Waste, Inefficiencies, and Defects of the Project Communication Process Todd Drummond Think beyond the physical investment of trucks, equipment, and buildings when it comes to investments for improving the bottom line for 2021. If a company wants to improve the net profits, improving the project communication process can add serious dollars to the bottom line. Most companies... Read More December 2020 Issue #12257 Page 29
Fight the Management Drift Ben Hershey Many of us started 2020 with resolutions/goals both for ourselves and our businesses, but then our year was turned upside down with the Covid worldwide pandemic and other issues such as lumber prices topping highs we thought we would never see. While many LBM/component businesses are working at... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 26
Preparing for the 2021 Build Season Todd Drummond Despite all the turmoil of the skyrocketing lumber prices, pandemic, and elections, the building industry is doing very well. Hopefully, your company is doing very well, and now your attention is focusing on potential growth for 2021. Most companies are looking for modest tweaks to their current... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 43
Winning The Rat Race... Omer Abdullah Many years ago, one of my closest friends was discussing career choices with his father and in that conversation, his father told him something that I thought was on point, and profound. He said: “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat…” There are... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 118
Basic Principles for Effective Employee Attraction and Retention Todd Drummond Last month’s article, “Better Profits with Effective Employee Retention and Growth,” got a lot of attention. The labor shortage issues that companies are experiencing, despite the high unemployment numbers, are having a negative impact on many companies’ manufacturing... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 27
Servant Leadership and One of Our Industry’s Best Ben Hershey I remember it clearly; I was in the Lounge at Portland International Airport when I got a call from Joe Kannapell. Joe was going to be sharing with the MiTek team in the next day that he would be officially retiring at the end of 2020; Joe has been a part of the industry for more than 46 years.... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 40
The Hiring Zone: Do You Know Your Leaders? Back when I was a production worker, in an offsite construction plant, my “Boss” was the Department Supervisor or “Lead Man.” His boss was the Production Manager. The Big Boss was the owner. Simple, clean, easy to understand, until something goes wrong, or you need... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 100
Developing Strategy When Faced with a Pandemic Ben Hershey Our roles as managers and owners sometimes feels as though we are constantly changing over the past several decades, but how we planned and strategized sped up dramatically after the 2008 global financial crisis. Managers who understood the need to be a strategic leader and a disruption... Read More September 2020 Issue #12254 Page 26
Better Profits with Effective Employee Retention and Growth Todd Drummond In the almost 20 years of my consulting services, TDC has witnessed that the highest performing companies with the highest profit as a percentage of sales, generally in the high teens to mid-twenties, are the same companies with very low employee turnover. However, it is far more than just... Read More September 2020 Issue #12254 Page 40
9 Success Factors for Exceptional Leadership During Challenging Times Randy Goruk As we traverse the second half of 2020, we can expect the ftime between now and January 2021 to fly by. As it does, we have to prepare to lead our teams through the year’s extreme challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and other events—hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, cyber-crime,... Read More September 2020 Issue #12254 Page 84