company culture

Ep.193: Unlimited Vacation Time – [The Tim Faller Show]

May 16, 2022 00:34:46

Join Tim and Steve as they talk to Clark Harris, who recently implemented an unlimited vacation time policy at his company, to see how it is working. Although some might find this idea radical, it fits right into the strong culture that Clark has built within his company. He runs an open book organization, where he shares performance numbers with all team members, fosters an environment of open communication, trust, accountability, responsibility, freedom, and developing an owner’s mindset.

Clark, a carpenter by trade, started his company, Innovative Construction, in 2000 and serves the Atlanta, GA metro area. He initially grew the company slowly until he found Remodelers Advantage, where he said he found the “right way to run a business”. He has grown Innovative Construction into a multi-million dollar business with 17 employees he endearingly refers to as team members.

Listen as Clark, Tim, and Steve discuss:

Using unlimited vacation to attract and retain the BEST talent
How responsibility and freedom are interdependent
And more…

Remodelers Summit is a remarkable educational event designed specifically for the remodeling community. This year we will feature:

3 inspirational and entertaining keynotes
4 education tracks with 36 industry leading speakers with strategies to help you grow a better business
Networking with Ask Anything sessions
80s party, a happy hour
And more…

This year the Remodelers Summit will be held at the beautiful Gaylord National Harbor, near Washington DC.

You do NOT want to miss it!

Ep.176: Bonuses and Incentives with Andrew Kerr

December 20, 2021 00:31:59

This is PART 1 of a 4-part series focused on Bonuses and Incentives.

Financial incentives and bonuses are often how many companies attract and retain great talent. Guest Andrew Kerr of Landis Construction is here to share how bonus structures can potentially lead to increased motivation and involvement within a company.

Andrew has been with Landis since 2001, and as their COO he now oversees the company’s architecture, estimating, construction, and process management departments. Prior to joining the company, Andrew held a position as a PM at Centex Homes, managing construction for new homes, and also worked at the White House for the National Security Council.

Tim, Steve and Andrew talk more about:

Unfulfilled bonus promises
Bonus structures and customer satisfaction
Financial bonuses vs. incentives
And more…

4-Part Series on Bonuses and Incentives:

Get Your Production Team Focused on Profit!

Keep your production team sharp and focused on profit throughout the new year with our weekly Production Team Training Masterclass, starting up on January 10th.

Instructor Tim Faller covers 6 hot topics that have proven to be game-changers for companies all over the country and will definitely raise the bar in your world.

This course is geared to your production staff and at the end of each session, Tim will assign homework that the team can use to reinforce the topic and implement the new ideas.

Ep.150: Building a Team, Not a Family with Jef Forward

May 10, 2021 00:40:45

While having a family-like culture is a well intended premise, it is oftentimes impractical.

Companies may notice that one or two employees are intolerant of the family-like culture in place, and leave the “family” dysfunctional.

Creating an environment where there is a structure that resembles a team, rather than a family, is a way to avoid intolerance, and grow as a company. In this episode, guest Jef Forward describes how he was able to achieve a team-like culture in his business, and why it has been successful.

Jef has a Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan and started Forward Design Build in 1997, focusing on a design and build method to ensure successful projects. He defines a successful project as a happy homeowner with a beautiful, functional home completed with-in ‘stated’ expectations of cost, service and schedule from the beginning of design to the end of construction.

Tim, Steve and Jef talk more about:

The “locus of control”
How to address and correct the path of someone who is trending sideways
How to efficiently communicate with different team members
And more…

Get on the Waitlist for the 2021 Remodelers Summit in Phoenix

We are very excited to announce that after more than a year of virtual conferences and canceled events, we are holding the Annual 2021 Remodelers Summit LIVE and In-person at the luxurious Arizona Grand Resort & Spa, in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 22, 2021. We will launch registration on May 19, 2021, but if you’d like to join our waitlist, we will guarantee you a spot at this event and offer you the lowest pre-sale special pricing of $500 off the standard registration fee. So, sign up today!

EP. 148 How to Build Morale and Culture During a Transition with Jason Willet

April 16, 2021 00:34:56

Keeping your team engaged throughout the process of a transition is an opportunity to grow as a company.

Willet Construction did this through an event called “Vision Day” where the goal was to get everyone to understand the how, what, when, where, and why of the transition. The event brought their team closer together, raised morale and reinforced the culture of their company.

Guest Jason Willet shares how providing an event such as Vision Day can truly help a company have better success transitioning their business if the whole team knows what the goal is and can assist in getting there. Jason became an official partner of Willet Construction in 2019 and is now the Vice President after his father transitioned the business to him. He assists in estimating and design in addition to being an exterior consultant.

Tim, Steve and Jason talk more about:

How to create an agenda during a transition
Utilizing team opinions
Prioritizing goals
And more…

Three Production-focused Masterclasses Coming up

Project Manager Intensive: June 10 – 11, 2021
Let us turn your Production Manager into a Super Hero!

The Art of Estimating: August 18-19, 2021
You will find a gold mine of information in this Masterclass, led by Tim Faller.

Production Team Training with Tim Faller: Starts September 13, 2021
Get Your Entire Production Team Focused on Profit!

Ep.90: Moving Company Culture to the Job Site with Dennis Engelbrecht

February 3, 2020 00:40:29

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

January 27, 2020 00:33:12

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

September 23, 2019 00:34:42

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

August 12, 2019 00:30:29

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!