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Influence Your Jobsite Culture

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As I was planning the criteria for our foreman meeting last week it struck me that maybe they didn’t understand that they can shape or change the culture out on the job site in the same way we in management try to shape the culture of the company. I believe it is our responsibility to build positive relationships with general contractors, subs and vendors that result in a culture of team work and success. This should resonate with the crew on the job site as well; our goal is to give our foreman the tools and guidance they need to accomplish this goal. We feel it should be their responsibility to cultivate a positive work culture on their site and in this way influence the other trades as well.

 

The culture in construction today seems to be open to this teamwork approach of building together, as opposed to the old school culture of adversity and independence. I believe that the rough economy that we have been experiencing the last 8 years has challenged us to work together for success. If all the trades and their workers strive to build a culture of partnership and ownership the possibility of a successful and profitable job would be greater. Wouldn’t it be something if we were able to manage our crews knowing that the culture they were working in each day was part of a framework of teams that were working together towards success? What is stopping us; let’s look at a number of road blocks that can hinder us from creating a positive and successful culture where we work.

 

I want to identify 3 roadblocks; people, places and things. People affect your attitude to the site every day. It may be a grumpy or inexperienced contractor or sub- contractor. It could be employees’ that constantly show up late, unequipped or struggling with personal issues. You name it people influence your day weather in a positive or negative way. It’s up to you to decide what your culture will be today and how you want to influence it. The second is the workplace, such as out of town jobs that create their own challenges, an unkempt and unsafe site or bad weather conditions can influence the culture in a negative way. Lastly it’s the things that seem to challenge us during the course of the day that keep us from our goal of a successful culture such as mistakes, incomplete plans lack of good communication between Subs and General or supply issues. There are many more examples that can’t be covered now but need to be identified so as not to block you from your goal of a successful culture.

 

I hope this challenges you to go to your workplace tomorrow and change the culture you find yourself in. You can be the difference, you can be the positive influence, and you in can set your workplace on a path to a successful profitable culture.

“Cornerstone in the Work zone”


 

Glass Half Full

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I think that most people would agree that there are two kinds of people when it comes to looking at life’s challenges, those that view life as glass half empty and those that view life as glass half full. Recently I went on a 10 day motorcycle trip and visited several national parks with my riding buddies. Well into the ride one of our friends crashed his bike and because “we leave no man behind” the challenge was to get our riding brother home safely with his repaired knee cap. We decided that we would rent a vehicle and put one of our bikes in the back and then one of us could drive him home with him in the back seat. He could not fly because he needed to keep his leg straight due to the kinds of repairs that he received. We experienced numerous “glass half empty” people that said there was no way to find a vehicle that we could rent one way back to Vancouver Washington where we live. In fact they were so discouraging that we began to think there was no hope… that no vehicle existed.

Then we found Angela (Angel to us). When Angela said the words “let me see what I can do” it changed and recharged our world. You see a glass half full person looks at a challenge with the idea and confidence that out there somewhere there is a solution to the challenge. The energy level changes and minds start working towards the common goal of success. I believe you will find that most of the resilient people that profited during the last financial recession have a glass half full mind set. Now how do the actions of one person such as Angela help us as sub-contractors become better subs to our clients? I believe the answer would be in the words she spoke that inspired a hand full of tired and rejected bikers trying to get their broken friend home, “let me see what I can do.”

If we were to aspire to glass half full thinking when a challenge is raised by an owner or a general contractor, then we will certainly become part of the solution and not part of the problem. These owners and contractors recognize proactive, positive high energy problem solving when they experience it. I encourage all of our leaders at Cornerstone Masonry to respond to difficult challenges with,”let me see what we can do.” not, “it can’t be done.” Yes sometimes we need to enlighten design teams to creative solutions and we at Cornerstone feel like that certainly falls on our shoulders. I’m convinced that this is a new era of contracting that requires positive, can-do, forward thinking and this is what our clients in this market are looking for.

