Hey – Walker and Davis here!
Happy Saturday morning to the Laying Foundations community!
Training your younger employees should be a top priority for you and your company. There is no question that we have an age gap problem in our industry. If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s edition make sure you click here before continuing.
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read, and was written for you by Davis Hambrick.
Enjoy!
Quote Of The Week
1: Understand They Provide Value
I remember when I was green as green could be. I was an intern that had no clue about how big and vast our industry is. What I did bring to the table was a relentless work ethic and attention to detail.
Depending on who you ask, their view of young employees is not great. To me, the younger generation can be one of the most important assets on your job site.
They are usually the last ones touching whatever work is being performed. They can be your eyes and ears daily with what is actually being done day to day.
Their value may not be what a 40-year veteran in the field could provide to you about the build process. But what a young employee can provide is a new perspective and determination that the veteran doesn’t have.
Whatever way you choose you to find the value in them – do it.
2: Give Them Opportunities To Give Feedback
Playing off the first step, a younger employee has fresh eyes which means they have a fresh perspective.
Provide opportunities for your employee to ask you “dumb questions” 1-on-1.
In these situations, block out all distractions and come from a teaching perspective. Be willing to listen and help guide them.
As their leader, ask for their feedback in this 1-on-1 moment. Ask them who they think are the best and worst trade partners right now and why? Ask them if there is anything that we could do to make the job easier for others. Ask them what the things I don’t know that are going on.
You will be vastly helping them accelerate their trajectory in understanding because you took the time to teach and give them the opportunity to have a say.
3: Prepare Them For Leadership Opportunities
From the first moment you have a younger employee that reports to you show up on the jobsite – you should be thinking about how to prepare them.
If you have a young field engineer that aspires to be a superintendent, sit down with them and tell them that you want them to lead a safety meeting by the end of the month.
Teach them to have 5 to 7 talking points to be prepared but the main thing is to make sure you get the trade partners engaged and contributing. Make sure the field engineer has all the resources to be successful and set up a time for them to practice it internally amongst the team.
Preparing someone to lead in moments is so much better than grabbing the bullhorn and yelling at someone to lead a meeting that is not prepared.
Quality of the Week: Determination – firm to your purpose
20-Year-Old Self Advice: Never let someone downplay your experience – leading others isn’t about being an expert in technical knowledge. Leading others means you care about others over yourself.
Next Gen Vision
This is inspired by SiteNew – the modern voice of Canadian Construction. Laying Foundations believes in painting a picture for the younger generation. By doing so, we want you to submit your best job site photos for the month of May. We will release the best photos at the end of the month of June to share with our subscriber base. The best photos will get a shoutout on the newsletter, and laying foundations merch!
Help us paint a picture for the younger generation to see how awesome the construction industry is by submitting your photo here!
Check out episode 119 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join us for a conversation with the owner of Pleasant Valley Containers, Andrew Grinde. Andrew is an entrepreneur at heart with a lot of ideas on how to change the world and help solve homelessness. In this episode, we talk about Andrew seeking out Pennsylvania Mennonites to be the craftsmen building Pleasant Valley Containers. We also discuss his mission to help change communities by providing clean, safe, affordable, and quality homes to people who are in need.
