Business owners are all saying the same things right now: “How do I find good employees and how do I keep them?” Recruitment and retention are on the tip of everyone’s tongue, and many business leaders are struggling with adding more programs and processes to keep employees engaged, while also being stretched thin because they’re short-staffed.

It’s a difficult time, and it’s not looking like it will get easier anytime soon as we’re nearly at full employment with plenty of ‘now hiring’ signs dotting our business yards. Here’s some good news for you- you’re not alone. We’re here for you. This is the time when businesses need to lean on chambers of commerce and rely on some of our programming to help you engage your employees.

In a recent column, I introduced the Quarterly Global Market Labor Market Review which is a quarterly poll of employees done by a CEB, a best practice technology company. Their latest poll listed the top five things people look for in a new job and they were:
1. Stability
2. Compensation
3. Respect
4. Health Benefits
5. Work-Life Balance

Compensation and health benefits are easy to quantify and an employer should be able to easily evaluate whether they’re competitive or not in their industry. The other three attraction pieces though are more difficult to quantify. How do you quantify stability, respect and work-life balance in your offerings? Some employers may think they provide this to their teams with a friendly work environment or flexible scheduling, but is it enough?

Here’s how the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber can help you. A great way to show your employees you respect them, that you believe in the importance of work-life balance and make them feel like their position in your company is stable is to tell them you want them to represent you at chamber events and on chamber committees. Asking your employees to be representatives of your organization in the community shows immediate respect. Secondly, doing so also gives some stability, because owners wouldn’t want employees to be a representative for the company if they weren’t in the long-range plans. Finally letting them get involved with projects they’ll enjoy, and perhaps even paying them for time they’re volunteering, shows that you care about their work-life balance, while also caring about the community.

Here are eight ways that you can engage your employees through Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber programs:

Chamber After Hours: Just last week we had 60-70 business leaders at Darling’s Brunswick Ford for this open house-style networking event. Black Label Catering was on-hand with great food and drink, as we laughed in the Darling’s showroom and made lasting connections. Of particular note, were the business leaders who brought younger staff people with them. Yes, yes, yes! We need to start giving our younger employees opportunities to practice networking and a great way to do that is to bring them with you to these networking events.

Our next After Hours is May 25 at Brunswick Landing Ventures, co-hosted by REMAX/Riverside. The events run 5-7 p.m. and are a great low-pressure way for your employees to meet representatives of other companies and to help share what your business does.

Hackers Ball Golf Tournament, May 13: Do you have some golfers (even bad ones) on your team? A great way for your employees to have fun together is to get them out on a golf cart and hit the links for this best ball tournament. The best ball format means all four players shoot but you only use the best shot and go from there (so you don’t need to be good). It’s a great team builder and with 18-22 teams expected there is a great chance to mingle with other businesses before play starts or at the post-tournament reception. Look for more details on the BBRC website at www.midcoastmaine.com (and maybe slap a sign on the door that says “Closed for the Day for a Team Builder”- your customers may respect that).

12 @ 12 Networking Lunches: On the third Wednesday of the month, from noon to 1:30 p.m., 12 business leaders get together to have lunch sponsored by the host, and they each get five minutes to talk about their business. This is a great way to introduce a business or to introduce a new program that your organization is running. Our next 12 @ 12 is at Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program’s new location on Brunswick Landing on May 18th.

Chamber Volunteer Committees:
Committees are a great way to get engaged- here are some you can join today:

WILL Power: Our Women In Local Leadership (WILL) team is re-launching post-pandemic and looking to schedule quarterly events for local businesswomen. If you are interested in getting notifications of the events or being on the planning committee, e-mail me (it’s below).

Ambassadors: Also re-launching post-pandemic, this team helps greet attendees at events (a great way to meet all attendees), attend ribbon cuttings, and does drop-ins on businesses to share chamber news and see how they’re doing. Perfect for anyone looking to grow their presence.

Marketing: Projects underway include: creating the new chamber website RFP, increasing our social media presence, deciding on swag for our new logo and revamping chamber publications. If this sounds like fun, join our team today.

Midcoast Edge: We’re looking for our young professionals group to resume their monthly networking events this summer. If you’re interested in being informed of events or want to help the planning committee, we’d love to have you.

Lastly, though it’s not a chamber event, check out Women & Wheels on May 3 at Darling’s Brunswick Ford from 5-7:30 p.m. 100 women max; first 50 to sign up get a special gift bag. It’s networking and finding answers to all the car questions you’ve ever had. More details next week or check out the Darlings Brunswick Ford Facebook page to register.

FMI on anything above: Cory@midcoastmaine.com

Cory King is the executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber.

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