The Birthday Card That Saved Me $4/Hour Per Employee

Ben Wespi runs a mechanical insulation company in North Carolina. A few weeks ago, he hired a worker from a competitor. The guy's first week on the job happened to fall on his birthday.

Ben keeps a calendar with every employee's birthday. His office administrator tracks it. So when the day came, Ben showed up to the job site with an Amazon gift card.

"He was up in a mezzanine working, and I gave it to him. I was about to leave the site and he calls me—'Hey, have you left yet?' I said no. He comes down and just shakes my hand. He's like, 'Look, I just want to say thank you. I've been in this industry for five years and nobody's ever said happy birthday to me on my birthday.'"

Five years. Nobody acknowledged his birthday. Not once.

When Ben told me that story, I had to pause. It's such a small thing. And that's exactly why it matters.

The $4/Hour Premium

Here's the math that most contractors get wrong.

Ben recently hired several workers from a competitor that was struggling. These guys took a pay cut to come work for him. Meanwhile, the company they left has to pay $3-4 more per hour than market rate just to keep anyone around.

Why? Their leadership is difficult. Workers don't want to be there.

"There's a premium that you get off of just being a good leader in this industry," Ben explains. "You can win points with the easy things."

A birthday text costs nothing. A $25 gift card costs $25. But the return on that investment is workers who stay, who care, and who don't demand above-market wages just to tolerate their job.

I've spent the last several months talking to contractors about what's actually hard in their business. Retention comes up constantly. Everyone says they can't find good people, can't keep good people, can't afford to pay what the big companies pay.

But what if the problem isn't money?

The Compensation Trap

Every contractor I talk to frames retention as a compensation problem. Pay more, retain more.

That's not what Ben sees.

"In my experience in life, it's been the same way. If you have a good culture, people will be invested in the company and will be more willing to work with you on those other costs."

Workers who feel valued don't jump ship for an extra dollar an hour. Workers who feel like replaceable labor do.

The irony is that the companies spending the most on wages are often the ones with the worst cultures. They're paying a tax on bad leadership.

This hit home for me. My dad ran a renovation business when I was a kid. He didn't lose it because of wages or competition—he lost it because he didn't have visibility into the numbers until it was too late. But I've often wondered how much of that stress could have been offset by having the right people around him. People who stayed because they wanted to, not because he was overpaying them.

Small Things at Scale

Ben learned this principle in the Marine Corps: take care of your Marines and they'll accomplish the mission. It's not complicated. It's just consistent.

"You have to show them and demonstrate to them that you actually care about them. And I think that's something that's not as common in other industries as it is in the military. It's required in the military."

Here's what that looks like in practice:

• A calendar with every employee's birthday
• Showing up to job sites to shake hands and say thank you
• Bringing water and ice to crews in the summer
• Asking about their families, remembering the details

None of this is expensive. None of it is complicated. But most companies don't do it because they're focused on the work, not the workers.

I've noticed the same pattern across all the business owners I interview. The ones who are struggling talk about employees like a cost to manage. The ones who are thriving talk about employees like people to invest in.

The Real Retention Strategy

Ben spends a lot of time driving between job sites. Some people might see that as inefficient—couldn't you just call?

He sees it differently.

"Part of the most valuable things is just being present and showing up to those sites and showing your crew members that you are there and you are invested in what they're doing. Look at them, shake their hands, tell them thank you."

That presence isn't about project management. It's about showing people they matter.

And when they feel like they matter, they don't leave for a competitor offering $2 more. They don't slack off when the boss isn't watching. They don't treat your equipment like garbage.

They stay. They care. They perform.

All because someone remembered their birthday.

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Ben Wespi is the president and CEO of Ellington Industries, a mechanical insulation contractor serving eastern North Carolina. This article is based on his conversation on The Owner's Playbook podcast.