Background:
I am a legal marijuana producer and I hire people to work harvest seasonally. It isn't particularly easy finding folks for temporary work, but I generally pay better than most farms in the area. Typically, $16/hr is about average around here and I pay $20/hr and I pay a bonus when we are done. For reference, McDonalds pays $18/hr here.
This job requires no education, but it is physically demanding. I usually find decent employees through word of mouth (friends and friends of friends) because I do pay better than most and I believe in leading from the side rather than leading from the front. I act more as a co-worker than a boss. I always take the worst jobs and have my employees do the better jobs.
Note:
The current wage issue discussions and this sub is what made me decide to try something different from trying to get the most work for the least pay.
The wage experiment:
After reading “Deep Work” by Cal Newport, I took his advice on 6 hours of work being an optimal work day (7hrs with breaks), the remaining hours are pretty much a waste of time. I have been working that way all year personally and have been much happier and more productive over the week. I decided to extend that to the crew this year. Pervious years, we would work at least 8 hours most days and sometimes weekends. With an 8+ hours workday, it might work well Monday and Tuesday, but productivity seems to decline Wednesday to Friday. At 6 hours, productivity doesn't seem to dip as the week continues.
In addition to that, I decided to try something new with wages to increase efficiency. At the start of the season, I told everyone that this would be treated as salary 35hrs per week at $20/hr, $700/wk gross pay. If they're present for the day, it is 7hrs of pay. They are guaranteed that pay even if we get done sooner than expected. On day 1 we did 7 hours of work in 5 hours, which essentially made their pay $28/hr. Everyday has been basically the same level of efficiency.
Some days do require longer hours, but we have not gone more than 7 hours, including breaks and paid lunch. Since I have seen that the crew was very efficient, I didn't want to punish them for working longer and essentially being paid less. On days that went above 5 hours, additional hours were added to their pay for the week to maintain $28/hr. For example a 7 hour day was paid at 10hrs to maintain at least $28/hr (whole numbers make my life easier).
When extra work isn't totally necessary, but could be done, I ask the crew if they would like to go longer and be paid more and they generally prefer to clock out at 2pm and have a life rather than be paid more. Totally fine with me unless we really have a deadline to hit, in which case they are willing to hit that deadline once in awhile and be paid more for it. This has happened maybe 3 or 4 days out of 25 work days so far.
At the end of the season the workers with the most hours will get a bonus equal to 3 weeks of pay, $2100 GP. This will add roughly $9/hr on actual hours worked or $7/ on the salary basis making pay around $37/hr on actual hours worked or well over double the average pay locally. I usually do 2 weeks of pay as a bonus because it gives the crew time to recuperate and transition to another job, but decided on 3 weeks since I will still be on budget for labor expenses by finishing nearly a month sooner than last year. Rather than keep that savings for myself, I am paying my employees more since it was already budgeted for labor. The workers who work fewer hours due to other jobs get a percentage of $2100 based on hours worked compared to the person with the most hours to keep everything fair. For reference, I have 1 worker who works all 5 days per week, 1 that is 3 days per week, 1 that is 2 days per week to cover the off days of the other, and 1 that is 1 day per week for extra help in other areas.
Some other things I have done are giving paid days off after an expentionally difficult day. For example, today I told the crew if we push hard and finish harvest they could have tomorrow off paid to recover. This was 1/3 more work than than our previous highest workload and it was done in 5.5hrs. I have also given a full day of pay for a partial day of work when one worker had a medical appointment, another had a sick child, and one more had jury duty. I am also planning on going on a field trip with my son's class next week and it will be a paid day off for the crew because I don't want to punish their paycheck for a choice I made for myself.
Some observations:
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The cost of labor is essentially the same when efficiency is considered.
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The crew is happier.
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Work is getting done faster. Currently, we are over 1 full week ahead of schedule in less than a month. On an actual hours worked basis, it is a 23% improvement in efficiency with at least 2/3 fewer hours worked.
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The crew is more willing to hit real deadlines when everything isn't a deadline.
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Losses have been minimal for the first time ever. For reference, lack of efficiency cost me 18% in losses last year.
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I work less too!
Moral of the story:
I hope this helps any other employers reading the stories on this sub to see that you get what you pay for. Try paying your employees who are efficient the same and letting them have more time to enjoy their life, or pay them more for working more. I highly doubt you'll notice the difference in labor costs and you'll have less turn over. I also think you'll attract the best employees who are most efficient and they won't leave unexpectedly. Try treating your employees how you would want to be treated.
The trope of “people don't want to work anymore” is 100% false! People just want to be paid what they know they deserve and be appreciated for the hard work that they do. It really is that simple to find or create and retain the best of the best.