Masonry Magazine March 2004 Page. 16
Contractor
to Contractor site to help with these issues. It is cost-effective for us to pay for the extra personnel versus the alternative.
Masonry: What do you feel is the biggest misconception about the masonry industry?
House: That all people in the masonry business are qualified to build a project. Consequently, when unqualified masonry contractors construct projects without quality control, building professionals will often design masonry out and use alternate materials on their next project.
The other major misconception is the fact that some architects and owners think there is a better building material and a more cost-effective way to build a building. The only way this theory works is when an owner knows he or she is creating a building for the short-term before it is replaced with a permanent structure. In the long-run, the dollars saved at the front end of a non-masonry project are quickly used after the building has been maintained for a few years.
Masonry: What are your three biggest concerns in keeping your company successful?
House: My main concerns about keeping the company successful is having enough large projects to bid in order to maintain a profit margin and keep all of our foremen performing quality work on their own projects.
Another is to continue to help our preferred general contractors build each project so they can secure high-profile projects, negotiate work, and have continued success.
And finally, to have enough work to get competitive pricing from our suppliers and keep our overhead low.
The tools, information and professional network that the MCAA provides to the masonry industry can make a significant impact and move us into a secure future.
Masonry: What do you feel is the industry's biggest challenge in the near future?
House: Although a lot of quality architects design with masonry today, there is a lot of misleading information about a shortage of masons. Even at the busiest times I have seen in Denver, we have never had so much trouble getting masons that a local newspaper advertisement didn't remedy it.
Celebrate Mistakes with your Employees
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
How you as a leader react to situations will enhance or deteriorate the employee's trust in you and your company. Have you ever found out a brand new piece of equipment has just been damaged beyond repair on one of your jobsites? How do you approach that situation? At Lang Masonry, we bring it out in the open and discuss it that's what I call "celebrating mistakes" with my employees.
I like to tell our employees when mistakes are made to let us know and we will celebrate them together. This is much more beneficial than throwing a fit over the mistake. Here's why. Let's say a new brick saw is ruined because it fell off a forklift. Because these types of things are celebrated in our organization, the person responsible will tell management what happened. Then, we can discuss it at our next monthly safety meeting to insure we don't make the same mistake again. At the meeting, one of the employees present may say something like, "Why don't we have our mechanic weld steel skids to the bottom of the saws before they go on the jobsite this way they can't bounce off the forks?" These types of suggestions are invaluable...especially if it potentially saves a life. By celebrating this mistake, we have just made the jobsite safer.
On the other hand, if I throw a fit over the situation and go on ranting about all that money spent for nothing and punishing the crew for not taking the time to secure the saw, etc.. the next time something like this happens chances are no one will admit to doing it. In that case, we may never know the events that led up to the problem or how to guard against it in the future. Throwing a fit over a mistake simply creates mistrust and disrespect in the eyes of your employees. We have all made mistakes; the goal is to learn from them. Life is and should be full of reinvention based upon the desire to experiment and do it better the next time.
As you have probably guessed by now, one thing I like to see in our organization is a continuous excitement about learning. Think about it like this - when we are learning, we are growing. When mistakes are made, discuss them, learn from them, and make the organization better because of the learning experience. By remaining open to celebrating these mistakes, you encourage openness from your employees. In the long run, employee's suggestions and ideas for improvements can be extremely useful to your company's bottom line.
Provided by Damian Lang, President of Lang Masonry Contractors, Inc. and EZ Great Corp.