So I am challenging you who have survived with resilience and glass half full thinking in a difficult economy and who may now be experiencing a favorable robust one, to continue to press your team to respond to difficult challenges with a positive, creative, “see what we can do” problem solving approach. It is easy to say we don’t have the time or the energy to help you or there is no way that can be done. I’m sure that a glass half full energized, effective approach to problem solving for all our clients will produce glasses that will be overflowing with profits and many satisfied and repeat customers. As I may have said before sometimes when things are good we tend to neglect the philosophy that got us here today. So I am encouraging you and your team again not to grow weary in well doing and continue to attack every challenge with a glass half full attitude just like Angel did for the bikers; that did get their friend home safely thanks to someone who embraced life with a glass half full approach.

Cornerstone in the work-zone

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President larry2


 

Maintaining a Standard of Excellence

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These days my sons have freed me from all the day-to-day rigors of running and maintaining the business. My request to them as I may have said before, was to make me a ghost by May this year and they seemed more than excited to accomplish the task. So now with many extra hours in the day with very little responsibility I have plenty of time to wonder if we are staying the course and continuing to serve our clients with the highest standard of excellence. I am confident that my sons are the best there is in the business at what they do as well as dedicated to a high standard of excellence, it’s just that I have been at the helm for so long with my hands in every pot it’s hard to know for certain that we are “maintaining a high or higher standard” in all that we do with out me being this involved. I begin to start thinking of ways to install policies and procedures that hold us accountable to the highest standards. The boys are not bashful in asking me if I have too much time on my hands and ask, “Don’t you have a tee time or doctors appointment?”  I guess after 30 plus years at building a business you may finally reach some resemblance of success– now you want to maintain that degree same degree of success and I’ve found that it starts with the search for a high standard of excellence. Where do we start with this new challenge and how do put it into action?

I decided to call a few of our regular General Contractors and find out were we may be falling short and how can we increase our standard of excellence. This may be a risky thing to do and you need to be prepared to hear some things that you may not want to. Our goal as I have said in other blogs is to prepare our foreman for success, I w ant to set my sons up for the same success in “maintaining a high standard of excellence” in serving our clients. What I heard from our clients was, safety first, quality second and meeting the schedule is very import but not at the top of the list. In fact several have said that they felt that meeting schedules were our strong point; but we did need to strengthen our safety and we could use some improvement in our quality control. Some of this was due to our need to train a new a wash down sub and add new workers to our team to meet the new demands. These were things I didn’t want to hear but after doing some investigating I found that some of what they were saying was true. The first thing we did was contact our safety consultant at 360 Safety and schedule a mandatory company safety workshop. This was also a great opportunity for our company to come together and it encourages team work and camaraderie that we can’t achieve out at the site with it’s constant challenges. We have been working very closely with are wash sub at DC restoration to get to the pristine finishes we are after with chemical washing for our clients. I am also working with the office staff to fine tune the art of internet communication and how to communicate with all our clients and venders with a high degree of respect.

These are just a few of these areas that we are challenging all our employees to continue to work at the highest level of excellence we can achieve for our clients. In the future I will have to find some other things to do with my extra time besides being on a constant vigil for sustaining this high level excellence. As for now I am challenging myself as I challenge other managers, not to grow weary in well doing or fall asleep at the wheel. All of us should remember that 2008 gave all of us a false sense of security and were not prepared for the challenges that took place
the following years. If you stay alert and pay attention to details you should not be caught off guard again. So this is the challenge; to constantly look for improvement, train and encourage others to do the same and stay alert constantly working towards maintaining a high level of excellence. Enjoy the fruits of your labor and pay attention to detail, you will continue to reap rewards in the future and be ready for any new challenges to come.

“Cornerstone in the Work-zone”

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President larry2


 

Forward Thinking

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When I research the definition of forward thinking I find that there is no clear definition. Many define it as a business term for visionary. This would be someone that looks to the future to better perform tasks more efficiently and grow their business in size and volume. I would tend to agree at first thought. I have always been one to ask the question “what are we going to do next” and this would indicate one that is never satisfied or one with an unsatisfied desire to get bigger and better. Another way to define a progressive thinker would be one that might ask the question “what opportunities will the future bring”. These may all be true for some forward thinkers and visionaries. I would like to believe that these things would just simply be the result of forward thinking. In other words when you are a forward thinker constantly asking the question “what is next” and acting on the answers the results would be very positive for your companies growth.

