Portland, Oregon based A-Temp Heating, Cooling & Electrical has been serving homes and businesses for forty years. Tyson, General Manager, and Erika, Marketing Director, say they were “born into it,” and are proud to carry on the family business their dad built.

Growing up in the business, they saw the value in treating employees like an extension of the family, and this continues to be a distinctive part of their culture today.

The Most Important Thing

“That’s the best review we get - when the client writes that our employee was out there raving about A-Temp and that they love working there.”

At A-Temp, employees are treated like family and that’s what makes the culture so strong and dynamic. Although they are growing at a steady pace, Tyson and Erika emphasize that they aren’t in a rush to hire. In fact, they have to turn down work right now because they only want to hire the right people.

Culture

Tyson and Erika highlight the standards by which they strive to keep their technicians, which include:

1. Hire people whose values align with yours.
2. Prioritize families.
3. Be reasonable.
4. Listen.

Asking for feedback and advice consistently from your employees and techs is important. Being open to all ideas, in fact, even silly ideas, can turn out to be valuable. Erika shares how their dad had the idea of yard signs. They thought it was silly, but the signs turned out to be incredibly efficient in helping them establish themselves as the neighborhood business they wanted to be.

Be Intentional about Incentives

Their technicians are out working long, unconventional hours, so Tyson and Erika emphasize the importance of giving their techs flexibility to accommodate their lifestyles and family time.

Tyson and Erika share that they also like to surprise employees with intentional, thoughtful things like a giftcard to an employee’s favorite place, bringing an employee their favorite drink or ice cream, or surprising staff with lunch.

Building a Strong Reputation and Preventing Turnover

1. When interviewing and hiring, focus on attitude, vibe, and finding the right culture fit. Go with your gut.
2. Be reasonable and do what you think is right.
3. Don’t let numbers cloud your judgement. Don’t let the few who might take advantage of a benefit you are giving stop you from giving it to the ones who won’t.

Retaining Customers

Follow up with your customers and ask them about why they keep coming back or why they don’t return.

Advice

Tyson and Erika’s advice for business owners include:

• Don’t compromise your integrity.
• Do what’s right for the customer always. This allows your employees to stand behind your company.
• Align yourself with the right people and make sure you can trust your staff like family.