A contracting company relies on its employees’ individual contributions far more than other industries. The quality of its work is wholly determined by the cumulative efforts of each team member. It’s essential that contracting and construction companies keep their employees engaged and motivated. As a manager, you want everyone to give you their best possible work consistently. Here are some ways that you can inspire your team to do their best.
Make Administrative Duties Easier
Construction workers are usually very task-oriented in their work style. They like to do work that’s hands-on and yields visible results. Many different types of administrative duties may not come easily to everyone. Producing documentation such as project updates, filling out requisition orders, or tracking time can be kind of burdensome.
Make administrative logistics easier with technology. Use a construction time card app so workers can handle timekeeping with ease. Use fillable forms for reports that workers need to complete. Being able to go through a guided form on a phone or tablet feels a lot more intuitive to many people than a pen and paper. Also, it makes things easier to keep track of. Completing and uploading work on a centralized location prevents things from getting lost and ensures that managers can readily find things when they need them.
Offer Professional Development Opportunities
You want your best workers to stay on board with you awhile rather than pursuing other opportunities. Make it a point to give people the opportunity to enhance their professional skills. Offer training on advanced skills. Partner newer workers with more experienced workers so people can feel that they’re getting practical knowledge by staying with your team.
Assign People Varied Job Duties
Some of your team members may be dedicated to certain types of work and really enjoy or excel at certain job functions. However, it’s also true that doing the same type of work can become redundant for many construction workers. This is particularly true of work that doesn’t require any type of special skill or know-how. If workers repeatedly get the same type of mundane job assignments, they may be likely to lose interest in what they’re doing. Also, it’s important that the same people not always get stuck with the most difficult or laborious tasks.
As a manager, you may find it helpful to rotate everyone’s assignments periodically. People will feel like they’re being treated fairly and equitably when each team member has to do their share of the less desirable job assignments. Also, a lot of people will simply enjoy a change of pace in what they’re doing day-to-day.
Put Workers’ Safety First
Workers really value when their employer demonstrates genuine care for their safety and well-being. By taking steps to keep your workforce safe, you let everyone know they’re more important than their individual job roles. Prioritizing safety fosters a good company culture and generates positive employee sentiment. Also, it makes workers more conscientious about their individual role in keeping the whole team safe.
The foundation of creating safe working on construction sites starts with training. Ensure that all of your workforce goes through safety training, regardless of whether it’s a legal requirement for licensing and OSHA purposes. Take advantage of free training materials, and pay for the cost of in-person or online training certifications.
Another important element of worker safety is having thorough accident prevention policies in effect onsite. Delegate responsibility for supervising safety to one or more senior staff members. They can oversee safe working conditions and offer individual counseling and instruction to employees who are deviating from your company’s safety guidelines.
Give Your Team Good Personal Protective Equipment
One of the best ways to show your team that safety is a key priority is giving them good personal protective equipment. If you’re requiring workers to use certain types of equipment, you should be willing to provide it to them yourself.
When you supply the equipment, you’ll make sure that everyone’s equipment is the same quality. Also, nobody will go without the equipment that they need to stay safe.
Outfit Your Team Well
If you require your workers to wear company shirts or jackets, outfit them with clothing that they’ll like wearing. In the world of sports, teams don’t play their best in ugly uniforms. The same is true in the world of construction. Get clothing that’s comfortable and made of high quality materials. While it may need to be a bright color for safety reasons, it doesn’t necessarily need to be an eyesore. It should be something that your workers will be proud to wear out into the world when they leave a jobsite. Also, consider clothing’s functionality. If your crew will be working outside all day long in hot and sunny weather, it may be smart to get shirts that have a moisture-wicking material or ultraviolet protection.
Be sure to give people several articles of clothing. They’ll appreciate that you want them to always have fresh and clean items available and you don’t want them to have to do laundry everyday just to clean a work shirt.
Commend Individual and Group Efforts
When your team goes the extra mile to get a job done on time or finishes a really tough build, you need to praise them for their contributions. It’s good to spend some time with people one-on-one to let them know that they’re doing great work and you really appreciate it. This type of positive reinforcement tends to really resonate with people and inspires them to want to keep doing their best.
It’s also great to commend people’s work in front of the whole team. You’ll make people feel really proud about themselves when you talk about an accomplishment or effort with the whole group. Furthermore, it’s good practice to commend notable group efforts. Cite examples of excellent teamwork and how working together produced fantastic results.
Offer Raises and Performance-Based Incentives
It is unlikely that great workers will want to stay with a company when they don’t see any opportunity for economic advancement. If everyone earns the same wages regardless of how long they’ve worked for you or the exceptional quality of their work, people may look for other job prospects. Offer pay increases over time, and consider implementing a performance-based bonus program where individuals or even the whole team can feel rewarded for outstanding work.
Take Time to Celebrate
A physically demanding job such as construction work can be kind of draining and even stressful. Setting aside some time to celebrate something together every now and then is an effective way to boost employees’ morale. You can celebrate hitting project milestones or a project’s completion. Also, it can be fun to have a small celebration for holidays such as Christmas. Celebrating events in individuals’ lives such as a birthday or the birth of a new baby is an excellent way to create a family dynamic. However, be sure to keep any type of celebration professional, particularly when it takes place on a jobsite.
Ultimately, part of your job as a manager is helping employees reach their full potential and making them want to stay with your company. The projects that you’re responsible for overseeing can be demanding, but you have to make time for your team. Give them your attention and consideration, and they’ll give you their best work.
