Author: Steve

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Workforce Development & Your Company Culture

Understanding your employee demographics is a key attribute in a human resources program. It is a big part of what makes your organization tick, and getting it right can make a significant impact on your bottom line. Ask yourself if you plan on being in business five years from now, or 10?

In this brief space we offer tips and truisms that can help you manage the development process in the near and mid-term. If you haven’t noticed, the Boomers are retiring and the rules-based conformity mentality is going with them. The game has changed by an order of magnitude. In other words, the days of “Theory X Boss is Right” management are history.

Adjust your HR program and management approach

According to the Supreme Court, corporations are people. This judicial-political absurdity should be reflected in things like:

  • Regular company-wide family engaging events, (summer picnics, holiday parties, etc.)
  • Employee recognition programs
  • Refined and family targeted communications, suggestion programs, enlightened HR programs and policies, etc.
  • You may have been in business for 50 years, make sure your thought processes didn’t stay stuck in the comfort zone of the 80s.

Safety programs

These are often a good place to start the process because they are pretty much neutral territory and cover a wide swath of inputs.

  • Start an Employee Safety Committee, empower it, guide it but let the employees drive. Empower and enable it.
  • Put your name and logo on safety gear. In other words, own it!
  • Quit buying the cheapest PPE available, it sends the wrong message. The difference in cost in miniscule but the branding message is priceless

Don’t try to do everything alone

Inviting stakeholders to the party will help people feel as though their voice is being heard and that they can have an impact on the company.

  • This is also known as ‘Leadership,’ which is the gold standard in the safety and workforce development business.
  • Ideally, leaders should be developed through your ranks, not the want ads.

Peer Group Dynamic

This is a powerful tool when used properly, so make sure you review this process carefully.

  • Department managers are LEADERS first
  • Lead persons and working supervisors LEAD by example. They are the face of your organization – for both employees and clients.
  • Each employee must be recognized, respected, treated fairly and valued for their contribution to the group. Setting reasonable and achievable standards of performance and conduct is a basic element of this process.

Employee wellness

Promoting a healthy lifestyle is one of your best allies in developing your company culture. This means people who are relatively healthy are usually better workers, safer on the job, more productive, take less time off and return sooner following an illness or injury. In other words:

  • Offer wellness assistance such as smoking cessation; exercise and fitness initiatives, 5K walkathon sponsorships, dietary advice and encouragement, i.e. remove the soda pop from the vending machines, replace it with some kind of hydrating beverage, etc.
  • For the enlightened of our readers, offer health club memberships or discounts.

Refine your hiring practices

Post a job description that defines the necessary criteria for a successful employee not just for the job you are trying to fill, but for the longer range.

  • Configure some questions to determine if the applicant has an aptitude for self-study, learning, advancement, promotion or learning, etc.
  • This translates to: community college course work; membership and participation in trade associations; a track record of achievement; innovation, invention, etc.
  • When you hire ‘average,’ why would you expect any other result? It’s tough to be selective in an economy with 96% employment, but unless you are desperate (not a good sign), ramp up your criteria.
  • It’s not all about the money, but obviously you need to be competitive in the wage market. The peripherals we mentioned above can make a huge difference in how your employees perceive the culture and future of the people they work for.

Accommodate non-English speaking employees

Set up a simple version of English as Second Language (ESL) teaching.

  • A half-hour a week in the breakroom with a bi-lingual instructor can set up the dynamic.
  • You are not teaching physics, just the basics. Move the classes along based on aptitude and participation.

Carefully construct a company benefits program

These can often become the quick-sand of the HR program. Your program should at least match the industry average, as meager as it is.

  • If you can afford it, offer the buy-up option. As we know, this is an expensive outlay but try to configure it to show you’re at least trying to stay in the game.
  • This is also a highly a competitive playing field so unless you’re a math expert, use a trusted advisor to configure your employee benefits program.

Summary: Stay in business and grow

What we have seen is that the ‘C Word’ (CHANGE) has become ever more critical in the overall scheme of how a business is going to succeed.

