Hiring & Retaining New Sign Employees

RECRUITING AND RETAINING staff ranked first among various “threats to the sign industry” in last year’s Big Survey, the choice of 42% of respondents and is likely to top the list again in our upcoming 2025 Big Survey. To address this critical issue, we turned to four experts at three companies for help.

ASSESSMENT OF THE EMPLOYEE MARKET

The pandemic years mark for many a dividing line between the employee market before and since. “With Covid we were able to adapt really well to a remote work setting for our in-office employees and ramp up our safety protocols for field employees,” Schaefer says of Stratus, a multi-location national company. “This enabled us to recruit the best talent despite their location.”

However, most companies, such as North American Signs, had a tougher go. “There was a time during Covid where finding employees became very difficult,” Parker says. Then, Chapa chips in, as the restrictions were lifted most people still wanted a work-from-home option even for positions where that wasn’t possible. “That was frustrating, but now we’re starting to see ‘The Great Shuffle’ of people moving around right after Covid solidify,” he says.

“Towards the end of the Covid ordeal the tides shifted,” Parker agrees, “and it became an employer’s market. As of now it has seemed to return to a relatively normal state.” Having succeeded with remote employees, Stratus now offers a hybrid model for employees near their offices. “We have really benefitted from the remote model we created and have been able to maintain for employees nationwide.”

Stratus is one of scores of sign companies that host an annual ISA Sign Manufacturing Day event.

DIFFICULT POSITIONS TO FILL

Service and install technicians are “by far the hardest positions to fill” for Stratus, according to Schaefer. This is something we at Signs of the Times see often, from Brain Squad surveys to the many “Help Wanted” classified ads on our website.

“I would say the demand for installers is relatively high, and finding one with in-depth electrical experience can be very difficult,” Parker concurs. “Finding young workers to run machinery and work in CAD positions has gone fairly smoothly for me, but finding younger people for painting and welding jobs has still remained difficult.” Many find the process tedious, he states. “Industrial painting is one thing but painting signs that need to have a clean professional look takes more skill and experience, which many industrial painters do not possess.”

For Chapa, the second most difficult position for hiring is vehicle wrapper. It’s a very unique skill set and very hard to hire from other job paths “and pretend that what they did before lends to vehicle graphics,” he says.

“As for the non-manufacturing side, sales positions can prove difficult to fill as well,” Parker observes. “Depending on the location of the business, experienced sales professionals can be hard to come by.”

Sign installers such as this crew member are so hard to find becuase almost all of them are jealously guarded by the companies they already work for.

WHERE SHOPS ARE LOOKING

When you work in a region with other sign companies, the pool of qualified employees is already employed at one shop or another, Chapa says. “That opens up a can of worms of how to carefully recruit without upsetting any friends or colleagues, especially when you partner on projects,” he adds. As a result, Chapa takes a unique approach. Because he’s located in the manufacturing-heavy Detroit area, he tries to position fabrication and other openings as they relate to other industries, such as HVAC or plumbing.

North American Signs is similarly situated. South Bend, IN contains a unique employee market due to close proximity to Elkhart, known for RV, boat and trailer manufacturing, Parker says.

As an example of a job outside the shop, Chapa’s highly valued executive assistant recently left to take a positon elsewhere, “one she couldn’t refuse.” Subsequently, he received more than 230 applicants just through LinkedIn. “And I’m shocked at the quality,” Chapa says. He’s looking for that needle in a haystack — but at least he’s got the haystack.

Sign MFG Day gives your staff a chance to lead — and maybe even impress some interested students.

SPECIFIC EFFORTS TO ATTRACT EMPLOYEES

Like many companies, North American Signs highlights its company culture, values and employee benefits on the company website and social media, Smith says. They also partner with local schools, colleges and trade programs to promote careers in the signage industry — one example being ISA’s Sign Manufacturing Day event in October to showcase the company to students and job seekers. The company provides “hands-on experiences during such events to make manufacturing careers more tangible and appealing,” Smith says.

Stratus also participates in Sign MFG Day as it’s a great way to reach out to students and encourage younger people into the sign industry, Schaefer says.

Last October, National Branding and Signarama Troy hosted their third Sign MFG Day and had five schools with 120-plus students present, Chapa recalls. His team allowed any student who attended to interview at any time, even if no position were currently available. Within two weeks a 17-year-old young man arranged an interview for Chapa’s customer service segment.

