Business Building: What Are You Doing To Develop Future Leaders?

Words: George Hedley

When I ask my coaching clients if they have anyone in their construction company who could potentially move up from field superintendent to estimator or project manager, the typical answer is “No!” The same answer is usually given when asked if they have anyone in their entire field operation who has the potential to become a foreman or superintendent. Some have also told me that out of their five full-charge project managers, none of them have the potential to become vice president of operations.

Bosses tend to see their employees where they are and not what they can become or grow into. Most of my clients have several dozen or more long-term field employees who do a great job on a regular basis. You can’t tell me out of four or five managers, or twenty to sixty field workers, not one of them has the potential to move up to the next level! In your entire operation, nobody wants to grow, learn, or is willing to accept more responsibility (and make more money!). I have also observed in several companies where the crew bosses protect their role, control, and territory by discouraging employees from doing more or taking on additional accountability. This bad culture restricts upwardly mobile growth if the top supervisors don’t want or encourage good people from taking their jobs.

On the other hand, I attended a large electrical contractor’s quarterly estimating meeting. The meeting consisted of ten estimators each from one of their regional offices in six states. I asked what their backgrounds were. Eight of these estimators started out in the field as an apprentice, got promoted to journeyman, and then to foreman. Eventually, the company asked if they wanted to come into the office as an assistant estimator. Now, they are all full-charge commercial electrical estimators each bidding and pricing over $25 million worth of jobs yearly. Who says field workers don’t have the potential to become leaders? All it takes is a company culture of training and promotion from within.

Your future leaders work for you now!
On the other side of the coin, a few of my clients work hard to build and develop future leaders. They have designed step-by-step companywide programs to encourage their current leaders, foremen, supervisors, and managers to train and promote people who work for them to grow to the next level. They maintain a ‘promotion from within’ culture that doesn’t allow for foremen, superintendents, or managers to discourage people from wanting to become crew or team leaders.

An example of a successful promotion from within culture is a large and successful civil contractor coaching client of mine in the Northwest USA. They have developed a promotional and training ladder for employees to clearly follow and be aware of what it takes to move up and become a crew leader, foreman, or supervisor. They offer ongoing regular training for field crew employees to move from general labor to pipe installer, to doing layout, to equipment operator, to ordering material, to becoming foreman, and then full-charge supervisor. Their step-by-step plan is formalized and written with detailed job descriptions and training modules for each step along the way. Regular classroom training sessions are led by senior managers monthly. At each level, there are tests and reviews to see if participants are ready to move to the next level. In addition, each advancement receives a standard pay raise along with the added responsibility. This training and promotion system has generated an ongoing supply of crew members wanting to improve and a waitlist of new people seeking employment at this company.

Another great example of investing in people: I had the opportunity to work with a premier commercial general contractor recently with well over 100 employees in the Midwest USA. This company has become the leader in their market because of the two owners’ visionary leadership, integrity, professionalism, insistence on expert craftsmanship, promoting the highest safety standards, and focusing on building a great place to work that attracts and retains the best people. Their success is founded on developing a winning team of estimators, project managers, superintendents, and foremen to be effective leaders and managers. These players are tasked with taking full ownership and responsibility to manage projects as professionals, achieve on-time, on-budget results, and exceed their customers’ needs. They have a large group of crew leaders, journeymen, and apprentices who are excited and energetic about building great projects, doing what’s right, and doing what they say they’ll do.

Invest in People to Get a Return On Investment!
Their business vision is to help employees become the best they can be and not restrict or hold anyone back from growing or accepting more responsibility. They have committed to invest in people as stated in their company vision statement: “Develop well-trained and productive team players in a rewarding work environment. Create a safe atmosphere where employees thrive personally and professionally with honesty and integrity.”

To accomplish their vision, they hold several half-day and full-day training sessions on a regular basis. These include team building, participative, open interactive training, educational and informational workshops and meetings. They bring in outside consultants and professional experts plus their managers to present on a variety of topics. Topics include equipment, technology, safety, best practices, construction methods, leadership, management, supervision, documentation, and scheduling. They also invest dedicated regular time to work with and mentor potential leaders to build a culture of excellence and promotion from within. During each session, the multiple topics always included sessions on how to become winning coaches and team leaders, better managers, and inspirational results-driven supervisors.

Another contractor I work with encourages a culture of teaching and training subordinates. As part of the employee review process, they weigh potential supervisors’ and managers’ pay raises and bonuses based on their personal dedication and commitment they perform mentoring and training employees they supervise. As encouragement to participate in this program, they offer attendance at state and national conferences like the World of Concrete or International Roofing Exposition where educational programs, workshops, and peer sessions are available. When people see how other managers and leaders perform, it inspires them to also grow and improve themselves, and those who work for them.

Invest in People to Achieve Better Results!
As a construction industry presenter and business coach for over 25 years, I see who makes the most money and builds the best companies. Guess what? In every case, companies who really invest in their people always make more money, win better contracts, and have less trouble finding and keeping great people. A small investment in training, mentoring, teaching, and developing your people for one hour per week per employee only costs 2.5% of your total employee expense. This is nothing compared to the return-on-investment potential available to you. So, the challenging question for you is, “What are you doing about developing your future leaders and managers?”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George Hedley CPBC is a certified professional construction business coach, consultant, and popular speaker. He helps contractors build better businesses, grow, profit, develop management teams, improve field production, and get their companies to work. He is the best-selling author of “Get Your Construction Business To Always Make A Profit!” available on Amazon.com. Watch his educational videos on YouTube. To get his free e-newsletter, start a personalized BIZCOACH program, download online courses, or utilize his contractor templates visit: https://constructionbusinesscoaching.com or E-mail GH@HardhatBizcoach.com.

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