Cultivating a company culture takes commitment. Commitment to identifying what your company is and does, how it does it, regularly checking in on how it’s going, and always, always communicating with your employees. When that’s solid, it better defines how you seek and retain the right people to work in your organization.
These thoughts are top of mind for Jeff Fugate, director of service at Blackmon Service, Inc., and Tyler Grant, project manager at Blackmon Power. The parent company, Blackmon Service, has been in operation for more than 50 years as a full-service HVAC, mechanical, and electrical contractor in the Carolinas. On January 1, 2025, Blackmon Power separated and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackmon Service and is a full-service independent electrical testing company.
“Everybody has always known us as HVAC contractors and would forget that we did electrical as well,” says Jeff. “It made sense to separate to help bring out the electrical side.”
Jeff and Tyler indicate their regular customers began taking advantage of their great work in electrical — installation, repair, maintenance, and testing — resulting in the need to double their electrical crews over the last two years.
“One driving force in our growth is our unique business,” says Jeff. “We do a lot of our work directly with company owners; we’re not in much general contractor work or new construction space.”
“The environments we’re in are often data center driven and the end users there are going to do a lot more testing than most,” Tyler adds. “Anther driving factor in our growth on the testing side is that NFPA 70B became a standard in 2023 and customers have requirements to meet for electrical maintenance for safety. New customers are calling us now.”
Of course, growth is pleasing to the company and Jeff and Tyler are tasked with finding — and keeping — the right employees.
The Right Fit
Currently, Blackmon Service has about 45 employees, and Blackmon Power has another 20-25 employees. Both agree wholeheartedly that word-of-mouth and referrals from current employees are their largest and best source of finding the right new employees.
“With us being a smaller, more niche contractor, a lot of what we’re seeing on the testing side has just been word-of-mouth,” Tyler says. “One of my guys that’s been with us a year or two has a buddy that’s interested. That’s helped us out because at that point, you know who you are hiring. We’ve had a lot of very good referrals.”
Once a potential candidate is identified, Tyler spends a good deal of time with the person to be able to explain what he is looking for in a new employee and, maybe more importantly, listening to them to get a real feel for the type of person they are.
“I try to make it more personal,” Tyler explains. “If we’re at that point where I think we might have a fit, I usually invite the person to lunch if they can do that with their job schedule. I want to get to know them and hear what type of work they’re looking to get into. I tell them more about the company. I like making it more personal because coming into an office can be a little weird for people. If you sit down for lunch, that takes the edge off a little bit.”
Jeff agrees that this approach allows for a better evaluation of ‘fit’ than simply reading an application or having a quick phone call. Jeff does hiring for all departments — whether it’s an electrician, pipefitter, HVAC service technician, or another position.
“I’m the guy that goes out looking for talent,” Jeff says. “We’ve had successes over the years and our referral program is good. We offer $2,500 for any employee that knows someone currently looking to make a change. Our key thing is we’re not interested in just trying to sell jobs. We’re offering careers for every person, regardless if they’re an entry level first year or second year apprentice or a 15-year electrician looking for something new. We lay it all out there on the table that we’re not hiring for a specific project; we’re hiring for the long term. I’ve had guys that at first seemed good, but what they were looking for meant we were not the best fit. I’ve been honest with them and explain it because I don’t want somebody ‘settling’ for what we have just to make a car payment, just to pay the bills. They’ll be gone in six months or a year when they find something that sparks their interest.”
In addition to the referrals, Jeff works with Indeed, Career Builder, and Glassdoor. He says he might have to talk to 30-40 applicants to narrow it down to one or two for further discussion. They also indicate their chapter, Greater Charlotte IEC, provides leads to its members.
“Bethany has [Bethany Lerch, chapter executive director] done a great job of putting the candidates that are looking for work out there,” Tyler says. “The chapter offered a pre-apprenticeship program and grabbed high school kids who were interested in the trade. When they come out of that program, they are looking for an entry-level position. This would be a great tool for us if we needed someone for a lower-level position at the time.”
Like many in the industry, Jeff and Tyler have noticed a change over recent years to where most candidates are looking for more from their company than just the salary.
“I felt that years ago, employment decisions were based solely on money,” Tyler admits. “A lot of people would leave a company if they could get a dollar or two more elsewhere. Nowadays, they look at the perks of the company. They look at healthcare benefits and whether you have a take-home vehicle. At least in the Charlotte market, I believe the pay offered is within four or five dollars of each other. I think it’s more important now that you have to have a great benefit package to go along with a competitive pay structure.”
Jeff says that Blackmon is constantly looking for ways to improve the package and they evaluate their benefits throughout every year.
“I hear what guys have liked or disliked at their companies and this is extremely useful when we’re trying to build our package,” Jeff says.
Employee Retention
While Jeff and Tyler work hard to make those great hires for Blackmon, they may work even harder to retain them.
“Retention is key right now,” Tyler says.
Much of that effort goes back to living that company culture. Jeff stresses that a big part of that is respect.
“Every person, every manager, every member of the office staff, everyone treats everyone else with respect,” he says. “Whether you have conversations with an apprentice or with a 15-year experienced technician, you talk the same and don’t give anyone the feeling that anybody is beneath anybody else. Even our president opens the door for people to come to him if they have a question or need anything.”
That top-down example is powerful as Jeff says employees have gone comfortably to talk to the president. If he doesn’t know the answer immediately, he collects the information and answers them directly and in a prompt manner. Jeff and Tyler believe this is huge for retention and say all leadership acts similarly.
“If there is ever something toxic, whether it’s a person or something going on, we identify it and eradicate it as quickly as possible,” Jeff adds.
“With that open door policy and knowing you can talk with anybody keeps everyone feeling like family,” Tyler adds. “I know that’s cliché, but if somebody calls me and says ‘hey, I have this issue. What can we do to resolve it?’ I’m not going to sit on that for two or three weeks. We’re not going to sleep on it. If somebody brings it to our attention, we act on it as quickly and efficiently as possible to get it resolved for the betterment of all parties moving forward.”
Tyler says how the company treats its employees and operates puts employees in a better mindset that is noticed by its customers. They tell him that workers show up on time and in a good mood, as well as being knowledgeable about their work.
Jeff adds another way they show employees support is that they don’t stay behind the desk and try to fix problems in the field that way.
“They see us out on the job and with them — whether it’s night or a weekend — trying to help them figure it out and see it through with them until it’s complete,” Jeff says. “There are not a lot of managers who go out and do that. And doing that not only helps them and helps the job, but it creates loyalty that exceeds anything any other benefit or dollar raise we can offer. Their morale picks up as they know you’ve got their back.”
Jeff and Tyler love their work and love the industry.
“What I enjoy the most about this industry is there is something different about every day and you’re always learning something,” Jeff says. “If you’re not learning, then that’s a problem.”
“Growing into this trade, I appreciate that as well,” Tyler adds. “I also love that you’re not going to the same office every day, especially if you’re a service electrician and going to three or four jobs a day. I’ve always loved that. You get to see the world…or at least the southeast!”
