A Note from the Boss on Employee Appreciation Day
Mark’s Island of Misfit Toys
Today is Employee Appreciation Day and it gives me another moment to think back on the past year and reflect on our team. As we near the completion of our third year together, I am filled with gratitude for the tight group we have assembled at All American Heating.
Organizations are subject to a lot of change in normal times, but our group has persevered and grown during a two-year pandemic that has turned the world upside down. When I purchased the company three years ago, we had five employees. We’ve now grown to almost 20.
What I am most proud of is the fact that we have exceeded my wildest dreams as far as retention. Our team has an average tenure of almost 2 ½ years, and every team member has been here for more than a year, save our newest employee who started in December.
We have become a family, and I think one of the biggest challenges we have faced during the pandemic is that we have not been able to have our normal “outside of work” time. The love and respect they have for each other is something I have never really experienced in my past work roles. I am so happy to see them work together, and they complement each other so well.
I have often joked that I’ve built “Island of Misfit Toys” teams over the past 30 years. I would rather have an assortment of unique personalities than have a group that is all essentially the same. The uniqueness of our team has created opportunities to grow and innovate. I am so proud to say that I learn from this great group every day.
They serve the community with quality work and integrity. The technicians have taken to our training processes and have become leaders in the area by providing great mechanical services to our clients. Our office staff handles the difficult task of scheduling multiple emergencies and managing the many jobs that our technicians run every day of the week. I think that our customer service reps are often not recognized enough by me, and I also believe that we would not be growing the way we do without them.
Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.
Richard Branson – founder of The Virgin Group
Living and working in the mountains has become very challenging over the past several years and I recognize the difficulties and sacrifices everyone on this team has made. It is a hard environment to live in especially during the winter, where the hours are long and the roads are dangerous. It excites me to no end to see our work family grow in numbers. We have had a new baby arrive recently and have another couple more new additions coming this summer.
I want to conclude by saying that we are collectively faced with challenges, and this team fearlessly rises to the task at hand. They have been single-handedly responsible for hitting the 200 Google Reviews mark, which is the highest count of all HVAC companies in Summit County.
I can’t even begin to thank them enough for all they do for All American Heating.
Mark