A Successful Marina Organization

Marina Dock Age, January/February 2005

How to Build and Maintain a Successful Marina Organization
by Dennis P. Kissman

I was recently asked if I could comment how to retain good employees. I thought about it for some time, and believe there are two ways to approach this question. An organization can be either proactive or reactive in their approach to retaining employees.

If an organization believes that its employees are an organization’s most valued assets, then it will most likely be proactive in its approach to retaining employees. Conversely, if it does not subscribe to the fact that employees are the most valued assets, then it will most likely espouse a reactive approach.

Reactive approach

Lets discuss the reactive position and the consequences of this way of thinking.

In a reactive approach, thoughts about retaining employees do not enter into an employer’s mind until an employee decides to leave. under these circumstances, the employer has three reasons for wanting to retain an employee who has decided to leave. First, the employee has done a good job and has the skills to perform the tasks the job requires. Second, the employer suddenly realizes that he/she does not know what the employee contributes to the organization. Third, it is easier to keep the status quo than to make a change, or in other words, this is the lazy way out.

The only reason an organization should ever consider retaining an employee is because he/she has done a good job. If the employer wants to keep an employee out of fear of not knowing what that employee contributes to the business, then the employer should first be asking himself/herself the question of why they let themselves get into this situation, and what they can do to prevent it in the future.

Now, I have found this situation occurs more. often than not in small, owner-operated businesses where many times an employee becomes part of the extended family and operates independently for his/her own benefit at the expense of the business. If a marina has someone in the organization like this, the first thing that needs to be done to prevent a reoccurrence is to understand the job the employee does. This does not mean that the marina needs to know every detailed aspect of the job, but employers should know enough to identify those talents in an individual.

If the reason for not making the change is to keep the status quo, I have only one thing to say: The price the organization pays today to retain that employee is nothing compared to what it will cost in the future. In fact, regardless of the reasons why employees want to leave or the organization’s desire to keep that employee, the relationship will change. The employer is no longer in control. Recognizing this fact should be reason enough to consider a proactive approach to keeping employees.

Proactive approach

To implement a proactive program for retaining employees, the first step is to recognize the three reasons for keeping employees from leaving for another job. One, the job is not challenging; two, the wage scale is not competitive in the marketplace for the job; and three, the working conditions are below other employers in the marketplace.

There are hosts of other reasons why people leave jobs, but they are out of the organization’s control. Thus, the marina organization needs to be proactive in addressing the three reasons why people change jobs that are in their control. If they are successful in these areas, turnover will be minimal.

As for the first reason, the real question is this: How can I make a job challenging when it involves the simplest of tasks? The key to answering this question is to make sure employees have the responsibility and authority to get their jobs done. Then they will take pride in their jobs and the results will be rewarding, to say the least.

As employers, we must make sure all employees know what is expected of them. It has been my experience that the smaller the organization, the less likely it will have written job descriptions. I am not advocating that job descriptions have to be written, but if they are not, the employer should make sure each and every employee understands what the employer expects of them. Employers need to be patient with employees, because not every employee is going to do the job expected of them the first time. Moreover, timely communication is the key here, both positive when a job is well done and negative when it is not.

It is the employer’s responsibility to recognize if employees are capable of doing the job they have been asked to perform. That old saying that all people are created equal does not apply in the workplace. Some people have different skills than others. It is up to the marrina manager to recognize those skills in individuals, capitalize on their strengths’ and support their weaknesses.

Pay challenges

The second reason why employees leave is that the wage scale is not competitive with the marketplace for the job. Here is where many marinas put on blinders and look only at what is being paid in similar industries and not what is being paid for like duties. For example, if a marina has a dry stack operation that requires forklift operators. the marina must recognize that it is competing with every business that employs forklift operators, such as warehouse operations, trucking companies. or manufacturers, to name a few. If these types of businesses are in the marina’s area, the marina must consider this competition when setting the wage scale for forklift operators.

We in the marina industry like to think that there is some romance associated with working in a marina. This only applies to owners. Employees are exactly that, employees. At the end of the day, employees go home to return the next day. Their primary reason for being at the marina is pay. not romance.

One of the more common arguments I hear when it comes to wages paid at a marina is that the marina cannot afford to pay more. Now, marinas need to ask themselves why they can’t pay more? The answer is always the same — because they do not bring in enough revenue.

Operating marinas is a business, and every successful business passes increased operating costs along to their customers. Marina owners typically have a problem with this concept, and as a result, they do not charge enough to pay employees a competitive wage. Thus, before marinas are able to attract and keep good employees with competitive wages, they must correct their pricing policies, or face the reality that any proactive program for retaining employees will eventually fail.

Good workplace

The third reason for an employee to leave that is under management’s control is poor working conditions. In marinas, this often translates into dangerous working conditions. Besides correcting the physical deficiencies in the marina, it is equally important for employers to take the time and train employees not only in what the marina expects from them as workers, but also in the inherent dangers of working around the water and boating equipment. Once a person understands these dangers, the poor working conditions diminish.

As I previously said, the physical deficiencies need to be corrected. In this regard, I have heard the same arguments from marina owners about why a marina has deferred maintenance issues as their reason for not being able to pay competitive wages. The answer to correct the problem is the same. The costs to maintain a facility must be passed along to the customer, a concept that marina owners have a hard time grasping.

There is one last thing that can bring an employee retention program into perspective, and that is to remember that there always will be a difference in perspective between the owner of a business and the employee. If an owner is going to be successful in building a dynamic organization, he/she must look at the business, as well as themselves, from an employee’s perspective. Although this is difficult, if it is done objectively, the points made in the previous paragraphs will become obvious, solutions will be easily implemented, and marina owners, operators, and managers well be on their way to running a successful and profitable business with their most valued asset — their employees.