PRIME: Stay focused on success

Our PRIME advisory panel includes some of the remodeling industry’s top professionals. This month we asked, “What can be done to keep employees focused on the success of your business?”

Employee-driven activities

Recognizing that one of the highest line item costs in our budget is personnel, our approach has always been to generate a high revenue-to-employee ratio. That doesn’t mean good people will never lose focus at times, have life events get in the way of work, or just suffer from occasional job burnout. To keep our focus, we do frequent team-building activities that may or may not be centered on a business theme. An example was last year when one of our designers organized a team to participate in a local run. Another event involved bringing in a motivational speaker. Both events were employee-driven. This speaks to having “A” players to begin with.
Bill Simone, President
Custom Design & Construction, El Segundo, CA

Focus on personal and professional goals

The best way we have found to keep our team members focused on the success of our business is to focus on the success of their personal life. Recently, we asked team members how the company can help them achieve their personal and professional goals. One of our field guys said that Cipriani is the first company to ever ask how we can help him. Management adopted a plan to help each member of our team to get one step closer to a personal goal. One member wants help getting his CGR certification; another wants help saving and planning a Disney Cruise for his family. Another wants coaching for a future management position here in the company. We now have everyone asking each other how their shared public goal is going.
Jay Cipriani, President
Cipriani Remodeling Solutions, Woodbury, NJ

Keep employees involved

To keep our employees focused on the success of our business, I feel it is imperative they are involved in every step of the process—from planning and budgeting to final completion of a project. We strive to keep them informed and engaged so they understand their role in our success.
Nick Cogliani, President
NEWPRO, Woburn, MA

Involve employees in annual planning

At Neil Kelly, beyond a variety of incentive/commission compensation programs that cover in some way just about every employee in the field, we have found that involving our employees in our annual planning process gives them both a chance to provide input as well as engage in the success of the business. We do a very deep dive, holding meetings with all employee groups and all locations. It can be exhausting for us as mangers, but the results can be very special and sometimes magical.
Tom Kelly, President
Neil Kelly Inc., Portland, OR

This month we asked, “What can be done to keep employees focused on the success of your business?”