“I’ve interviewed well over 2,000 people in my time,” he says. “Without a doubt this student was in the top 1%. We didn’t even register that he was supposed to be in school!” His parents had OK’d the interview, “to miss an hour of class just for this opportunity,” Chapa says. The young man has just been hired as the direct assistant to the sales director. “He’s going to get immersed in everything we do from a sales and customer service perspective. I think this guy could wind up running a whole department for us someday.”

Hands-on activities for the students give them a realistic sense of how signs are made, as well as how the students may be making signs themselves in the future.

UNIQUE PERKS TO RETAIN EMPLOYEES

“Many companies stand out as employers by offering unique or elevated benefits beyond the standard packages of health insurance, paid time off and retirement plans,” Smith says. Here are examples of innovative perks North American Signs uses: paid education, certifications or training in industry-specific skills; access to online learning platforms or tuition reimbursement; matching of charitable donations; social events, team-building retreats or family-inclusive gatherings; celebrations for personal milestones like birthdays or anniversaries; and opportunities to represent the company at prominent events or expos.

Stratus offers weekly pay, tuition reimbursement and either a remote or hybrid work model which are really attractive to employees. “We also are very involved in charitable efforts including a yearly golf fundraiser that has raised over a million dollars to date and several other events throughout the year,” Schaefer says. “We not only care about our employees, but their families and the communities we serve.”

National Branding and Signarama Troy produce birthday banners for their employees’ children every year. They also offer monthly “goal-smashers meetings” usually on the first Friday of the month. Everyone who reached their trackable goal the month before — all positions have trackable goals — is invited to a cocktail hour. “It was three people at first. Now sometimes it’s 25 people,” Chapa says. “The high-performer cocktail hour has been an awesome tool for recruiting.”

Signarama Troy and National Branding handed out T-shirts to commemorate the day and as a reminder.

LIGHTNING ROUND

How much, if any experience does your company require of new hires?

Smith: “Of course we love to see experience, but the motivation to learn and excel are more valuable. Experience is easily taught.”

Schaefer: “As long as you have an open mind, the will to work and learn, there can be a spot for you.”

CHAPA: “For us as part of our core values, hustle and effort are more valuable than experience. Of course, bringing along experience can be a game changer, but I have hired and fired immensely talented people who are a little bit lazy. It’s almost as if they know they’re good and they don’t want to put in the work. I would rather have two people that are yearning to learn and want to be better and hustle.”

Because significant training may have to be invested in certain new hires, do you require them to sign a contract to work for your company for a period of time in return?

All: No. Chapa has wrestled with possibly requiring a year’s commitment from vehicle wrappers his company has trained. It’s the only role or position within the company that they really stress out about a lot, he says.

Can you estimate how long the average new hire from the last year or two at your company will likely remain at your company?

All: It varies. Chapa feels that currently people are looking for long-term employment with a good culture and the right environment. “They’re not job-hopping anymore across the board in all positions,” he says. Even so, as a business mentor told Chapa a decade ago, “You can’t imagine that everyone you hire is going to work for you forever.”

National Branding’s Torey Rouillon (left) and Bob Chapa (center) lead a discussion during the Oct. 2024 Sign MFG Day at their company.

FINAL ADVICE

“As for hiring manufacturing employees, I have found the use of temp agencies to be quite helpful in my search,” Parker says. “In my short time at North American Signs, I have vetted and hired five full-time shop employees through a temp service.”

Employee engagement is key, Smith says. “Offer career paths, mentorship and continuous learning to retain talent beyond the initial training phase.”

“Remember that times are changing and so is the industry,” Schaefer says. “When hiring, leading and retaining employees, remember this isn’t the same industry from 20 years ago. Thinking outside the box and hiring people that align with your culture are more important now than ever.”

“When I think about my recruiting and hiring — most sign companies I coach or mentor don’t think about recruiting,” Chapa says. “They just think about hiring. Recruiting is a 365-day process, so our social media posts, when we go to Chamber events and do things, we hype up our team. As much as you see a post about a client’s sign, you see a post about our team, how important it is to us because I feel we can be different in our marketplace by building a culture that wants to work here.”

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