How to Attract and Retain the Best HVAC Employees

Are you looking to hire HVAC employees to expand your business? The demand for high-quality air conditioning and heating technicians are on the rise, as home ventilation and heating systems across the US need to be repaired, updated, and installed. In fact, by 2030, the HVAC service market is predicted to increase from $25.6 billion in 2019 to $35.8 billion, with the biggest cause being the US construction boom. With a rising population and huge commercial and residential development growth, with smart home integration, HVAC employees are in great demand.

Being able to offer a high-quality and consistent service is important for any business, and will help improve your reputation. As Steve Jobs once said, great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people. So, hiring the right HVAC workers is crucial to your HVAC business success.

Although finding talented HVAC workers can be a challenge in itself, not to mention keeping top talent by your side for more than a year. In such a competitive environment and industry, improving your approach to hiring HVAC employees, nurturing top talent, and optimizing employee retention rates is key. So, get ready to discover our top tips to attract HVAC workers.

Attract Valuable HVAC Workers

Starting with your recruitment process, to attract valuable HVAC employees, you’ll need to consider your unique selling points. What can your company offer the right HVAC professionals and why would they benefit from being part of your team?

Think about the following benefits an HVAC worker might value;

• A technologically focused business that uses field service management CRM software & an accounting integration
• Responsive and reactive to industry changes
• Opportunities to develop skills, experience, and industry knowledge
• Paid training days and workshops
• Health and dental, vision & life insurance for HVAC employees
• Remote work opportunities
• Company vehicle or gas expenses paid
• A competitive salary

Work perks are a great way to attract talented and experienced HVAC employees to apply for a position at your company. So, make sure to list your HVAC worker benefits in full when creating job advertisements.

Expand Your Outreach

Another effective way to acquire talented HVAC professionals is by mixing your candidate strategies like posting to niche job boards, employee referrals, recruitment firms, etc.

Utilizing consulting and talent firms like Blue Collar Talent Scouts is a partner to home service providers like HVAC, electrical, plumbing professionals that are hyper-focused on finding top talent for business owners operating in the skilled trades.

As you’ve probably noticed, it’s not news that the skills gap is getting worse and worse. Over the next decade, almost three and a half million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, and the skills gap is expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled. With this in mind, highly skilled workers who are ready are getting harder to come by so it’s important to use multi-channel to reach and attract your ideal HVAC workers.

Wondering what you need to know before making the leap to field service management software? Find out the questions you should be asking in this e-book.

Interview Techniques

While a candidate will likely be nervous during an interview, as a recruiter for an HVAC company, you should also be focused on making a great first impression. Since talented HVAC employees are difficult to find and in-demand, they will likely have a number of companies trying to get them on board. So, the interview is a prime opportunity to sell them on the benefits of joining your HVAC business.

Going back to the work perks, you can reinforce the benefits of this position during an interview, as well as highlight your future plans for development and how you see them improving their skills and experience with your help. You can also let them meet your team, speak to fellow technicians and really get an insight into how your business operates. Transparency is a valuable way to get talented engineers to join your company.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 7 Tips to Manage Your HVAC Business More Effectively

 

Optimize HVAC Employee Retention Rates

Once you have a hard-working and valuable team helping to expand your business, you’ll need to keep your HVAC employees happy by offering the most competitive rates and benefits you can afford. Here are a handful of ways to achieve employee happiness and wellbeing.

• Review HVAC employee salaries on an annual basis with an incentive for those who continue to work for your company.
• Give HVAC workers the chance to develop their skills and advance their industry knowledge through training days and online courses.
• Appreciate your team by taking them on team-building activities such as paintballing, escape rooms, and thrilling experiences that focus on building trust.
• Be open to employee feedback in relation to remote work and flexible shifts.

Between organizing schedules and making sure your teams are dispatched to the right place with the right job info, things can get hectic when running an HVAC business. Check out our guide The Ultimate Guide to Dispatch Software for Service Contractors and learn how dispatching software will improve team consistency and time management.