Marina International, January 2001

Employee’s: You Get What You Pay For
by Dennis Kissman

This is the time of year, with the memory of the holiday season still lingering and the prospect of preparing tax returns off in the distance, that we need to get down to business and begin preparing for the upcoming summer boating season. I am sure you have given serious thought to that dock that needs to be repaired, the shallow spot in your channel, or the power pedestal that got fried from being overloaded last season. Chances are, you have even thought about little things like what color T-shirt sells best in the ship’s store, or do you sell more Coke than Pepsi.

Don’t get me wrong. All these things are important. And you can have the best facility and the best marketing campaign. But without your staff you have nothing.  

FEWER PEOPLE WITH GREATER SKILLS

The size of your staff is not as important as the quality. I prefer fewer people with greater skills. To achieve this, there is an old saying that holds true: “You get what you pay for.” I have talked to several marina owners who say they can get dock attendants for $6.50 an hour all summer. They are probably right, and they will be hiring them, over and over, all summer.  

I much prefer hiring a dock attendant for $10.00 or $12.30 per hour who can do the work of three $6.50-per-hour dock attendants. And, I’ll have the bonus of knowing he or she will show up for work tomorrow. To have that employee come back year after year is a tremendous asset to your organization.

Having a skilled, loyal employee is especially critical as OSHA and other governmental agencies turn their attention to marinas. Think of what that inexperienced $6.50-per-hour employee could do to you financially when the OHSA inspector comes unannounced to your property.  

Inspectors usually start by quizzing your $6.50-per-hour employee about on-the-job safety. That’s the same employee you didn’t bother to train because you knew he or she would be a short-timer. That high school kid, the son or daughter of a friend of a friend, could cost you big time by putting you on the wrong side of OSHA. Do you really want to part with your hard-earned money? Last year’s OSHA inspections at 19 marinas resulted in fines totaling $28,735.0—an average of $1,512 per marina.

That’s a good argument for retaining excellent employees. And the only way the good ones will stay with you, either on a seasonal basis or year-round, is if they are able to make a decent living. No employee wants to feel they are being taken advantage of, and no employer wants to feel that way about an employee. There are two ways to know if you achieve this goal: If you can build loyalty and retain your staff year after year, and if you do not have any "involuntary profit sharing" by employees. Continue »