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Making Your Shop The Place to Work
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In the trades, your people are
your most important asset. Hiring a competent, professional and hard
working crew is absolutely vital to the continued success of your
business. Perhaps the easiest way to find excellent people is to make your
company someplace people want to work. Be a leader, not just a boss. Offering competitive wages is certainly one way to attract employees, but people go to work not only for a paycheck, but recognition and respect. You don’t need to heap lavish praise upon every little good deed. But a well-deserved “Good Job!” can work wonders for the morale of your crew. Also, foster an atmosphere of cooperation and teamwork. You may be the GC, but asking for (and accepting) input from your workers will not only make them feel like a member of the team, but can introduce new ideas you may not have thought of before. Even the kid hired to clean up the jobsite may have insights you might have overlooked. Don’t be afraid to hire “non-traditional” workers. Let’s face it. The building trades are dominated by men, most of them young (er). That doesn’t mean your crew should be made up entirely of twenty something strong backs without a brain between them. Many older or retired people would love the opportunity to put their talents to use. As McDonalds and Wal-Mart have already discovered, older employees are often times more reliable and more flexible than their younger counterparts. And don’t forget, more and more women are gravitating towards the trades as well. Offer flexible work schedules. Again, thinking non-traditionally can offer your business many unrealized opportunities. Many outstanding employees simply cannot commit to a traditional work schedule. Kids, school and family commitments force many terrific employees to struggle. If your business can allow it, why not offer employees the option of flexible scheduling. Make it clear you still expect the work to be accomplished, but if the framer can only work from 5 pm to midnight (and there are no other reasons why this wouldn’t be possible) why not take the chance? Many companies, not just in the trades, are discovering flexible scheduling as a way to increase productivity while allowing their workers to remain happy and productive. Know when to get out of the way. It’s human nature to want to look over your employee’s shoulder, to micromanage, to make decisions simply because you are the boss. However, this is a sure fire way to continuously lose key people. True, it may be your name on the business and of course, you want to maintain consistent quality, but trusted employees will almost always work better if they believe they are trusted…if they understand that the boss respects their abilities and knows the job will be done correctly and on time. For many contractors, this is the hardest lesson to learn, but the one that will reap the most benefits.Construction Estimating Software |
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