This post may piss off some contractors but hey we all can’t be nice all the time and sometimes things just need to be brought out in the open and talked about.
Now I know you either have employees or subcontractors working for you, but to me they are still people. Yes, real living and breathing humans. But how do you treat them? I have been around some of the nastiest bastards in our industry – you know who you are.
Most of them yell and treat everyone like a piece of human garbage and have no respect for anyone. They treat their customers the same way, and you sit and wonder, “how in the hell they can even stay in business?” They treat their suppliers the same way and make it a living hell to do business with them.
Now I have been around the construction business for over 25 years and I have worked for some real assholes but never for very long. I always said to myself that when I own my own thing I will treat my employees or subs or suppliers with respect because this is the way I was raised.
Why should it be any other way? Look, I have had up to 60 employees and yes, I figured out early on that I have 60 more problems everyday and 60 different attitudes that show up everyday and 60 different personalities each day and yes, I did get good at the balancing act.
I learned something from each and every one of them but the main thing I learned to do was to be a good listener. This is where I learned to bite my tongue and settle down and just listen. Because if you truly are listening you can respond the way that can fix the problem fast and make them happy all at the same time.
I also learned how to make everyone accountable for all things they do. This was the most important thing that I could teach. This is the backbone of a company and to grow to any size at all in your business this – to me – is the most important part.
Everyone had to clearly understand their role in the company and why they had to be held accountable. So everyday they were given a task to do and what I expected out of them for that day. Everyday was a new day and sometimes the tasks were the same and sometimes the tasks were different. But the one thing that did not change was being held accountable.
Oh yeah I worked them hard and always expected more and more everyday from all of them, but I treated them all with respect and I gained respect over the years because a lot of them worked for me for a long time and a lot of them would like to work for me again.
As I look around nowadays and see the help that walks through the doors today it has changed a lot and you can tell just by the way they carry themselves and the way they dress or comb their hair that it will be a challenge to teach them how to be accountable.
Make sure you check back often because contractorblab.com will help tackle this everyday problem and walk with you down this path and help teach and guide you with some learning audio and video lessons on this same topic.
Happy Selling
Glen
Comments on this entry are closed.