Finding that perfect field service technician who’s capable of making a quick fix, friendly with customers, and great at sales is only half the battle — keeping him on the team is the other challenge. Here are three top articles on retaining your best techs. And remember, a happy employee is more likely to stay for the long run!

  • Hands-On Management: Service techs can have lonely jobs. So managers need to go out of the way to develop relationships with technicians. “The more we can establish a tight-knit relationship between managers and their technicians, the better chance we’ll have for building a longer-term relationship, especially with our top performers,” says Katherine Harris, director of recruiting for Roto-Rooter Services Company.
  • Training as Career Advancement: Surveys say that, next to a pay raise, training is the no. 2 benefit employees want out of their employers. Beyond simple product training, be sure to offer things like management training to top employees. “You have to show [employees] that there’s a career path,” says HVAC training guru Mike Moore. “If you want to recruit good people and keep them, you have to have a career path for them.” (Related: 5 Tips for Training Technicians.)
  • A Great Place to Work: Workers appreciate the little things: Let them collect tips, if applicable. Help foot the bill for parking tickets. Push the technology envelope. Give people appropriate job titles (seriously!). In short, create an environment where people want to come in to work every morning. And be sure to listen to what technicians are saying. Often the best ideas come from the people on the ground, not up in the C-suite.

Previously on The SmartVan: Top 3 Tips on HiringTop 5 Tips on TrainingTop 5 Tips on Evaluating Technicians.

Click here to download a free whitepaper, “Five Steps to Make Field Service Profitable.”

ABOUT Ian Stewart

Avatar photoIan is a veteran journalist who has covered sports for various news outlets. Previously, he was managing editor for an electronic-book publishing company and a public relations writer.