Learn how certified payroll reporting programs can help you manage government requirements for Davis-Bacon wages.
Why isolation and inconsistency in construction project management drives inefficiency.
Start working on your construction business, not in it by establishing accountability to achieve results.
Select the right construction superintendents and foremen.
Enhance your benefits package with voluntary insurance coverage.
Choose the Right Criteria to Assess Your Construction Project Managers
Drive your construction business to the next level by drafting an organizational chart.
Evaluating Estimators—What you can learn from the movie “Moneyball”
Q: What proven business practices will help subcontractors build a better business?
Engage your employees in the transition process to create a unified company.
Use this guide to implement a process that yields lasting results for your construction business.
How to reduce the time and money spent on HR tasks, payroll and healthcare.
Q:
Customer gifts are always a problem for us. I don't know what to give and how much to spend. Do you have any recommendations for a small general contractor? We do interior tenant improvements and remodels for small real estate investors and developers. Our jobs range from $25,000 to $100,000.
Creating a culture of employees who think and act like owners can lead to amazing results, both financially and culturally. In this article series, Brad Hams shares three elements required to create an ownership culture.
Q:
I have been bidding construction of exterior architectural metal walls, soffit and roofing as a subcontractor on State truck shed maintenance facilities. We have worked on only one shed and have bid on two projects that we didn't get. On the one job we completed, the facility manager told our crew we had performed the "best quality of metal panel and trim work" that he had ever seen. We also came in ahead of schedule. When the final punch list by the state was issued, we came back the next day and fixed our two items.
Creating a culture of employees who think and act like owners can lead to amazing results, both financially and culturally. In this article series, Brad Hams shares three elements required to create an ownership culture.
Use these guidelines to develop winning bonus and incentive programs.
Every year, business owners face the decision of what to do about year-end bonuses. Some have an incentive compensation formula they attempt to calculate. Others use simple bonus plans. Many just do not know how to keep their employees happy and reward those who contributed to the overall company success.
Company owners are often frustrated over their inability to use a 401(k) to save money for retirement. Generally speaking, IRS regulations limit owners and other highly compensated employees to contributing a maximum of 2 percent more than the average contributed by all non-highly compensated employees* and if hourly employees are contributing nothing, well, the math isn't hard to do.
Business owners who do prevailing wage work and use the fringe allocation of the specified wage to set up a bona fide benefit plan for their hourly workers can use that allocation to greatly improve their own retirement benefit.
With this new infusion of subcontractors to the commercial marketplace, are you, as a general contractor, being selective with regard to which subcontractor you will use? As a subcontractor, are you trying to position your business to be a preferred subcontractor?
The controversial rule that will require most federal construction contractors to use E-Verify to check the work eligibility of their employees officially went into effect on September 8, 2009. This rule, originally issued in November 2008, had been delayed for several months pending review. In July, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the new administration would move forward with implementation, meaning that thousands of federal contractors will soon be obligated to enroll in and use the government's E-Verify system.
Of all the techniques we teach our clients, delegation is easily the most powerful and the one that most profoundly improves the operation of a business and an owner's life.
"But," you say, "Every time I assign someone to do something, it gets screwed up, and I end up having to do it myself anyway. Delegation sounds like fancy business school hooey that doesn't work in the real world."
If delegation didn't work, Dwight Eisenhower would've had a busy D-Day. He would've had to personally steer every ship, fly every plane and fight the German army single-handed. He didn't, because the military knows how to delegate.
Most owners of construction companies came up through the operations side. They were in the field early in their careers, learning their trade from the ground up.
Today, many contractors find themselves owning a business that has grown significantly from where it started. They generally aren't experts in organization structure and therefore aren't aware of the need to assess the organization they have in place to handle the current and future volume of the business.
Straight Answers to Tough Questions
How one contractor earned accolades for construction safety by bridging the generational gap.
For the first time in recent history, workplace demographics now span four generations, including the veterans, baby boomers, generation X and generation Y. Categorized by behavioral demographics and birthrates, these generations bring not only their own perspectives to the workplace, but their own individual learning styles as well.
One of my law partners is fond of explaining that lawsuits do not simply "happen," but rather, they walk in on two legs and apply for work. The founding partner of our law Firm, Ike Fisher, took this analysis one step further and concluded that employers could nearly eliminate their employment lawsuits, frivolous workers' compensation claims, government investigations and union drives if they would avoid hiring three types of employees: the "marginal employee," the "perpetual complainer" and the "unofficial supervisor." Clearly, employers should zealously seek to screen out such individuals using the most sophisticated and legally defensible tools. Of course, therein lies the rub-"lawfully" using tools in an era when many employers feel that they will run afoul of the law if they ask a candidate for much more than their name and current address.
In order for the construction industry to adapt to an ever-changing business environment and meet current market demands, the industry must evolve on a number of levels.
One long-standing industry objective has been to build and maintain a highly skilled, efficient workforce. Such a workforce pays for itself by ensuring that work is done right, on time and on budget. Additionally, developing and maintaining skilled workers can reduce insurance premiums and litigation.
The Health Savings Account (HSA) is capturing an ever-larger share of the health insurance marketplace.
Today it is commonly used by larger companies, but creative, profit-minded companies of any size should consider it. It is a unique opportunity both to save money and to benefit employees, particularly executives.
Construction industry employers often face critical shortages of skilled and professional employees. Many wonder if they can hire foreign workers to fill their needs. The answer is maybe.
