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(Mistake #8) Accepting High Turnover

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Construction workers are nomadic by nature. Guns-for-hire if you will.

Not Realizing You Are Fighting A Recruiting WarIs An Expensive Mistake To Make

In order to be profitable, your crews must perform up to expectations; they won't if you are constantly changing personnel. Turnover is a killer.Turnover leaves you running in place. You wear yourself out yet end up where you started. All pain, no gain.Turnover takes time away from sales and marketing. It takes time away from people development. It takes time away from your family.

Do Not Consider Turnover To Be A Cost of Doing Business

Finding and recruiting good workers is not easy, especially if your firm gains the reputation for being hard on employees. Research shows that 70% of employees who change jobs do so because they don't like their immediate boss (this touches on Mistake # 6, failing to hold field leaders accountable). You'd better create a management team (including foremen and crew leaders) who knows how to get the most out of its people without ticking them off. The construction labor market is a sellers market. The good workers have the power, not you. If they are hard working and skilled, they will always be in demand and can therefore choose who to work for. The best you can do is become known as an employer of choice. Become known for:

• Having plenty of work (hours for them to work)
• Treating workers fairly and respectfully
• Being straight forward and honest
• Listening to workers' opinions and advice
• Sharing financial success
• Not placing unrealistic demands on them
• Providing them with the tools they need to do their job right
• Treating them as if they were partners in your business

High turnover is a warning sign that your management team needs to make a few changes in its approach to managing the personnel. It really doesn't have any choice.

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 (Mistake #9) Pursuing a Foolish Strategy

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We've talked about selling, marketing, people management, cash flow, but we haven't addressed the big picture problem: trying to win with a losing game plan (strategy).

What strategy do most contractors use?

Hire me! I'll do anything you want. You got cash? I got the time.

Here is a list of the common strategy problems I see:

• Trying to do too much with too little office support.
• Taking on jobs they don't have the right equipment for.
• Taking jobs larger and more complex than their team is capable of managing effectively.
• Pursuing work they enjoy instead of work they can make money on.
• Putting the wrong people in wrong jobs.
• Trying to compete on low price (Mistake #1) when they aren't the lowest cost provider.

Very few businesses go through the strategy process systematically. When they don't, they are courting trouble. Your clients' expectations and your competition's aggression change yearly. Your must keep your business strategy current. You must keep it realistic.

The Key to a Successful Strategy

Find your company's core strength - the thing you do better than every other contractor in your market. That could me your understanding of a certain client (niche market). That could be your use of technology. That could be your ability to attract highly skilled workers. That could be your financial strength. It could be several things. Figure out how that core strength gives you an advantage that is meaningful to your client. Figure out a way to express that core strength persuasively to your clients (your Unique Selling Proposition).Build your lead generation and staffing systems around this core strength / Unique Selling Proposition.In order to win, you must pursue a strong, unique strategy. If you are adopting the same strategy as three or four other contractors in your area, you are fighting an uphill battle. Play by different rules.