Why Do People In Our Industry Work So Hard?

I have spent a career watching people travel over an hour to work, start at 7 in the morning, graft all day to well into the night on a regular basis, in stressful ever-changing environments, with multiple variables and huge time pressures, including on weekends. I have seen people making unbelievable personal sacrifices such as coming back from paternity leave or maternity leave early, or postponing holidays……. I have even done the same myself on occasion.

We recently handed over a project six weeks early to a customer, meaning they could capitalise on a a letting season, helping them deliver significant windfall revenue.

Our contract programme was to deliver in February, and we had legitimate delays to that, yet through hard work, collaboration, and significant personal sacrifice from my team and our supply chain, we handed over early Jan.

I didn’t ask them to do it, and there was no contract in place that told them they had too, so why did that team knock their pipe out to deliver for the customer, when they could gave taken six more weeks and still delivered a successful project? Especially when there was no personal gain or financial incentive for them to do so?

I have been reflecting and this is what I think happened.

1. Our customer has been positive, affirming, and engaging all the way through the project. They are solution focussed and deal with problems in their stride, without being tempted to make excuses and assign blame..... This means my team have been open with them about any issues that have come up, and they have been resolved quickly
2. Our customer, whilst signing a contract for a February completion, was always crystal clear about what was important to them, and what an exceptional experience would look like. They let us know what their goal was, and we promised to do everything we could to deliver it, even though they had no means of holding us to account to deliver...... Focus on the goal is vital, staff don’t come to work to play with spreadsheets and programmes, they come to build schools and homes, they build buildings that will make a difference to people’s lives. This is the best motivator (for the best people), keeps people focused, and means they work much harder than I could ever ask of them.
3. They trusted my team to deliver, and they made sure my team knew what success meant to them, without any hint of threat of reprisal if the target wasn’t met......This it turns out was much more powerful than any contract provision, or hefty LAD provision. These are effectively big sticks to use to govern through fear and encourage nothing but excuses and protectionist behaviour.

That’s about as far as I have got with my thoughts on it, I guess the conclusion is that a focus on personal incentives, asking for support, and a positive attitude works better than any contract.

Of course, a contract probably needs to be there as a backstop, as not everyone is as lucky to have as good a team as me!