The Power of an Incentivized Foreman/Superintendent

There is a growing new strategy in the construction industry, and it is having profound results.

When you think of incentive, or commissions, or overrides, you don't think too much of the construction industry. These words are more closely attributed to sales, marketing, and upper management. There is a growing trend within the industry, however, and it is having profound and great effects on the industry.

Construction companies are increasingly beginning to create incentives for their Foremen and the jobs they are supervising. When done properly, the results have had results that have reduced stress, increased profits, and improved morale. It might be a little surprising to see this kind of methodology within the industry, but it's exciting to see the results of it's adoption.

Here are some examples of how companies are creating incentive for Superintendents, and the result throughout their businesses.

Essentially, businesses are creating incentives for:

• Completing a job before the deadline
• Getting the job done under budget
• Quality control, reducing call backs
• Reducing over-time from employees

The idea is that anything that creates a headache, or costs you money beyond what you originally bid, or causes your job to exceed the estimate that won you the job, is something worth creating the incentive for.

The benefits are immediate, with most companies seeing an increase to their bottom line within the first thirty days, and many companies growing by 10-30% within the first year of setting up an incentive program with their Foremen.

The exciting part is more than just improved profits and growing companies, though. Using an incentive system, companies are seeing that morale is increasing, job quality moves in the positive, and good Foremen stick around.

Here is one system that a company uses to create incentive for their Foremen:

• Supervisors are kept in the loop for an estimated project
• Projects have a budget for labor
• Each project has a specific timeline for completion

Now all of this might seem like 'Construction 101', but here is the twist. Everyone in construction knows that time, labor, accuracy, and quality is the the name of the game. When you excel and perform above what was expected/estimated, you share those extra profits with your Foremen. The result will be that your Supervisor now has a vested interest, and their wallet will grow along with the overall bottom line. This creates happy Supervisors and Owners, along with a business that will be around for years to come, with a fantastic reputation for treating their employees well and getting jobs done with quality and on time.

To discuss strategies for your construction business, feel free to reach out to me.
I work with businesses to increase financial health and profitability through improved accountability, company morale, and labor management.

Herbert Timpson
www.busybusy.com
[email protected]
435.212.0136