Recently I challenged my sons who are the managers of our company to start showing me forward thinking in each of their areas of responsibilities. There was a quizzical expression on their faces as though I wasn’t clear in what I was asking for. I see now that was due to the lack of clarity to the definition of the term. I tried to explain that I wanted them to look and plan ahead, anticipate the future, look for potential problems and find solutions. I tried to use some examples such as using capitol to replace worn out equipment before it starts breaking down while a job is in progress or searching for new and stronger clients for when the economy becomes more challenging as well as searching out a better way to prepare or present bids. In my view, this would be forward thinking. Workforce management would be another example of forward thinking “anticipate what our needs will be and make a plan to get those needs filled. My fear would be that if we are not thinking and moving forward then we are going backward. We tend to fall in a mode of complacency and feel as though we are entitled to only good results for our efforts. This breeds laziness and entitlement and could bring your company to it’s knees while complacency sets in.

This would bring the question to mind of what kind of forward thinking can we bring to the masonry industry? I remember when mast climbing scaffold came on the scene and all the “old timers” stuck in their ways did not want to embrace this new step into the future. We did make the investment realizing some of the potential, a safer and more productive way to put masonry units in the wall. This was most evident when the construction holocaust hit us in 2009 and we needed to be more competitive for the limited work that was available to us. This is a great example of preparing for trends in the market place and opportunities before they develop (“forward thinking”). There are many other examples and I would like to thank those who are constantly investing their time and money to help keep our industry in the current century. Bricklaying is commonly refereed to as the second oldest industry in history but we don’t have to act like it.

I always like to leave you with a challenge and today’s would be to practice froward thinking, you may not have a natural bent for it but certainly you can plan and practice foresight (which in Greek means) forward thinking and be better prepared for the future. Who knows maybe they may start calling you “The Visionary.”

“Cornerstone in the Work-zone”

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President larry2


 

Formula for Success

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It is easy for me say that I’m an expert when it comes to the formula for success because I have three son’s that have diverse talents that fit perfectly together and fit perfectly as well in the masonry industry that has certainly been a huge part of our success. It also doesn’t hurt that they ALL seem to buy into the same philosophy of serving others (especially our clients) as well. When we talk as a family, to own the Cornerstone model and discuss the need for each of them to own their responsibilities to insure success with this model, it’s plain to see that we are all on the same page. When talking to clients, venders and suppliers it is clear to see that when it comes to my three sons we would not be experiencing the degree of success we are experiencing today. Yes I am a blessed CEO but most of all a very proud father. I will say again these three men have been a very large part of our success and I’m proud of them.

I’m often asked how we make it work outside a miracle with all this testosterone working together with dad every day. We first had to discover which part of the piece of the puzzle each one fit into and how that piece fit our model for success. I often tell people that I have three sons with three distinct personalities. If I were to give them a challenge to charge up and take a mountain, the first would say let’s go and he would make his plan on the way up, hurrying to be the first to the top; the second would take some time to make a plan and think about it some more and maybe make a new plan before starting up. The third son would just want everyone to have a good time on the way up. On a more serious note we just had to identify each best and how they fit together.

My youngest son Drew in spite of being a bit on the playful side as it turns out has amazing IT skills. He has designed our website and does all our in full 3D and has found the APS and downloads we need to organize our communications. Once Drew has dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s and has secured a contract or letter of intent, my oldest son Josh who has the special ability to identify and solve problems is our Project Manager; he is responsible to start submittals, order material and proactively root out and help solve problems before we start jobs;  this is a huge part of making our model work. Ian my second born being a realist, has the need to have all the questions answered before he begins to put a plan in place after doing so, is now ready schedule man power and equipment for job start up and works closely with our foreman. His gift of needing to have everything in its place fits perfect as our Operation manager. This has been a great formula for success and I am a proud father who is honored to be able to work successfully with his sons, I just want to say thank you sons from a proud dad. Cornerstone in the Work zone.

