If you are like most construction business owners, you are hoping to grow your business but just can’t seem to make it happen. The good news-bad news is you are very likely your own biggest problem. By realistically identifying the most important uses of your time, and deciding on roles you will no longer play, you can get on a growth path with a strategic hiring plan.
Less Is More
Running off to pitch a potential new client? Texting the field crew with micro directives? Cramming in a call with your key materials supplier? Untangling your cash flow? Working out a new equipment rental contract? What else is on your list? You are not alone as a business owner if you’re doing too much, and though it may seem counterintuitive, a better approach to growing your company is doing less, as construction business coach George Hedley explains:
Business owners try to do too much themselves and have trouble letting go and allowing their employees to make their own decisions. They know they need to hire but won’t decide what positions they need to fill, what they need to stop doing themselves and who to hire. They postpone hiring decisions as they don’t want to deal with the pain of interviewing, hiring, training, paying more than they want for experience and talent….It’s important that business owners determine what their primary role should be based on what the company needs, what roles they are the best at, what they should handle, and what they want or like to do. Most construction business owners are best at developing and implementing strategy, providing leadership, reviewing estimates, winning work and developing customer relationships. But when they act as project managers, estimators or field general supervisors, they’re generally not doing what they do best.
Toward getting out of your own way, decide what you will focus your time on doing, and, by default, what you will no longer do. That’s actually the first step to strategically thinking into a hiring plan that sets you on the path to growth. Hedley offers this guidance to help you clarify your role:
To decide your best and most effective role, rank what will give your company the highest return for growth and profitability. Successful company presidents primarily focus on providing effective visionary innovative leadership, winning high-margin sales, customer development, overseeing the estimating department, growing capacity, and hiring and developing top talent. To make your vision become a reality, you must make tough decisions to: Stop doing the work including acting as a project manager, estimator, and general field supervisor….Focus on growing your company and building capacity by hiring the right people with the right talent, the right experience and the right values with the ability to move into a more responsible leadership position.
Good To Do: Org Chart
When you get serious about the work you can no longer do, and the roles you will need to carefully hire for, consider plotting your plan on a carefully thought through organizational chart. Though you will likely do your hiring incrementally, it’s best to have the big picture in focus. Avoid the common organizational chart flaw of showing only “who reports to whom,” as you detail who’s accountable for actually getting the work done. Hedley urges a written and clear organizational chart that clarifies:
- Functions and responsibilities.
- Line of command — clearly defines who reports to who.
- Workflow — The flow of work and activities from one person to the next, or from project start to finish.
- Person 100% accountable for accomplishing all tasks and deadlines required per the company standards, systems and processes.
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