We all can’t be General Motors, but we should be managing our enterprises according to best practices. These should be pointing more toward PEOPLE in the service economy, and people want to see their reflection in their workplace, not a number or a machine.

In other words, we should be looking to HUMANIZE versus mechanize.

Mowing Acreage Highlighted on Highway
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What is Geographic Information Systems (GIS)?

Have you seen the ‘what I do’ meme? What better way to explain Geographic Information Systems (GIS) than debunking all the perceptions?

What our friends think GIS is:
Often times, all our friends remember is that it has something to do with maps and maybe phones.

What our moms think GIS is:
Maybe it’s due to selective hearing, but many of our moms think we make GPS.

What the general public thinks GIS is:
Nearly 20 years ago it was a lot worse, but the general public thinks it has something to do with surveying. Not quite, but we have a division that can do that for you.

What our bosses think GIS is:
Although it would be cool, we don’t quite have matrix-like coding skills. We’re just glad they don’t want us to go into details and just let us keep doing awesome things.

What GIS professionals think GIS is:
We spend most of our days behind a screen, or three, because we keep way too many windows open at once.

What GIS really is:
All jokes aside, we focus on Geospatial Technology which is the backbone of Next Generation 9-1-1. Many people don’t spend much time wondering what happens when they call 9-1-1. Many assume the police, fire department and rescue units can locate us quickly and easily.

Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Localities throughout the nation are working to make the best of what they have in their budget to obtain a more up-to-date system and better data collecting capabilities.

During our years of working with localities, we have focused on addressing their GIS needs. These needs often support departments such as planning, commissioner of the revenue, parks and recreation, and public safety.

In recent years, public safety has gone from being the smallest consumer of GIS data to the main consumer of GIS data.

Now, many localities are now starting to move to Next Generation 9-1-1. GIS serves an important role in the current E 9-1-1 environment, but with the graduation to NG 9-1-1, GIS will become not just important, but critical.

We spend time talking to clients, attending seminars and conferences, and keeping up with the advancements of GIS and NG 9-1-1. Despite all of the new technology that comes with NG 9-1-1, most of the needs localities have are based on workflow and communication

PILLAR Scheduling Board
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Are You Staying Busy or Being Productive?

As a business owner, I am frequently asked, “How is business?” I often used to reply “Busy” but had a colleague follow my answer up with the question “Is it productive?”

Wow, that was a new one. I stopped dead in my tracks with a blank but inquisitive stare on my face, prompting my colleague to explain the question. Being busy without making progress is like being stuck in the mud with your tires spinning every time you mash the accelerator. Sure, you’re giving the appearance of “working” to get out of the mud, but you haven’t moved or bettered your position. In essence, you’re not being productive.

How often do you catch yourself spinning your wheels in the mud? What can you do to zip out of the mud when you mash down the accelerator?

One of the first things you can do to increase productivity is prioritizing your to-do list, which is exactly what Pillar does when it comes to asset management. We make a list of your assets and determine which items to address based on the needs, resources, time, severity, permits, etc. This helps you maintain your assets as a whole while fully utilizing your budget, staff and resources.

We review and reorganize this “to-do” list frequently to ensure critical projects are being completed and general maintenance isn’t being overlooked. This ensures your roadways are in tip-top shape while also helping you better manage your staff and budget.

You won’t feel like your wheels are spinning in the mud as you complete important tasks on your to-do list. Give us a call at (276) 223-0500 or email us to see how Pillar’s asset management can help you make the most of your budget and time by prioritizing and completing tasks that help you maintain your roadways.

PILLAR Safety Work Trucks
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Save Lives

The Importance of Your Safety Program

Did you know that your safety program is an important part of your new business strategy? Potential clients want to know about your safety program as part of their request for proposal (RFP) screening when accepting bids on a project.

John Meola, Pillar Inc.’s Safety Director, recently published an article in Construction Business Owner magazine about this very subject.  When accepting bids on a project, clients no longer ask the simple question “Do you have a safety program?” They want pages of information about every detail of your safety program and proof that your company is committed to safety.

