Finding a good employee is not easy. Anyone who is involved in a business that depends on having a stable workforce can attest to this. But what can be even harder than finding a good employee is keeping one.

This is especially true in the woodworking area because a person who is motivated, arrives at work on time, able to work without constant supervision and possess the level of skill necessary to produce top quality woodwork is, inevitably, the kind of person who will ultimately want to have his own shop.

There are a number of ways in which you as an employer can keep people like this happy enough to want to stay with your shop for the long haul. The first and, to me, the most important thing is to understand that your employees are not workers. They are people.

They have the same needs, dreams and desires as you have. They need to be treated with respect and understanding and they need to be given some incentives to keep a positive attitude about working in your shop. I always tried to make my employees feel like they were working with me and not for me.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be describing some of the ways I accomplished, or at least, attempted to accomplish this. I would like this to be a discussion, not a lecture. So please feel free to chime in and contribute whether you agree with my perspective or not.

D.D.