The HVAC industry has always faced challenges recruiting and retaining talented comfort advisors and technicians. The past year and a half has taken that pain point to new heights with extremely high demand, strained supply chains, and unprecedented challenges to service, sell, and install equipment in customers’ homes. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the need for HVAC workers will continue to increase for the next decade even while the workforce is aging and companies struggle to find new career-starting workers.
Follow the advice of Larry Anderson.
Have a career page on your website. Communicate your values and mission to current and prospective employees using social media and other methods.
There’s always a temptation to close an easy deal and make a quick buck. But the more transactional your relationship is with your customer, the more transactional your relationship will be with your employees too. The best companies focus on building long-term relationships with their customers.
Keeping your company’s focus on customer value builds respect and allegiance. Solving real problems with real solutions appeals to employees of all generations, and is of particular interest to millennials. Remember, if you treat your customers like they are simply a revenue stream, don’t be surprised if your employees jump ship when an opportunity at another shop arises.
The HVAC trade can be an extremely difficult profession. Hot attics. Crawlspaces. Banging sheet metal. Long, long days. But the physical demands are only a part of the challenge. Comfort advisors and technicians need to engage customers, learn new technologies, understand how their trade impacts the home’s overall indoor environment, and deal with how jobs are scheduled, tracked, and processed.
The best HVAC companies support their employees in all of these areas. For example:
Helping technicians achieve North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certifications and/or take trainings from the National Comfort Institute (NCI)
Encouraging designers take Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) courses
Investing in business systems that improve productivity, such as Schedule Engine, so employees can focus on their highest-and-best use, not repetitive and frustrating tasks
Offering training and improving systems is a necessary, but not sufficient means to retain workers. To really make a difference, employers need to ensure these support systems create a career ladder for employees. What does their career path look like in three to ten years? If you don’t help them create that vision, then their vision may not include staying in your business.
The best efforts are wasted if they can’t be effectively communicated and lived daily. That applies to retaining employees, as well as hiring new ones. Treat your employees and prospective employees like they’re your customers (and they are!).
Follow the advice of Larry Anderson. Have a career page on your website. Communicate your values and mission to current and prospective employees using social media and other methods. Pearl is proud to partner with the best HVAC contractors in the country that employ these methods, such as Parker & Sons, William Comfort Air, We Care, and SoCal Airflow Pros.
Pearl’s motto is “to make value visible.” That not only applies to helping make a member’s work visible and valuable in the eyes of a homeowner, it also applies to employees. Pearl Network qualifications include: 1) Superior Customer Service and Delivering Customer Value; 2) Business Best Practices; 3) Demonstrated Success at Growth; 4) Organizational Commitment to Quality, and; 5) Commitment to Community.
Being part of the Pearl Network reinforces a firm’s message to employees and to candidates that they are part of one of the nation’s leading contractors, dedicated to customer service, and to business and technical excellence.
We include Pearl in every presentation. It's a great closing tool! We love to be able to say that our installations are so excellent that we're one of a handful of HVAC contractors of over 1,000 that can Pearl Certify our work in our area.
The more we use Pearl, the more results we see for our business.
For all the companies out there wondering if this is worth it or if it will really help their business, what are you waiting for? To be in the top U.S. contractors and Pearl being a partner with ENERGY STAR helps us by legitimizing all our services.
People are spending more time indoors than ever and want their home to be comfortable and efficient. They want clean air and good ventilation. SoCal Airflow Pros, partnering with Pearl Certification, provides just that.
Only Pearl Network Contractors are authorized to offer Pearl Certification — and only contractors who have demonstrated exceptional quality and service are accepted into the network. Call 1.844.PEARLØØ or complete the form to learn how joining the Pearl Network can drive leads, close more opportunities, and set you apart from the competition.
Pearl Certification is transforming the housing market. We’re making a visible difference nationwide for homeowners and the businesses that serve them.
