eff Kortes knows the construction industry. During his twenty-five years in human resources, he worked in a variety of industries including construction, providing HR duties for companies large and small.

“We built cooling towers for refineries and power plants for organizations all over the Lower 48,” he says.

He’s also a US Army veteran. He says the basis for employee retention is the same wherever the job is: you retain quality employees by showing them Caring, Respect, Appreciation, and Praise, or CRAP. That’s the funny acronym Kortes uses to help companies shift their focus to a people-first mentality.

“If you’re not giving your employees CRAP, you won’t keep them. If you’re doing the things that disrespect people, you’re not there in their time of need, you’ll lose people—even if they’re well-paid,” he says.

In a nutshell, that’s what Kortes will be telling the audience when he speaks at the AGC of Alaska Annual Convention on November 12. As a professional “headhunter” for the past twelve years—seeking out talented individuals for his clients and wooing them with good pay, good benefits, and employee-forward work environments—he can attest to the fact that employees who receive a lot of CRAP are loyal and willing to go the extra mile for their employer. It’s a philosophy he believes in so much that he wrote a book about it: “Give Your Employees CRAP (Caring, Respect, Appreciation, Praise) and 7 Other Secrets to Employee Retention.” Kortes says everyone who attends his keynote address can take a book home with them.