company culture
Ep.90: Moving Company Culture to the Job Site with Dennis Engelbrecht
Between 1950 and 2010, the use of the term “company culture” has doubled — Tim looked it up. But for a lot of people, it’s still a bit of a mystery. You hear about having a good culture, but it can be hard to quantify.
Often, remodeling companies can have a great culture in the office, but it doesn’t always make it out to the field staff on the job site. Sometimes the office and the job site have two separate cultures, so the team as a whole doesn’t share a company culture. Complicating matters, as you grow, your culture will change too — in ways you may not expect.
In this episode, Dennis Engelbrecht, discusses company culture with Tim and Steve, especially how to create and maintain a positive culture in the field and get everyone on the same page.
Dennis is a consultant with the Family Business Institute, of Raleigh, NC. He’s devoted his life and career to creating, improving, building, and coaching entrepreneurs for greater business success. Dennis directs the CEO Roundtables Program for Contractors, which he founded to expand upon a group one of his early clients participated in.
Company culture is a collection of a set of beliefs and behaviors that affect the workplace, Dennis says. When trying to set up a good culture, it starts with the company’s leadership. It’s not a defined set of rules, but how everyone acts. The challenge is establishing and maintaining the culture you want, one that creates a workplace people want to be in. Dennis tells you how to create and direct a good company culture, on the job site and in the office, including:
- Why the owner needs to visit job sites
- The crucial role of your project manager or lead carpenter
- How to involve your trade partners on the job site
- Keeping egos in check
- The power of a simple greeting
- The first question to ask on the job site
- Praising in public, criticizing in private
- How to manage for success
- Sharing information
- Changing the culture — if you’re not the business owner
- And more …
Your company’s culture on the job site and off can give you a competitive advantage in finding and keeping good team members — a key strategy in beating the labor shortage.
Ep.89: Profit-Sharing Strategies with Shawn McCadden
Money isn’t the only way to motivate your team, but profit sharing can boost morale, productivity, and help attract and keep good production employees.
Profit sharing can be engineered into the budget so there will be funds to distribute. As long as you hit the gross-profit margin, you can set up profit sharing, says Shawn McCadden. But you have to be careful and systematic in creating the system.
In this episode, Shawn discusses profit-sharing strategies with Tim and Steve, and how to create and maintain a profit-sharing program that will motivate your field team.
Shawn is president of Remodel My Business Inc. in Brookline, NH, and is a prominent figure in the remodeling industry. He obtained his builder’s license by age 18; founded, operated, and sold a successful employee-managed design/build firm; co-founded the Residential Design/Build Institute; and went on to become director of education for a national bath and kitchen remodeling franchise company. Today he speaks frequently at industry conferences and trade events. As an award-winning columnist, he contributes to industry publications, blogs, and writes a monthly column for Qualified Remodeler magazine. You can learn more at www.shawnmccadden.com.
You must have a sensible financial system already in place to make profit sharing work, says Shawn. There’s no room for guesswork. You also need a way to measure what’s happening on a job in the same way it was estimated for apples-to-apples comparisons. He discusses how to implement a profit sharing plan and the benefits, including:
- Starting with best practices
- The difference between profit sharing and bonuses
- Considering profit sharing as an overhead expense
- Training your staff to understand your budget
- Testing it before you roll it out
- Setting the goals
- When — and how often — to distribute the money
- Documenting your process
- Determining who gets how much
- Being a competitive employer in your market
- And more …
The labor shortage is only going to get worse, says Shawn, and a profit-sharing program — along with competitive pay, benefits, and time off — will help your company attract and keep the best employees.
You’ve Got Questions, We’ll Find Answers
This topic was suggested by one of our listeners who wanted to know how to begin a profit-sharing program. If you’ve got a question or idea for a topic or guest, send Tim an email at tim@remodelersadvantage.com.
New Dates for Extreme Business Makeover
Due to schedule conflicts we moved the Extreme Business Makeover to March 30 – 31, 2020. We’re still at the BWI Westin in Baltimore and we’ve added Bruce Case as a featured speaker… More content being added and we’ve got 4-5 great tools that you will be leaving with, so take a look at this event and we would love to see you there!