Part of the reason for this is that OSHA has intensified its accountability process and revised the violation fine structure, making it very costly for those not following safety guidelines. For that reason, it’s important to know what clients are looking for when it comes to information about your safety program. Some of those items include:

  • Evidence of leadership and a commitment to safety. Your company website should even have a policy statement that bidders can refer to if they visit your site.
  • Proof that you have trained and credential staff members on your team in your specialty discipline
  • Display your commitment to your business’ safety committee  
  • Describe the processes that take place if there is a spill on your construction site. You can even include pictures and other visuals.

These steps only scratch the surface of what your company should supply when bidding on a project. For more details about the importance of safety language and how your company can plan ahead, read John’s full article about “Understanding The New Safety Language”.

PILLAR Employee Assessing Guardrail
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Assessing The Condition of Your Roadway Inventory

Previously, we talked about the critical importance of maintaining an accurate inventory to support asset management. Knowing your inventory is just the first step in good asset management. It’s also important to know the condition of that inventory, which brings us to the next step, assessing your infrastructure inventory.

None of us is getting any younger, and neither is your infrastructure inventory. Just like our human bodies and vital systems change and decline with age, so does your inventory. We take care of our health by making periodic visits to the doctor to monitor our condition and find problems in their early stages. Imagine you have a bad knee. It may tell you when the weather is going to change, but it can’t tell you when it will need to be replaced. So you go to a specialist who monitors the knee and takes measures to extend its functionality. You may get some physical therapy, then try some shots, but eventually the joint will fail. There are increasing signs and symptoms that will continue to alert you to the problem, like pain or swelling, but the exact moment of the upcoming failure can’t be predicted. But if you’ve done everything you can to maintain that knee, you can delay the replacement for an extended period of time.

The same way you watch and take care of your knee, you need to assess and take measures to extend the lifespan of your inventory. Take pavement, for example. When it’s newly installed, the surface is nice and smooth and provides a comfortable ride. Over time, traffic and the environment begin to take their toll on that nice, smooth surface. Eventually, cracks will start to appear in the pavement, making the ride a bit less comfortable. Like a little ache in our fictional knee, this is your signal to pay attention and take some action. So we apply a crack sealant to help stop the cracking process, slow the overall decline and restore the pavement to a smooth surface.

This will work for a while, but as time and seasons pass, potholes will start to develop and the pavement starts to break apart around the cracks. Time to take action by filling the potholes with patch material, the equivalent of injections in that bum knee. The action is a bit more drastic, because your inventory is nearing the end of its lifespan. Just like the knee replacement, eventually you’ll need to repave.

Assessment Quote

Effective asset management begins with accurately assessing the condition of your inventory to identify the appropriate treatment. Knowing the optimal time to treat the problem will help to ensure your inventory is kept in good condition. This not only extends its viability, but keeps the lifecycle cost as low as possible. Just like you don’t get your knee replaced with the first little pain, you don’t want to repave after just a few cracks. Likewise, you can’t ignore the symptoms and just let potholes get out of control.

Gather as much information on your inventory as possible and you’ll have the basic data needed to make a complete assessment plan. Research all the appropriate service/maintenance contracts and budgetary constraints. Just like the doctor uses x-rays, scans and blood tests, inspect and monitor you inventory, then research your options. Knowing what remedial actions or replacements will be needed in the future will make it easier for you to accurately forecast trends and make better budget and program decisions.

Survey Plat
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What Survey Plat Really Represents

Some people see a survey plat as an overpriced piece of paper but it’s not just a pretty picture. It represents hours spent reading moldy court records and digging through centuries of legal documents about a piece of land two people transferred back and forth….and back and forth. It represents the blood and sweat shed during days spent in the field in a seemingly endless search for property corners of the distant and not so distant past. Let’s not forget the hours spent compiling data, grumbling at field crew for busting a traverse (which mine never do by the way), interpreting deeds, head scratching, pencil throwing, and rants of profanity that all go into painting that “picture”.

