A discussion (from the YouTube video "The Golden Rule Of Business") about treating employees well to improve retention. Speakers, including Jose, share anecdotes: one long-term Upwork contractor was retained after a small raise (from $4 to $5/hour), opportunities to manage others, and receiving bonuses and ad-hoc financial help during family emergencies. The speakers emphasize compassion, small financial gestures, and relationship-building as valuable business practices.
Questions this video answers
From $4 to $5 per hour.
People, you know, think of like, there's this massive financial commitment to hire an administrator and they're going to be flaky. Or you hired someone From. From Upwork 11 years ago, and they're still with you?
They're still with me 100%. And it was funny because one time he told me, hey, Jose, I've gone really busy. I'm going to have to stop working for you. And I basically went to him and I told him, hey, what if I give you a raise of a dollar or two dollars? And he said that would work, that would keep me around. I think it was a kind way of him telling me, hey, maybe I have somewhere else that will pay me a little bit more. And I ended up increasing his pay, which to me went up from four to $5 an hour, but it allowed him to stay. And then I started offering him opportunities where he could have people working underneath him. And as long as he managed the project completely and the project got done, he can keep the spread of whatever he paid them and whatever I paid him. So I think it just treating people nice. I would always give him bonuses, like on his birthday, anniversaries. I remember one time he called me saying that a family member of his was sick. Didn't ask me for anything, just said, hey, I can't complete the work today because somebody's sick. Send them some money. Just basically, hey, thank you for all your help. And just treating people nicely will get you very far. Sometimes going a little bit above and beyond knowing that these people have families. These people have just financial obligations as well, too.
