Peer Advice

Q: Finding good help has been difficult as of late. What are you doing to retain your current employees?

A: Michael Whalen, owner, Schulhoff Tool Rental, Cincinnati

We at Schulhoff Tool Rental want to take care of our employees and make sure they stay with us for the long haul. To help achieve that, we have implemented a variety of incentives.

Two of the biggest initiatives we have undertaken are to offer health insurance coverage and a profit-sharing plan.

With the health insurance plan, Schulhoff Tool Rental pays 85 percent of the premium and the employee pays 15 percent. That includes family plans as well as single coverage.

For our profit-sharing plan, which is not a 401(k), we contribute a percentage of the company’s profits into a managed account. The plan administrator then distributes the proceeds to each employee toward their retirement.

We also have an anniversary outing where all our employees and their spouses/friends are invited to attend a sports event in a stadium suite or visit Top Golf. The golf was a big hit the year we offered that outing. Because of COVID-19, we were not able to get together last year. This year, we plan to have a suite at the new TQL Stadium, which is the home of the FC Cincinnati soccer club.

Another way to show that we appreciate our employees is to highlight an employee’s birthday with a card and $10 in cash for lunch. We also provide a free lunch to every employee who works the day after July 4 and Thanksgiving, since we usually are short-staffed those days.

We believe in helping our employees move forward on their career path. That is why we conduct annual employee reviews/progress reports. These efforts are effective in ensuring that everyone is on the same page.