Boo! Did we scare you? It’s that time of year again. When spooky and scary turns into fun Halloween entertainment. But do you know what isn’t fun? When your company culture is a nightmare that scares top talent away from your shipyard. Company culture is critical to building a satisfied, motivated workforce, and when something isn’t right, it begs people to “Get Out.” Here are a few of the biggest mistakes companies make and how you can avoid them.
1. Not Building an Employer Brand
When you hear about employer brands, you probably think that’s for other types of companies. But blue-collar companies need to focus on their employer brand too. Especially in the market where employees are hard to find, you have to provide a reason for them to want to work with you. What makes your production stand out? What extras do you offer to entice someone through the door? What do you do to ensure someone is happy and safe on the job?
2. Not Looking Beyond Your Back Yard
Like it or not, we are part of a national job market right now. That means there might be top shipbuilding talent who are willing to work for you if you take the time to look for them. When you focus entirely on the immediate area, you’re fishing from a shallow pool. Opening up your talent search across the country can get you access to great workers as long as you have the resources to entice them in.
3. Leadership Not Reinforcing the Culture
So many companies have a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. But this is a big mistake and will lead to dissatisfaction among employees. Whatever your shipyard culture is, management and leadership have to live by those corporate values as much as your employees do. For example, safety is always a priority, but it sets a bad example for the team if management doesn’t follow safety protocol.
4. Focusing Too Much on Hiring and Not Enough on Retention
It is much more cost-effective to retain current talent than to replace them. The hiring process can be expensive, so keeping employees happy and engaged will give your shipyard a competitive advantage. While you need to have a good hiring program in place to ensure you’re hiring the right talent at the right time, you also need to focus on keeping them satisfied while on the job.
Do you want to leverage your company culture to hire top talent for your shipyard?
Contact Hutco to learn more today.
