I read this past week that employment rates may be slower to rise due to the fact that employees have become more productive.  I assume these analysts mean more productive due to layoffs and that fewer employees are expected to get more done. Employees are doing just that, mostly because anyone with a job is just happy to have one and scared of losing the one he/she has.

Some of this increase in productivity may be due to investing in technology, some may be due to the fact that people are working a lot more overtime and some may be due to the fact that some businesses were overstaffed before the recession hit. 

Businesses are slow to rehire after a recession.  If you have had to lay off staff or not replace staff lost due to normal attrition, you tend to be hesitant to build that staff back for fear of starting the process all over again.

If you are in a position of trying to decide to hire again, take the time to evaluate what your current staff is doing.  Can you use outside employment/labor services to assist you in the busier times and avoid increasing full-time year-round staff?  Do you even know what your staff is doing? Work on your organizational chart, and write out new job descriptions for your staff. 

During this very tough business atmosphere, you may have stretched people thin with little thought of what assignments and responsibilities were being assigned where.  People just took up the slack, with no consideration of strengths and long-term employee or business growth. And you may think that if work is getting done, then what’s the point of hiring? The work may be getting done, but is it getting done the most efficient way? Sometimes one smart new hire can pay for hiscompensation and put profit on the bottom line in a very short amount of time.

Is your business now organized and positioned for maximizing long-term growth? As business begins to pick up, truly evaluate how the workload is allocated, and rework those systems and job descriptions with a forward-thinking approach. 

You may well not want to do things the way you used to do them, but you will always need the right people on the right jobs to build your business.

I have to travel often for work, so I am a frequent flier on a large carrier located here in Atlanta.  I am fairly comfortable with the service they offer.  I feel that the airplane is airworthy and relatively clean; the crew is well trained; the staff members are reasonably courteous.  Aside from the baggage fees  that I don’t use because I  carry on luggage only and the fares that continually inch upward, I don’t feel that I have too much to complain about.

The other day I was in Dallas and flew on Southwest airlines for the first time.  I wasn’t too crazy about the method of boarding, but was pleasantly surprised by how efficient the boarding process was. The gate agents were courteous and the flight service crew seemed comfortable and excited to be at work.  The over-riding theme of the day for me was “Happy”.  Everyone associated with that flight in a Southwest uniform projected happiness and a fun atmosphere shrouded in excellent professional etiquette.  The standard FAA required pre-flight briefing was fun and even, dare I say, entertaining.  I didn’t feel cheated because it wasn’t delivered in a dour monotone.  I didn’t feel less safe because the attendant made a few wisecracks in the middle of it.  In fact, for the first time in a long time, I actually listened to the briefing!

The culture at Southwest has been written about ad nauseum.  Staff are empowered, executives are humble and focused; flight crews are excited to be at work; customer service agents seem to actually like serving customers.  How did they do it?  How did they create this culture that can only breed self fulfilling prosperity?  What can we do at our own organizations to make life more tolerable for our employees who then project that image to our clients?

Culture change doesn’t happen over night.  It doesn’t happen in a month, either.  Culture modification is a profession in and of itself.  But in our construction organizations, I feel it doesn’t have to be.  As we continue to step through the worst economic downturn in decades, take a moment to analyze the culture of your firm.  Are the employees genuinely happy to be there?  Do they have a stake in the outcome of your organization aside from the proverbial pay check?  Are they empowered to offer ideas, point out problems and own the solution?  The first step to modifying culture is defining what you want your culture to be.  Too often we allow someone else to define who we are rather than defining our own companies.   Too often culture shifts from one crew to the next without displaying a focused message.  Too often we retain the rotten eggs with the understanding that all the eggs must be rotten, so let’s just stick with those  we currently  have.  Are your jobsites clean and well marked?  Do your superintendents own the project that they lead or simply act as a conduit to someone else?  Is every member of your staff asked to bring ideas and solutions to the table, or told to sit tight and watch the pros work?

Culture may be the one item that can’t be quantified in any legitimate manner, yet has an enormous impact on your company and client service.  Not all service companies can project fun in their marketplace like Southwest does.  But that doesn’t mean that we don’t define our culture and surround ourselves with staff and managers that support that effort.  A little bit of effort at making your company a rewarding place to work will pay off in spades in customer relations.  One short flight on an airline made all the difference in the world to me.  I will now actively pursue that company to pay my travel dollars to when the situation arises when I can use them.  Imagine that each interaction with a potential client does the same for your business. 

How do you want to be perceived?  As the company that is just going through the motions, however rote they may be, or the company that is focused like a laser on projecting the best customer experience possible from initial contact to signed punchlist?  As a customer, we may go back to the former out of necessity and convenience, but we patronize the latter out of choice.  The difference is subtle when written in words, monumental in scope.