I have a young man who has worked for me in our small custom cabinetry shop for 5 years now. He has shown a lot of initiative and has a great work ethic. He can now pretty much run the whole shop (including the cnc's) without me always needing to be there. Can you please share with me how you differentiate between an apprentice and a journeyman and what skill sets separate them? I want to set out some clear goals for him. I also want to make sure I am paying him a fair wage for where he is now and as he meets each goal. Can you please share with me how you would structure your pay for someone of this caliber and who wants to continue in this industry?

What are you paying him now? Has he had a raise recently? Do you provide benefits? And where are you located? It's hard to say what you should do without some basic information.

He has been working summers through high school and every chance besides. I figured he would be going to college at some point when out of the blue, he informed me that he wanted to make a career out of this - at least for the foreseeable future. It really warmed my heart - so, we sat down and had a reality talk. I'm taking this very seriously and want to help him find a path that he can climb and fell good about his skill level, what skill sets he should be aspiring to next and what appropriate compensations at those levels look like. Being a very small operation (primarily just me), this is something I've not ever had to deal with before. We are on the west coast. He's been at minimum wage but seeing how excited he has become about this and how much he has learned and that he seems to want to stick with it, I feel he needs to be rewarded with a solid clear path. Would any of you be comfortable sharing what your process looks like for this? I don't see this in younger people today, and while maybe a little nervous about taking someone on full time, have to admit that I am pretty excited at the same time.

Pay him what it takes for him to pay his bills and some to feel his value in wanting to to do this work, He sounds like a rare and Valuable asset to you and should be dealt with as you do when you need your cnc to produce. if there are any problems send him my way. I lost a guy like him to retirement recently from day one just your guy

Wow, we don't hear this often. It sounds to me like you have a one in a hundred thousand case here. If he can run the shop without you there you have the golden goose, you need to start paying him much more and let him have some responsibility. If he wants to make a career out of it you have a perfect opportunity to train your replacement and sell out to him at some point or gradually take him on as a partner. If you were open with him about those options he may stick around. You will definitely need to pay him more or he's going to find that money somewhere else. This kind of employees barely exists anymore.

I'm with SteveL, give him a huge raise! Paying him minimum wage is sending him the message that is just a temp job and not a career. Also showing him that you don't value him any more than his peers flipping hamburgers.

As the others said, you need to give this kid a raise immediately. How much? Depends. Here's information that is critical for us to make any reasonable recommendation:

• How much gross revenue did you take in last year? How much do you expect in 2023? (The metric gross revenue/number of employees is very useful information.)

• How much did you pay yourself? Are you paying yourself regularly, at some set rate? (Owners who aren't paying themselves a sustainable amount are on their way to failure.)

• Exactly where are you located? (This will help us see what the prevailing wage is for the area.)

• What are your plans for the business? Do you want to keep it like it is, or grow it a little, or grow it a lot?

Wow,

You have a very rare person - Before I answer I will tell you about another shop in town that has this kind of talent but is 12 years or so down the road. The owner has a guy in house that could be the future buyer for his business, works hard, and can run things in his absence. However, the owner has failed to give him timely raises and doesn't seem to recognize the tremendous asset he has working with him (or the exit opportunity that will prevent him from holding a machinery auction when he's ready to be done).

Meanwhile, this fiercely loyal employee struggles to provide for his family and continually works overtime to make ends meet, as he is paid poorly comparative to other shops and options around. He has become disenchanted with his career choice but feels trapped and unable to make a change. He thinks of changing careers often, and I am flabbergasted that he hasn't already done so.

I am glad that you recognize this young person needs a solid career path. However, I agree with the others, if he can run the shop and handle things in your absence, he should have gotten a significant raise some time ago. Pay him generously what he is worth, and he will continue to grow, feel valued, and give you freedom when you need / want to do other things. Choose to keep him down and pay him less, and if he has drive, he will find the pay somewhere else, as there are lots of people like me who would jump at the chance to pay a young person well that is capable, productive, passionate, and a hard worker.

One of the biggest mistakes I made in business is not holding on to a guy like this early in my career, when things were tight and it was tough. Looking back, I should have done whatever it took to keep him, as he would be invaluable now.

Stewart,

The information I'm interested in is how old are you and what stage of your career are you at? If you have 20 years ahead of you running the shop it's a much different scenario than if you're looking to retire soon.

I would also give this young man a raise, but I would accompany that raise with a conversation about why he's getting it. He needs to know rate of compensation is about much more than a set of skills. He already had that. So what changed? He is entering the world of adulthood, where responsibility, accountability and reliability are worth volumes. Welcome to the real world, son. The real world is starved for people like him, and because of that if he simply continues to do what he's already done he will rocket up the scale with alarming speed; either for you or somebody else. Can you pay him what he's worth? Can his commitment to you allow you to take your business to another level? Are YOU prepared to take the business to another level? You may have to in order to keep him.

