I am sometimes shocked when I look at the differences across our construction company clients. Not so much by the different types of work that they do, but more so in their approach to business and even more specifically in their approach to their team.
We have clients from almost every type of construction, from 10 employees to 3000 employees and from Mass all the way to Hawaii. Some have been wildly successful for generations while some seem to always be struggling.
The commonality among the most successful is a culture built around teamwork and accountability. It’s not that the clients have told me this, but it’s visible in everything that they do. This comes into laser clear focus when it comes to their employees. The best care deeply that the members of the team are treated fairly, are kept safe and are able to provide for their families twelve months a year, even when the nature of their work is seasonal.
I have been fortunate enough to see owners cooking lunch for a crew on the job site in a custom BBQ trailer, provide an ice cream truck for the team on a hot summer day, and of course design benefit programs that make a true difference not only in the short-term but long after the worker has retired.
In return, our most successful clients have highly productive teams that are aligned with their company’s core values and goals. The companies are consistently profitable, their safety records are exemplary, employee turnover is negligible and their customers are thrilled.
Our best clients understand that having a well-understood set of core values is the guiding force for all decisions.
If your company does not have a well defined and widely understood set of core values, you can start with these steps:
- Gather together a cross-section of the best members of your team. This can include C-Suite executives but also other tenured members of your team who serve selflessly for the good of the team. They should all deeply understand the culture of the company, demonstrate what you believe is the ideal employee, and who knows the majority of the employees.
- Brainstorm! Begin listing the qualities of the people in the room that are most valued. The more the better. Then expand the list to include the qualities that are most important when considering new hires. Now look for trends among the qualities. Those qualities that are repeated numerous times is the beginning of your list of core values.
- Condense & Finalize. Which on the list are the very best, the ones that resonate deeply? Try to identify 3 to 5 values that tell the story of what the company is really all about. Make sure that each core value is as strong and important as the next one. No fillers!
This entire process may take weeks but it’s worth the effort. When you are done, you have a set of principles that should guide every decision for the entire team.