Construction Business Owner, September 2007

Editor's Note: This is the ninth in our 2007 series of The Business Owner Toolbox written by our regular columnist George Hedley. Each article is written to provide you with practical, immediately applicable business management tools to assist you on your path to building a successful, growing business.

• Trying to get paid?
• Getting change orders approved?
• Late material deliveries?
• Having to cut your bid?
• Signing twenty-seven page contracts?
• Going to job meetings?
• Showing up when the job isn’t ready?
• Waiting for inspectors?
• Doing too much paperwork?
• Dealing with difficult job superintendents?

• Getting them to show up on time.
• Making them do what you want them to do.
• Getting them to be accountable.
• Having them take on some responsibility.
• Getting them to avoid mistakes.
• Having them get it right the first time.
• Getting them to care about the bottom line.
• Having them meet project goals.
• Getting them to be productive.
• Having to discipline them.
• Getting them to do quality, efficient work.
• Having to fire them.

 When I speak at conventions, I often ask business owners and managers to tell me what their perfect business would be like. The common answer is a business without people! But the second most important ingredient to business success is excellent people. (No. 1 is customers.) Without good people, you’ll never make any profit or be able to grow your business. Take a look at this common dilemma I hear about from business owners:  “I’m just a small company. How can I get my employees to do what I want them to do? An employee mistake can cost me everything, so I can’t let my people make any big decisions.”  

Do You Chase Wheelbarrows?

A few years ago, I was visiting one of our big jobs. We were building a Kmart store. As I drove out onto the site, I noticed one of our long-time laborers cleaning the slab with a broom and shovel. He was sweeping debris into his shovel and then walking about 100 yards to the trash bin. He repeated this for several minutes until I finally stopped and asked him: ‘Where’s your wheelbarrow?” He said his boss didn’t give him a wheelbarrow to use today. I asked him if a wheelbarrow would make the job go faster. He said that it would. I asked him why he didn’t have one to use, and he said his boss wasn’t around that morning to get a wheelbarrow for him, so he did what he could to stay busy. 

So, what did I do? I went and looked for the job foreman. After looking for a few minutes to no avail, I looked for the job superintendent. He was in the job office in a meeting. So, as the big boss, I went to my truck, got a key to the job storage bin, unlocked it and got a wheelbarrow for the laborer to use. I solved the problem! Or did I? Have you ever fixed a problem yourself but not addressed the bigger problem? What’s wrong with this picture? The laborer was not trusted with a key to the bin. The laborer was not responsible for:

• Bottom-line results
• Using the right tools
• Thinking
• Making decisions
• Doing his best
• Anything

• Not setting clear targets and goals
• Not explaining the big picture
• Not trusting people
• Not giving up their authority
• Not training their field crews
• Not communicating properly

Are You a Firefighter?

Do you ever feel like a firefighter running from one fire to another with only a garden hose? Do you feel like all you do is put out everyone else’s fires? Do you complete your employees’ work all day and yours all night? What wheelbarrows do you chase? 

Do you wish your people were more accountable? Why don’t they take on more responsibility? In a recent poll of field employees, 66 percent were asked to make decisions. But only 14 percent of them feel empowered and trusted to make the decision. They’re afraid their boss will yell at them if they make mistakes or the wrong choices. Rather than risk it, employees don’t take on more than they have to. The root of most people problems is the boss, not the employee.  

Who Owns the Problem?

When the boss owns every problem, only he or she can solve them correctly. When you solve other people’s problems for them, they rely on you to solve all their problems. When people aren’t responsible for any problems, how can they be responsible for any solutions? Do you or your employees make decisions regarding the following:

• Ordering materials
• Scheduling crews
• Meeting with customers
• Negotiating contracts
• Estimating and reviewing bids
• Purchasing equipment
• Buying small tools
• Choosing suppliers
• Hiring every employee
• Spending any money
• Selecting a coffee brand

When you continually solve everyone else’s problem, your people can’t grow and become the best they can be. Each person who works for you wants to be accountable and responsible for some part of their job. It’s your job to let go and get them doing what you pay them to do. You hire people because you can’t do all the work yourself. So, why can’t they do the job perfectly just like you can? Without empowered people, you’ll never grow your business.  

You Can’t Do It All Yourself!

Small business owners start out as the sole proprietor making every decision. Successful business owners realize they can’t do it all themselves and seek people they can trust and grow with. Look at the bigger companies. They have levels of responsible people who make most everyday business decisions. The owner had to decide he wasn’t the only person on the planet who was as smart as he was! 

The No. 1 reason employees don’t accept accountability or responsibility is that they don’t know exactly what you want them to do. You tell them, but they don’t fully understand exactly what you really want. They’re afraid to step out and go for it for fear of their boss’s reaction when things aren’t done the way he wanted it done.

The No. 2 reason employees don’t accept responsibility is that their boss doesn’t really trust them to make decisions. Do you tell your people what to do and then say: “Before you do that, check with me first”? Follow this five-step process to get your people to become more accountable and responsible, clearly understand what you want them to do, and feel trusted and empowered to get things done.