Boating Industry

February 2014

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Boating Industry AT THE HELM Is 2014 the year your best employees set sail? JONATHAN SWEET jsweet@BoatingIndustry.com MOST COMPANIES HAVE HAD IT PRETTY EASY the last several years in managing employee turnover and keeping the team happy. With a recession that made employment conditions tough and an industry depression that made the situation downright desperate, most people have been happy simply to have a job. Too many companies have taken advantage of this to see just how much they can squeeze out of a smaller employee base. The "they should be happy to have a paycheck" mentality has been much too common. If you're thinking that, you may be up for a rude awakening in 2014, as employees are feeling more confident than ever about looking for new opportunities. With declining unemployment and improvements in the overall economy and the boating industry, opportunities are out there for the best employees. Right Management conducts a poll every year of workers across a variety of industries across the country. In the most recent edition, conducted at the end of 2013, 83 percent of employees said they planned on actively seeking a new job in 2014. That's up from 60 percent in 2009. That's just one survey showing results like that. While you may be willing to lose a disgruntled employee or two, those kind of numbers point to good employees being discontented as well. If you want to keep those best employees, it's not about crazy benefits or large raises. Yes, offering a competitive salary and benefits are important, but once you get past that, it's the little things that make the difference. In study after study, employees point to non-financial reasons for leaving jobs or seeking other opportunities. A good manager. Probably reason No. 1 people bail on a job is having to work for a toxic manager. Take a careful look at your team – is there anyone who you wouldn't want to work for? Don't forget to take a look in the mirror and see if you can improve. The chance to do great work. Most people want to feel like what they are doing matters. Talk about your successes, whether its earning money for a local charity or winning honors like being named to the Top 100. (Probably a good time to let you know that this year's Top 100 application is now available at BoatingIndustry.com/top-100/ application. You can find more information about this year's program on p. 38.) A career path. The best employees want to advance and grow. Are you giving them the opportunity to do that? Seeing the big picture. Do employees know why decisions that affect them are made? Communication is important to share why cuts are made, why this boat line is dropped or added, why a service provider is changed. These are just a few examples – but worth thinking about to make sure 2014 is the year you keep your best employees, not lose them. 6 | Boating Industry | February 2014 P06-BI14FEB-AtTheHelm.indd 6 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jonathan Sweet (jsweet@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR EDITOR: Tom Kaiser (tkaiser@boatingindustry.com) MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Keener (lkeener@boatingindustry.com) ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR: Nicholas Upton (nupton@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle (khoule@epgmediallc.com) PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg VICE PRESIDENT/MARINE, POWERSPORTS, BEVERAGE: Amy Collins NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR: Kathy Johnson 480-988-3658 (kathyjohnson@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, EAST: Chris Pelikan 954-964-8676 (cpelikan@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, WEST: Wiley Poole 805-473-8400 (wpoole@boatingindustry.com) PRODUCTION SPECIALIST: Cherri Perschmann DIRECTOR OF MARKETING: Kat Knudson GROUP SENIOR SALES SPECIALIST: Bernadette Wohlman CEO: Mark Adams SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Gerald Winkel SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: Joanne Juda VICE PRESIDENT/OPERATIONS: Barb Hammer BOATING INDUSTRY (ISSN #1543-4400) is published nine times per year – January, February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October/November and December – by EPG Media, LLC, 3300 Fernbrook Lane N #200, Plymouth, MN 55447. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the boating industry. Annual subscription rate is $99 per year for U.S., Mexican and Canadian residents and $149 for residents in other countries. All paid subscriptions must be paid in advance and in U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 5858, Harlan, IA 51593-1358. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Visit www.BoatingIndustry.com, call 866-2383237, email boatingindustry@cdsfulfillment.com or write to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 5858, Harlan, IA 51593-1358. EDITORIAL: All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailer's risk and must include self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for return. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materials. Boating Industry is a registered trademark of EPG Media, LLC. © 2014 by EPG Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by publisher. For more information on e-prints or reprints from Boating Industry, contact Bernadette Wohlman, 763-383-4400 x2464 Printed in U.S.A. PRIVACY POLICY: We recognize that your privacy is very important to you and we're committed to helping you protect it. You should know that we will never intentionally share your name, address and other personal information with anyone for their use if you have asked us not to do so. When you subscribe to Boating Industry, please tell us if you don't want your name and address shared with other reputable companies or if you don't want to receive our marketing offers. We'll mark your account for a three year period so that it will not be selected for products and/or services offers which you've told us you are not interested in receiving. If you change your mind, just get in touch with us and ask that we include you in future offerings. You can ask to not be included in future offerings at any time and it'll be taken care of promptly. Please contact us at Boating Industry Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 5858, Harlan, IA 51593 or call us at 866-238-3237. Please note that this policy does not apply to e-mail marketing. We will not send you commercial e-mails unless you have authorized us to do so. www.BoatingIndustry.com 1/8/14 11:43 AM

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