Why Retainers Make Sense

A Retainer That Makes Sense

Companies large and small are coming to terms with the hard reality that what once was standard operating procedure will not be the case going forward. As physical distancing requirements are lifted the new landscape is still largely unclear and will be for a while yet. 

Leaders such as yourselves gather in front of computer screens with key personnel to strategize and analyze to what degree their business models are changing. Even for the largest of companies, those changes will be drastic.

In an article from 2018, I wrote about the benefits of putting my company on retainer. After spending many hours over the past six weeks examining what we see materializing from this seismic event we face, I am convinced the reasons I gave are even more important now. Companies that do what we do provide a ready and quick response to situations that catch companies by surprise.

The coming months will bring many surprises, and more than a few will involve getting employees to work together in radically different environments. We at CDC Integrated Services understand that these changes will be dramatic. These uncertainties are the reason we remain convinced about the benefits of having the resource we represent at your fingertips. 

Companies such as yours will resume operations, start back up, and even start over. Interpersonal actions inside these organizations will once again bring out a broad range of conflicts, and employees at all levels will once again deal with them as best they can.

Why should you choose us? As employers and employees feel their way through these new environments, new interactions will drive new conversations because employers will look for effective ways to rebuild a productive workforce. To make this new terrain less uncertain, we stand ready to help. And because we believe in our products and services, we offer this guarantee.

Should you retain us and you call us before 3 PM, and you are in the greater Houston area, we will respond that same day. If you are outside of Houston, we will return your telephone within 24 hours, or no later than 3:00 PM the next day.

Balancing between new ways of doing things and the more traditional models will create conflict. These trade-offs will be achieved far easier when a third party can be brought in as a buffer.  By the nature of our work, we place the priority on the interactions of your employees; thereby giving them an opportunity to be heard by someone who is impartial. 

This is particularly important in stressful situations where, for example, a supervisor and an employee are not in alignment. At CDCI our job is to first defuse the dispute and create an opportunity for dialogue and discussions that will reduce tensions; which will then allow work to proceed.

President Ronald Reagan once said, “peace was not the absence of conflict, but the absence of war”. In many respects, companies miss this important point, and having our company on retainer will help mitigate or prevent hostile work environments from taking hold. It is the results that matter, and we are the additional assurance that the outcomes will be positive.

We welcome a conversation on this subject. Please feel free to contact us for a no-obligation discussion. 

Jerry Cooper Books