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President larry2


 

The Foundation of a Good Model

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We have just survived one the toughest economies in the history of our nation. Those of us that managed to work our way through, and are still standing to navigate the business world today, can attest to the fact that managing a strong model and selling it to our employees was a large part of our success. Discovering what that looks like and how you want your clients to perceive it is your first challenge. Then, doing business with your client and how you treat them during the process, is the test.

We at Cornerstone, want our clients to know that our goal is to be proactive in problem solving and carry a high level of integrity in doing so. This is the challenge we place on our employees as well as our venders and suppliers. We start with the motto that states, “We say what we do and we do what we say”. This starts with our estimating department and ends with our billings. We want to go the extra mile in every relationship we encounter during the course of the project, to be sure that each and every one of our clients knows that we will be there as part of the solution not part of the problem.

Our challenge was to build a model that would carry our name with the highest standard into every project and/or situation. When dealing with the toughest inspectors, demanding schedules, and strong competition, it was tempting to stray away from our conviction, and compromise our model to conform to other business tactics, to help us get the job. We were very fortunate to have the single mindedness needed among our company team, to have a proactive approach in upholding our standards and challenging each other in staying the course. We believed that it would pay dividends in the long run, and this has certainly proven to be the case. We have a number of clients that refer to us as “their mason of choice” when it comes to selecting a mason for their project.

We are very thankful for all the support we have gotten from our venders during this process and you can find a list of them on this web site. They are the part of our team that seldom gets praise or recognition, but certainly have been invaluable when it comes to helping us keep our commitments to our clients. I believe that their commitment to supporting our model has also allowed us to stay the course and build a successful reputation. They provide everything from creative pricing to equipment service and deliveries. I would highly recommend any one of them to do the same for you.

So in summary, I would encourage anyone reading this to evaluate your own model or start building a model, using one principle as the foundation “say what you will do and do what you say”. We at Cornerstone have found this to be a great principle and agree that our clients think so as well. I am excited what the future will bring for Cornerstone Masonry and its employees. I am sure it will be a blessing to all who are associated with it, as long as we make keeping our word the foundation of a good model.

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President larry2


 

Low Maintenance Subcontractor

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It has been a long while since my last entry to “Cornerstone in the work zone.” This is because I have been in the field with the crews performing various tasks such as delivering and setting up scaffold, helping with grout pours and filling in where needed. In all honesty this has been a regular thing off and on for the last couple of years and has proven to be a positive in seeing how we operate in the field. I have been able to define and refine our operating model; how we approach, set up and run and finish jobs. Even though every job is different our goal is to be a “low maintenance masonry subcontractor.”

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This begins with a high energy in organizing our start. We want to be well prepared, to get a clean fast start. This means getting as many brick or  block in the wall on the first day as we do on the last day. As the job progresses we insist on keeping the job site conditions clean and organized as well as keeping the promised projected schedule. When we are coming to the end of the project we want to finish well so our focus shifts to clean up, tear down and putting a lot of energy to patch and repair to minimize the punch list. This high energy approach is a formula to being a “low maintenance high performance masonry subcontractor.” We don’t want the General Superintendent to feel they have to motivate or watch over us during our scope of the project.

I have talked to several of our repeat clients and they all say the same things; you show up on time, stay clean, do what you say and finish well. We  like working with a sub that does clean work with minimum supervision. “Low maintenance high quality output.” This approach has helped us not only survive this construction holocaust, but has allowed us to continue to grow and improve on our model for performing the masonry portion of these projects.

I would like to encourage you to look at your operating model and see where you can limit high maintenance procedures that may be labeling you as a high maintenance masonry subcontractor. Look at it this way; we all know there two kinds of people, high maintenance and low maintenance. Which do you like to be around or work around? Your clients feel the same as you and we have found they choose low maintenance over high maintenance when they have a chance. So with high energy, good planning and challenging your crews to finish well, I want to encourage you to focus on being a  “Low Maintenance Subcontractor.” Start today it may change how your potential clients view you as their choice for a mason contractor. Until next time, plan your work and work your plan.

Sincerely,
Larry Bonife, President

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