strengths.
Randy learned early on that if you put people in the wrong place, they lose their joy and you lose their commitment to their position and their career. You can’t just assume your employees are having a good time, Randy says. Rather, he takes time to ask each employee how they feel about their position and what they expect from him. That’s the best way to guarantee he’s answering those two questions correctly.
But employee engagement involves so much more than a questionnaire at the end of the year, so Randy makes sure every leader at Schaal is doing something every month to engage employees. He shares which coaching and leadership courses prepare his team to engage with employees on an individual level, and we discuss the youth initiative programs that offer the skills training kids need to start a career with Schaal.
Showing this kind of investment upfront, proving that a company is willing to invest in the growth of its employees, can send engagement skyrocketing. When employees see that their leaders are excited about their success, they will follow your lead. Listen now to hear how Randy Keys is leading by example.