Unlocking the Power of Construction Culture: Insights from an Industry Veteran

Cultivating an Authentic Company Culture

Construction industry veteran Michael Fortinberry shares his insights on the importance of building a strong, authentic company culture. He emphasizes that a company's culture must be a genuine reflection of the leader's personality and values. Trying to create a "holistic" culture that doesn't align with the founder's true self often leads to confusion and a lack of trust among employees.

"It's your company's personality. And if you think about it, if I had to guess, in your construction company, you're at BuilderComs, my guess is that culture reflects your personal personality."

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Putting People First

Michael stresses that a people-centric approach is crucial for developing a thriving company culture. He explains that a customer-centric mindset is not enough - the focus should be on taking care of your employees, as they are the ones who ultimately deliver the service to your customers.

"Your customer takes care of your profit. And so, this and that comes from a guy named Tom Peters, a very famous business consultant. His thesis was, you have to take care of your people because they're actually the ones doing everything."

Effective Communication is Key

Effective communication is a critical component of building a strong company culture. Michael emphasizes that simply sending an email or yelling at someone is not enough. True communication requires a bi-directional approach, where leaders actively listen to their employees and ensure their voices are heard.

"Developing great communication pathways, and that means bi-directional communication. I mean, do you hear what they're saying? Really, really, really hard for them to hear what you're saying if they never think that you hear what they're saying."

Incentivizing Performance

One of the key strategies Michael discusses is implementing a performance-based compensation system. He explains that by aligning employee incentives with the company's goals and profitability, you can foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, and quality.

"We found when you layer that process into a company culture that is driven on helping our being people first, communicating well, helping them to succeed at what they want to do, when you, when that is occurring, you get these one two punches that's really powerful."

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Preparing for Success

However, Michael cautions that implementing a performance-based system requires careful preparation. He advises that companies should have a strong handle on their numbers, job costing, and overall operational efficiency before introducing such a system, as it can otherwise create more chaos than it solves.

"If your estimates are all over the board and you aren't really great at job costing yet, do not start a performance-based system. It can make it worse."

By following Michael's insights, construction companies can build a thriving, authentic culture that empowers their employees and drives business success.