Is the tech shortage at your shop … your fault? Keith Mercurio says maybe

Not just Mercurio talking

Culture is everything, Mercurio said. There are many influencers in the trades who agree.

“The right companies with the right culture and the right leaders, who are transparent and real, could solve their own labor problems,” said Chuck Morales, a trainer and teacher with the Go Time Success Group.

As an example of building a culture that sustains itself, Mercurio mentioned Will and Shanna Blanton of Blanton’s Air, Plumbing and Electric in North Carolina. They do not consider themselves more important than any other employee. In fact they have a smaller office than many in the new building that they just built—and their business has grown from $5 million in 2015 to $14.4 million in 2020.

“Company culture means becoming a company within the context of the world, not just our industry,” he said. “Being able to compete against other careers outside of the trades … financial institutions, sales positions in other industries, tech and so forth.

“We are looking at it from the context of where are our benefits and pay scale as it relates to the trades. That one kills me.”

Mercurio also pointed to Radiant Plumbing & Air in Austin, Texas. Radiant has a flexible, almost on-demand, vacation policy. When an employee needs time—be it a school event or if the spouse does not feel well or the family is going on vacation—he or she arranges the time off and takes it. 

“Trust is built with management and technicians, and the trust is rewarded with dedicated employees who appreciate being treated well,” Mercurio said. “Those who abuse the generosity simply do not last in this high-performing culture.”

The power of intention

That points to a key principle in his view: intentionality. Those who act intentionally to benefit their employees, help build culture, and make the business a good place to work see results.

Radiant, which hired 100 new employees in 2020 (during a pandemic) had another employee who was moving. Many companies would say there’s nothing they could do. Radiant liked this team member, who was a culture fit and a high producer. So management got together and created a remote sales position for him. He was assigned calls for price-shopping customers, to try and make sure they wouldn’t be lost. And he produced $2 million in revenue in his first year.

“They did it by asking ‘How can we make this work?” Mercurio said. “There’s not a labor shortage. There’s an ingenuity shortage.”

Ingenuity, he said, means keeping and creating top performers. He pointed out that 85% of the workforce at Morris-Jenkins in Charlotte, N.C., is homegrown. He suggests companies could develop apprenticeship programs where top techs train apprentices. 

“Not all companies have a school or the ability to have a school, but ingenuity would allow them to create a culture of education and development,” Mercurio said. “Pay your top performers to be mentors. Make that a normal role inside the business. Build a small curriculum based on best practices. Empower people to give them a chance to grow so they’re not out turning wrenches their whole lives.”

Think differently

Mercurio is aware of the position that it’s time to make the trades "more cool" to appeal to young people. His reaction shouldn’t be surprising.

“Old people talking about young people. It’s terrible,” he said. “What’s been cool has always been cool. Being valued, making a lot of money, having a job that you love, being respected. These things have never gone out of style and they never will.

“There’s nothing missing in what we do other than we’re competing in the vacuum of our industry rather than thinking we should be competing in the broad scale of what is appealing to all human beings.

“Why do you insist that employees have to show up at 7 every day? Because that’s how it’s always been. I don’t want to be there at 7; why can’t you have somebody that works from 10-6? Why have people on call? Can’t you find someone who can work evenings whose circadian rhythms are in sync with that and like to be up late and sleep late?

“Giving people autonomy is cool, the ability to choose is cool, that they matter is cool and that there’s a future beyond what they’re doing today is cool.

“Labor shortage? It’s not that they don’t want to work; they don’t want to work for you.”

Talking and focusing on the labor shortage? To Mercurio, it’s a distraction.

“If you’re having trouble keeping or finding employees, there’s somebody else in your market taking those employees,” he said. “You pay for good people and then treat them well.

“Honoring and serving your employee base is something that has never gone out of style and never will.”