Printwear & Promotion The Total Promotional Package
For a business, your staff is your lifeline. You go to such lengths to find the perfect employees, but like in any relationship, if they aren’t treated with care, they can go as quickly as they are hired. Colin Sinclair McDermott, aka The Online Print Coach explains that loyalty comes from more than just money
If your best people are walking out the door, the problem probably isn’t their pay packet; it’s that nobody noticed they were there.
I had a conversation with a garment decoration business owner recently who was furious. His best operator, someone who had been with him for six years and could set up the DTG machines blindfolded, had just handed in their notice. The owner’s first reaction was, ‘Who’s offered them more money?’ Turns out nobody had.
The operator had side-stepped to a smaller company for roughly the same wage. When I asked the owner when he last sat down with that person and talked about where they were heading, he went quiet.
This happens constantly across our sector. An owner loses a good person and immediately assumes it was about cash. So, they panic, throw money at the next hire, and six months later, that person leaves as well because someone else offered them an extra five grand. If the only reason someone joins you is the pay cheque, that is the same reason they will leave.
Three things people actually move for
In my experience working with print and garment businesses, the reasons people change jobs come down to three things: location and flexibility, progression, and money. Usually in that order.
Cash matters, of course, it does. But it is rarely the thing that tips someone over the edge. What tips them is feeling stuck. Feeling like they come in, do the work, and nobody asks what they think or where they want to be in two years. Feeling like the owner walks past them every morning without a conversation that goes beyond “are we on schedule with that order?”
The moment someone feels invisible in your business, they start looking. They might not even realise they are doing it. A mate mentions a vacancy, a recruiter sends a message, and suddenly, the idea of starting fresh somewhere they might actually be noticed feels more attractive than staying put.
Playing to your strengths
Here is the good news. If you run a smaller operation, you have advantages that bigger companies cannot replicate, and most owners never use them.
You can offer flexibility that a corporate operation cannot. An early finish on a Friday, an extra day off for a child’s birthday, and the ability to shift hours around school pickups. These cost you very little, but they show someone you see them as a person, not just a pair of hands on the heat press.
You can give people responsibility faster. In a large business, progression means waiting years and filling out forms. In your business, you can move someone into a team lead role or give them ownership of a client account within months. That kind of trust is worth more than a pay rise to the right person.
You can also offer something that sounds simple but is shockingly rare: Genuine access to the person running the business. When your team can walk up to you and be heard, that closeness is a real competitive advantage. Do not waste it by being too busy to listen.
Systemise the small stuff
None of this works if it only happens when you remember. The businesses I see with the best retention have a rhythm. A quick informal check-in once a month, nothing heavy, just ten minutes asking how things are going and whether anything needs fixing. Then a more structured conversation every quarter where you talk about progression, training, and what that person actually wants from the next twelve months.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be consistent. The moment your team sees that you are genuinely paying attention, the dynamic shifts. People stop quietly looking elsewhere and start investing in where they are.
If you want loyalty, make people feel known. And build a system to make sure it happens every time, not just when you are in the right mood.