DS

I agree with everyone above. I had the same situation 6 years ago, bit the bullet. Paid her more, provided benefits (vacation, health ins, life ins) and she will be taking over the business when I retire in 4 years. Meanwhile she is paid an above average wage for our area (St Louis MO). Do everything you can do to keep him. You will also have to figure out how to get more sales to afford him. I would expose him to all of the info about sales and how much is needed to be able to afford him. Lets him become part of the team.

Count me in on the list that if you have an individual, kid or adult, that can truly run the shop on their own, including CNC, and your paying them minimum wage, your cutting your nose off to spite your face. As others have said, you have outlined the dream scenario most all of us look for in an employee. I start an average joe/jane with no real experience off at 15 an hour and Im in podunk rural USA. I dont even think I could get the local dope-show to come to work for minimum wage. In my world that kid while in school would likely be making $20 an hour with me minimum. Once graduated and wanting to make a full time go of it, more. In CA I cant imagine it not being more. Youve reaped the reward of quality slave labor to this point. If you dont kick it into gear ASAP he will fly the coop and you'll be sobbing in your soup.

I will add it is good practice to let us know how things turn out. While the premise that is operational in your shop is the same as elsewhere, it is
interesting to see how it plays out.

She will take over the business when I retire in four years because I paid her more and gave her perks (vacation, health insurance, and life insurance). She is currently receiving a higher than average salary for our region (St Louis MO). Make every effort to keep him. You'll also need to figure out how to increase sales so you can pay for him. I would inform him of all available sales information and the necessary sums in order to be able to afford him.

Beyond making them "aware" of all the aspects of the business in preparation for takeover, if your business is anything about "you" as the owner as most smaller businesses are, where people want to talk with the owner, they are doing business with your business because of "you" not only because of the work you do. You have to make the next owner "the business".

Its no news to most small shops, especially those of old, that they went through years thinking they would sell "the business". Many as part of their personal retirement philosophy. All the while they never handed over control, they never passed the torch, they never had enough confidence in any of their staff (even the shinning stars) to make these people "the business" in their customers eyes. In that scenario you have nothing to sell with regards to the business when your done because the minute you leave the business goes dark as no one can get you on the end of the line every day.

In the scenario of this post, the kid being able to run the shop on his own without being tended is fantastic but that still doesnt leave the kid a business to inherit if all the customers fly the coop when the guy they got on the end of the phone for years moves to the Bahamas or dies.

Well, are you making money off of him? You have to evaluate just how much he means to the business. If you give him to big of a raise then there might be times that he will cost you money. The big question is just how mature is he? He is somewhere around 18 years old and there is no telling what might tweak his fancy next week, month or year. There is no way someone that young can be considered a journeyman cabinet maker. He simply does not have the experience required. I would say give him a raise pay him what he is worth to you and what you can afford. I have been in business for no longer than I like to admit, and there have been times I had employee's that I thought I could not do without. They eventually left for one reason or another and I found out that I could do without them, maybe not quite as well but I could survive, but eventually I did just as well. I have had employee's that I knew had much more talent than I deserved, and that sooner or later they will leave for a better job. I had one when he gave me notice that he was sorry but he had to do what was best for his family. I told him there was nothing wrong with that that I actually thought he would have left long before he did. Just remember it is you that makes this business, your employees help but it really comes down to you. Always plan ahead for what might happen, losing key help is just part of it. I have always paid a fair wage, paid a man what he was worth (at least what I thought he was worth) and gave raises as the ability to do the work increased. Be fair but remember you are not here to be there best friend, or to put a roof over their heads but to run a business and turn a profit. Employee's are just another tool at your disposal to help you turn out product.

D Conti's response is a lot of what I was getting at and a lot of what I wasnt. I know the term "tool" can be used many different ways but Ive had many close friends that consider an employee nothing more than a tool like a screwdriver that when the tip snaps off you toss it in the trash and get another. This concept does not jive with building a business that can thrive without "you" as the sole focus of the business. This means you will never be able to spend 3 months at your beach house and the business is there operating autonomously or you will never be able to sell the business because your customer base will likely dilute as soon as your not the main focus.

Endless variables as always. But to say someone at 18 cant be a viable journeyman because they could have any flight of fancy thats unforeseen makes no sense. A go getter 18 year old that, if its as the OP states, can run the shop alone, run and program the CNC, and moreso has passion, would without a doubt be worth heavily investing in in my world.

In my world the older folks are just as unreliable thinking they will be happy working with their hands as opposed to some other work only to start chasing nothing other than the paycheck. If I ever get an inkling that someone, especially someone young, is passionate about the trade/business thats the one to focus on.