More information + Registration >>
Ep.72: The Labor Shortage from a Small-Town Perspective with Wally Staples
While driving through Maine earlier this year, Tim started wondering how a client of his there deals with the labor shortage in his small town. So he called and asked, and found out that while there are different challenges, what he does to attract and retain his people can be done in any size labor market.
In this episode, Wally J. Staples talks to Tim and Steve about how his company combats the labor crisis outside of the major metropolitan areas, where there just aren’t as many people to choose from.
Wally is the owner and president of Wally J Staples Builders Inc., of Brunswick, ME, founded the company in 1993 when he was in his early 20s. A carpenter by trade, Wally worked in the field building new homes and completing renovations until 2001, when he hired his first lead carpenter, who’s still with WJSB today. This allowed Wally to work on growing the company, and now they have five full-time, in-house carpentry crews, and have completed more than 3,500 projects.
Brunswick has a population of about 20,000, and is somewhat of a retirement community. It’s located between two major employers — L.L. Bean and s big shipbuilder. There’s also a strong sense of independence — many carpenters and tradespeople would rather work for themselves. Wally talks about the things you need to do to attract and keep good people in a smaller market, including:
- How to help people adjust to new roles
- The benefit of offering benefits — especially paid time off
- Providing a profit-sharing program for retirement plans, and keeping it in focus
- Talking about the importance of your safety record regarding profits
- What not to care about in hiring, like tattoos or age
- Getting the word out about job openings
- Appealing to the self-employed
- The power of branding in recruiting
- Why training helps keep employees
- The zero-question job binder
- Developing good job descriptions and processes
- And more …
Including the company party featuring a contortionist. Wally’s tips and tactics aren’t limited to succeeding in a small market — his insights can help any company, in any market.
Ep.66: Production in a Large Remodeling Firm with Bruce Case
Most remodeling companies are small businesses with simple structures, and team building can be difficult. Imagine the challenges of building a real team with more than 70 people in the field and an almost equal number working in the office.
In this episode, Bruce Case talks to Tim and Steve about what it takes to keep a large remodeling company running smoothly — especially in the production department.
Bruce is the president and CEO of Case Design/Remodeling Inc., one of the largest full-service remodeling firms in the nation. Operations are focused in the Washington, DC, area and bring clients a unique mix of design/build and home improvement services through Fred The First Name in Home Improvement. Case has extended its reach across the U.S. through a network of licensees and franchisees. Since its founding in 1961, Case has won more than 100 national remodeling, design, and business awards, and the Case network has completed more than 100,000 renovation projects for more than 60,000 clients. Binding these initiatives is a focus on inspiring team members and clients.
Bruce started working in the business when he was 12, but initially pursued a career in insurance. He came back to the family business and had to pay his dues, working in almost every department of the company in the 12 years before taking the reins. This gave Bruce an increased level of empathy and a greater perspective on the roles within the company. He discusses the importance of the culture at Case, and how to keep it together with the right mix of people — even if that means cutting a top performer loose — as well as how Case works in production, including:
- How to develop structure and processes
- What it takes to change processes
- The timeline for change
- Taking the time to develop your people
- Proactively growing and promoting from within
- Case’s professional development program
- Reimbursing for continuing education
- How training helps you hire, keep, and inspire people
- Why you should micromanage a new employee — and when to stop
- Gatekeeping the project’s process
- How to bring ideas forward and be positive
- And more …
Keynote Speaker: Bruce Case
We’re excited to have Bruce delivering the keynote address at the 2019 Production Conference in Orlando, FL, on Sept. 26. This event will bring more than two hundred Production Managers, Project Managers, and Lead Carpenters together for a one-day journey through the inner workings of some of the industry’s most successful and efficient Production Departments.
We are filling seats fast so don’t miss this opportunity to learn, network and connect with other industry professionals just like you!
Register today!
