Paying employees by the hour is basically writing a blank check...

Hourly employees = work will fill the time allotted.

My feeling is most people who hire on to be hourly employees really want a steady weekly paycheck, no surprises. Those of us who choose to be self employed accept that there is no constant in our income.

Those employees who are motivated, driven all those other descriptive words will be your competitors soon or one day. That is unless you give them a good enough reason to stay an employee.

If you have more than one crew and crew leader consider putting one of the crews on incentive or just the crew leader. Be clear your current expectations and what you want to have happen in the future. ie I want my company to grow and make more money. I am willing to pay you more to accomplish this. This is how you will ensure the company makes more money.



If you get one crew doing it you should find the other crew(s) and leaders will be hungry for a chance to participate.

I think you really need to spend your time developing the crew leaders and other leaders within your company. One of most difficult problems faced by small company owners is getting beyond what the owner can directly supervise. I think you are at that point. Best of luck and I enjoy reading your posts. Mike.