For most construction companies, summer is the busiest season of the year. And naturally, a surge of new business comes with a bit of chaos and disorganization. With the busy season, it is also an easy mistake to overlook the actual backbone of your business – productivity.
According to the Department of Economics at the University of Harwick, studies show that happy workers are twelve percent more productive than the average workers, and unhappy workers are 10 percent less productive. In the grand scheme of things, unhappy workers cost American business over $300 billion each year. Since you ultimately rely on your employees to complete projects and earn your company’s income, there are a few things you can do to promote their productive happiness this summer.
Safety First
What is the easiest thing you can do to ensure that your employees are happy? Show them that you care by keeping them safe. More work can mean more accidents. It’s essential to continue promoting safety education to your workers during the busy season and implement safety standards. Training may cost your company more time and money, but fines and accidents can be much more costly in the end. Implement user-friendly tools to help maintain safety compliance. For instance, the eesyQ app offers digital solutions that decrease your equipment downtime, optimize your revenue per hour, and ensure high quality safety measures for your employees.
Reward Responsibility
It makes sense, right? Those that carry the most responsibility on the jobsite should also be rewarded for their extra work and dedication. One management approach that could be effective during the summer months is to grant the same privileges normally saved for long-term seniority to employees of all levels, based on their workload. The more responsibility the worker carries, the more power they could have over the timing of their shifts and breaks. These greater privileges give employees a bigger sense of ownership over their projects and benefits the overall productivity of the team. Additionally, this strategy may uncover hidden strengths as they are given more control over how they work. For instance, an employee may be more productive when they are allowed the freedom to take a longer break in the middle of the day or if they start a few hours later in the morning, working a few hours later into the end of the day.
Keep Everyone in the Loop
Communication can be the solution, and the prevention, to many problems – there’s no question about that. The same goes for your teams. A communication strategy will fall short every time if management teams are not on board, considering success always starts at the top. The C-Suite, managers, and HR teams must consistently promote an environment of transparency to build employees’ trust, respect, and overall satisfaction. One way to commit to transparency is to include the Why in every training aspect. For instance, explain the importance and benefits of doing daily walk-around inspections as employees are being taught the process. Additionally, make sure that your management team consists of listeners. Every conversation should be a dialogue, not a monologue, in order to gain valuable insight from jobsite employees.
Plan Vacations In Advance
It’s not possible to keep the same vacation standards throughout the year in our industry since business booms loud and hard in the summer months. Show respect to your employees all the same by setting up a system for reserving time off during the off-season, again communicating the reasons for the limited summer vacation time. Your teams will appreciate the effort when they see the benefits of adequate staffing during these months, and paired with the options of controlling their own schedules based on responsibility, they will be able to plan fun summer afternoon activities and other alternatives.
Lee Iaccoca said it best: “Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all these things effectively, you can’t miss.”
Your employees have an impact on your company’s bottom line. Make them a priority and work together as a cohesive team to get the most out of your busy season.
The latest app built specifically for the construction industry is available now, at less than seventy cents per day. A mobile inspection app, report generator, and valuable productivity tool, eesyQ will create standards for your company that will save your teams significant time and money in just two clicks. Click here to schedule your free demo and see how “eesy” it is to implement this innovative app right away to positively impact your bottom line.