The Talent Magnet Think Tank has created this resource to showcase what some of your fellow APi teams are doing to foster strong relationships between the office and field.
FROM A COMPANY TO A TEAM
Fostering Strong Relationships Between Office & Field
A GUIDE FOR TEAM LEADERS AT THE BRANCH AND FIELD LEVEL
BETWEEN THE OFFICE AND FIELD? A BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED The very strongest businesses thrive because everyone from the cleaner to the Managing Director knows what they are doing, where they are going and, more importantly, why.”
“
– Dan Rodriguez, CEO & Managing Director, Hays US
This resource will show you what some of your fellow APi teams are doing, provide a self-assessment tool to see where you are at, and provide additional resources to help you move forward.
“People leave when they don’t feel appreciated. That’s why we’ve made recognition a really high value. Our business is people-capability first; then you satisfy customers; then you make money.” - David Novak, CEO, YUM! Brands BRIGHT SPOTS A LOOK AT SHARING BEST PRACTICES
FROM A COMPANY TO A TEAM
... IDEAS TO INSPIRE BRIGHT SPOTS
“The attitude and actions of the immediate supervisor can enhance employee engagement or can create an atmosphere where an employee becomes disengaged.”
-Andrea Tunjic, People Power
Operate as a TEAM
It starts with LEADERSHIP
“Every year, we have a holiday party where all employees are invited. This is a great opportunity for field and office employees to connect and celebrate together.” - Security Fire “At UPI, we bring the WHOLE team together for project kickoff meetings, including the billers and payroll specialists. Everyone is on the same page from the beginning.”
“At MMC, our Senior Leadership Team visits jobsites and hosts a lunch with Q&A. The conversations help us to improve and our field feel valued. It’s a win-win.” “Take employees to lunch. Make sure to ask about their families and personal life. Our president tries to take every foreman out individually.”
Train to RETAIN
Communication REALLY IS KEY
“We got feedback that the leadership team meetings were mysterious to most of our people, so we started sending the minutes out and making them available to everyone. We also started doing thiswith our operations meeting minutes, so now anyone who wants to can see and understand what the leadership team is doing and how they’re making decisions.” - UPI
“This year, we sent a of number field employees to the Field Leadership Institute and other formal training and we have even more planned for the future.“ - MMC “At APiCC, we have a Field Leadership Summit where field leaders are intermixed with office employees for formal training sessions on everything from estimating to ordering materials.”
FROM A COMPANY TO A TEAM
SELF - ASSESSMENT ARE THERE ANY EVENTS THAT ARE ATTENDED BY BOTH OFFICE & FIELD?
DO SENIOR LEADERS VISIT THE JOBSITES AND MEET THE CREWS?
ARE COMPANY/PROJECT SUCCESSES AND FAILURES SHARED WITH ALL TEAM MEMBERS? ARE FOREMEN INVOLVED AT THE BEGINNING OF A PROJECT? DO YOU PUSH YOUR TEAM TO ATTEND TRAININGS? IS THERE REGULAR COMMUNICATION TO ALL EMPLOYEES? ARE OFFICE EMPLOYEES GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT PROJECT SITES AND VICE VERSA? ARE EMPLOYEES RECOGNIZED OR REWARDED IN ANY WAY? IS FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS COLLECTED FROM EMPLOYEES? DO MANAGERS GET TO KNOW THEIR EMPLOYEES ON A PERSONAL LEVEL?
DO YOU HAVE VOLUNTEER EVENTS?
ARE YOU LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA OR OTHER FORMS OF COMMUNICATION TO CONNECT REMOTE TEAM MEMBERS? DO YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TEAM?
ARE THERE EVER IN-PERSON MEETINGS OR TOWN HALLS?
DO YOU HAVE A MENTORSHIP PROGRAM?
DO YOU HAVE COMMON AREAS WHERE EMPLOYEES CAN EAT LUNCH TOGETHER ? ARE PROJECT MANAGERS SPENDING TIME GETTING TO KNOW THEIR FIELD TEAMS? ARE YOU HAVING SAFETY LUNCHES OR OTHER ON-SITE CELEBRATIONS FOR THE FIELD? ARE EMPLOYEES OPINIONS VALUED ENOUGH TO INFLUENCE COMPANY DECISIONS? ARE EXPECTATIONS BEING COMMUNICATED TO EMPLOYEES?
DOES THE TEAM CELEBRATE SUCCESSES?
ARE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS OR FEEDBACK GIVEN TO FOREMAN AND FIELD PERSONNEL? IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CROSS-TRAINING AT YOUR ORGANIZATION?
DOES THE TEAM SHARE LESSONS LEARNED ON THE PROJECT?
• If you checked 25% or fewer of these boxes, you’ve got some work to do! This is your opportunity to focus in on connecting your people across the organization. • If you checked roughly 50% of these boxes, you’ve made a good start. Time to look around for other opportunities, or lower-profile areas in which you can help and encourage your people to connect. • If you checked 75% or more of these boxes, you’re doing great! Stay vigilant and find new ways to keep your ideas and techniques fresh. Reach out to other branches or companies to share your successes and best practices.
NEXT STEPS FOR CLOSING THE GAP WAYS TO GET STARTED
Click on the boxes below for more information and ideas to help your team.
ENGAGEMENT CHAMPIONS An army of leaders dedicated to improving engagement across APi companies.
PLAYBOOKS
TALENT MAGNET
Playbook 1.0 covers recruiting best practices, Playbook 2.0 is on engagement.
Utilize the Talent Magnet Think Tank for tools and education to help you close the gap.
WHITE PAPERS
Create an anonymous portal and ask employees for new ideas & feedback. ASK YOUR TEAM FOR INPUT
Contact Laura Seitz to set this up at your company. ENGAGEMENT ASSESSMENT
Four white papers developed by the Talent Magnet cover topics like: best places to work, employee development, and the future of work.
FreeSuggestionBox.com
FROM A COMPANY TO A TEAM
“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” ENGAGEMENT TOOLBOX
- Simon Sinek
Senior Foreman Program: Foremen function as coaches for other employees to improve skills ranging from supervision to installation. Intern Mentorship Program: Every intern is paired with a mentor separate from their manager to help them during the course of their internship . DEVELOPMENT & MENTORING
RECOGNITION
Jobsite of Month Award includes safety, administrative, and financial leader - Sr. Leadership provides lunch. Craftsman of the Year Awards: two awards for top scaffold builder and top insulator nominated by construction managers. The prize is a $200 gift card.
Mentor Up: Superintendents mentor designers, project managers
Monthly town halls where employees can ask questions in real time. To make it equally available to people who work in the office and the field, one town hall is held in the morning and one in the evening. The sessions are broadcasted via Skype, recorded and made available to anyone who wasn’t able to attend. This connects people all across the company and helps keep the culture of welcome and shared caring strong. CULTURE
COMMUNICATION
On large jobs the project managers have weekly meetings with the foremen where the plan for the next week is discussed over lunch. On smaller jobs, the project managers meet the foremen on the morning the job starts with materials, permit/ drawings, and breakfast for the crew. They walk through the plan and the material list together. This ensures everyone is on the same page.
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog