Tim Flynn is the Founder of Winters Home Services, a thriving plumbing business in the Boston area. His advice for recruiting and retaining techs is not a short-term solution; it requires high standards, dedication to the craft—and above all—strong, engaging leadership.

In today’s market, there’s a shortage of people who want to be in the trades, but a steady demand for work. Because of this, home services businesses have to not only compete for new hires, but also retain their current employees.

Tim is quick to dispel the myth that great healthcare, two weeks paid vacation time, or a company car and paid gas are enough. Today, your business needs to do something very different.

First, the benefits of working for your business should be crystal clear. It should be easy for a potential employee to take a package home and explain it to their significant other. From the salary and commission guidelines to the health, dental and life insurance coverage, keep it simple.

“Very similar to marketing to new customers, you have to do multiple things to market to new employees… Newspaper ads, Indeed advertising, hiring fairs, basically getting referrals from your current employees and paying those employees a commission or check for somebody who works out. If you’re not coming to hiring with 5-7 different disciplines, you’re not doing enough.”

When hiring and training new techs, Tim highlights several areas of consideration. Do they:

When he brings in a new tech or employee, they go on ride-alongs, takes notes, and observe the more experienced techs. It doesn’t matter if they’ll be working in the field or in the office, they go on ride-alongs to understand how the whole business fits together. If they are a tech, they are then sent to the Ultimate Tech Academy in Arkansas in order to learn or improve on a certain trade.

While poaching is certainly a reality in the competitive home services space, remember that people leave a business most often because the culture is not a good fit. Don’t take it personally.

Tim relies on the “Slow to hire, quick to fire,” motto, in order to make sure that potential employees are truly interested and invested. On the flip side, he strives to paint a vision for the future for his employees and show them how they can excel and grow within the company. This is crucial for retention.

Two of Tim’s favorite ingredients for creating an engaging culture are:

Tim emphasizes that there aren’t enough people who want to work in the trades today, so it’s important to be active in recruiting and retaining now.

“I think, for the next 10 years, in all markets, hire as many people as you possibly can... Train them and make them great. Because… anybody that answers a phone and goes to a phone, you’re going to be in demand. Because if you look around, we’re building more houses than you can even imagine. Those are houses are going to need to be repaired, that need to be fixed, that need to be maintained, and we don’t have enough people going into the trades.”

Looking to the future, you’re going to be working your people harder. This means you’ll need to provide time off, show appreciation, and give a lot of gratitude.

Most importantly, he says you really need to be there for your employees. Tim shares how he works hard to get to know his employees and be there for them as they navigate life. As a leader, don’t be afraid to get personal and be available to them.

“The first thing you do to retain a technician is work on yourself and be in a better place to give.”