Good Morning!
Happy Saturday to the Laying Foundations community!
Last week Walker talked about how to connect with a new hire. This week I want to zoom in and be more granular. Let’s focus on field personnel and office staff as two different buckets.
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read and was written for you by Davis Hambrick.
Enjoy.
Regardless of your overall approach, there are two things I would do as a new hires leader.
First, I would take them out to eat over lunch and ask questions. I believe it is imperative to get to know someone and understand what motivates them.
Spend time asking questions about life, where they grew up, and what made them decide to get into construction.
Ask them about what they are looking to get out of the position/role they are in.
Take the time to understand their goals and desires, and actively work to help them achieve those goals.
In the book The Way Of The Shepherd, authors Dr. Kevin Leman and Bill Pentak describe a story of a top Fortune 500 CEO helping a young reporter learn how to manage people effectively.
The story the CEO begins to unfold is his younger self learning from his economics professor. His younger self was in his last semester before graduating from college and landing his dream position.
He was ecstatic until he learned that he would be managing a group of 9 people straight out of college. Needless to say, he was nervous and wanted to learn from his economics professor how to manage others.
The economics professor asked him to come out to his farm and help him on a Saturday. Over a few Saturdays, he began to learn about sheep. As a shepherd, you must “discover the shape of your sheep.”
Strengths
Heart
Attitude
Personality
Experiences
I believe on this lunch; you should figure out the shape of your sheep and learn how to help them reach their goals.
Secondly, pair them with someone who is a few years ahead of them. Someone who can answer their questions and someone who is not far removed from where they are starting.
You pair them together to help speed up the learning curve. There is a lot of downtime for a new hire for numerous reasons that could make an entire newsletter by itself. It is important to get them in the right and help get rid of the learning curve.
Now back to the two buckets.
Field personnel are super easy to approach and connect with; in my opinion, I am a little biased being a part of B&G’s field team.
You can connect with any new hire field personnel by something as simple as holding a door open.
You can offer to move equipment or material that is in their workspace.
You can ask questions about their trade-specific work.
You can simply tell them good morning and acknowledge their presence.
The office staff is a little more complex. I believe you earn their connection based on frequency. Just like the more times you do a task, the better you get at it. The more times you interface with others, the more opportunities you have to get to know them.
At the job site level, you interface with office staff during meetings. Take time before or after meetings, stopping by their office and introducing yourself.
Find something in their office to ask them about and connect with them. Maybe it’s a book on their desk or a flier on their wall, or maybe even their computer background.
Before or after the next meeting, ask them about the thing you picked up on and repeat this process until you officially have connected.
No matter the approach, it takes time to connect with people. Remember, people don’t remember what you say; they remember how you make them feel.
It is your job to connect with the new hire and train them to be their best. Check out our newsletter on 5/20 to see how to train new hires!
Quality of the Week: Outgoing – friendly and socially confident
20-Year-Old Self Advice: Never be afraid to introduce yourself to anyone; you never know who you might be.
Check out episode 115 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join our conversation today with Walker Lott, Davis Hambrick, and Jesse Hernandez as they discuss why mental health in construction is important. For too long in the construction industry, people have felt that talking about their current life conditions is taboo. We as an industry need to create places where anyone can talk about the hurt they are going through. Join us each month as we continue our conversation and discuss failures in our own lives with the intent to show others how to be vulnerable and have real conversations.