You could compare a land surveyor’s plat to Joanna’s pieces of “Flair” in the movie Office Space. Do you just want to do the bare minimum, is it too much to ask for a few more pieces of “Flair” on your survey plat? A tie line to an adjoining monument used to help establish a boundary line, a crooked junky old fence that wiggles in and out along a boundary line, a creek, a witness marker to help me find a ½” tall iron rod in 2′ of leaf debris in the middle of the woods. Something!

Now I’m not saying that I’m the Rembrandt of the cartography world nor am I the Peter Messier of the land surveying profession, but I’d like to think that I paint a pretty good picture of what we find during the preparation of a survey. I do this not just for our clients benefit but also for the benefit of the “ME’s” of the future. To help the next poor guy that aspires to be a land surveyor find that ½” iron rod that was set in that pile of fence wire that just happens to be where the property corner was. Help them understand through your “art work” how in the world you came up with the opinion that you developed and felt comfortable enough to hang your professional hat on.

If you are a property owner and a surveyor is handing you the final product, take that plat, study it, reeeaaaaally look at it because if the picture is painted good enough you don’t have to be a surveyor or some attorney to understand it. And at the end of the day, this is in fact what you pay good money for. If you are new to the land surveying profession or a veteran in the game, paint that picture as complete as you can, channel that inner Bob Ross, and be proud of what you deliver. You may decide to wear just the bare minimum pieces of flair on your survey plats. Careful…you are just likely to get the same response that the Chotchkie’s manager got in Office space when the surveyors of the future are looking at your plats….

PILLAR Employee Inspecting Guardrail
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3 Ways to Save on Roadway Maintenance

The P3 approach includes preventive, lifecycle maintenance for the asset and avoids the problems associated with deferred maintenance. Simply put, deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing infrastructure maintenance activities, usually due to lack of available funding. Lack of proper and timely maintenance leads to early deterioration that costs more to repair later on or shortens the lifespan of the asset. Both of these situations will cost extra over the long term as the asset will have to be replaced well before it was planned, resulting in unanticipated capital costs.

What is the remedy?

Government agencies can participate in a P3 project delivery structure that involves the agency partnering with a private entity to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an infrastructure project. A P3 allows a government agency to mitigate the risks and costs associated with maintenance activities by requiring the builder to maintain the project for the long term drawing funding from a fixed, known payment structure negotiated before the job is even started.

pay me now or later

How exactly does this solve deferred maintenance?

Annual vs. lifecycle budgets

  • Public agencies generally budget on an annual cycle. A private company utilizes longer term budgets and can “roll over” cost savings into later years. Snow removal is a good example: Savings in a “light” year will be sequestered and used in later years during an inevitable “heavy” year.
  • Annual budgeting usually means that savings is “lost” in that year and the money is used for other priorities which may not be related to the subject asset. More importantly when the “heavy” year causes the budget to be expended, other repairs will likely be deferred resulting in an asset in poor condition and likely higher repair cost later as the asset continues to deteriorate.

Resource leveling

  • Aside from a basic level of manpower and equipment for day-to-day tasks such as litter removal and incident management, many specialist tasks will be outsourced.
  • Typically, government agencies will procure equipment and sometimes manpower that only has limited usage, for example tractors for mowing or bucket trucks for lighting repairs and their associated crews. The equipment is expensive but may only be used a few times per year. An outsourced contractor will perform the work, then move on to other unrelated projects. The asset only pays for what is used at the time and avoids expensive capital expenditures for equipment that sits idle.

Handback requirements

  • To avoid having to rebuild or replace an asset prematurely (or at all), preventive maintenance is performed at optimum intervals to ensure the structure meets or exceeds its expected service life. The cost to clean, paint or repair assets periodically is far less than replacement cost if the asset doesn’t last as long as planned.

Conclusion

Using the P3 procurement method allows a private company to construct, service and maintain the asset which allows the government agency to save money through private company efficiencies, risk and responsibility allocation, and a firm funded budget.

PILLAR Employee Pedestrian Safety Sign Maintenance
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Work Safety Regulations 2016 Update

Most folks would rather endure a root canal procedure than attend a safety meeting. And that’s perfectly fine, as long as you are confident that you know all there is to know about doing a job safely. Admittedly, most safety meetings are mind-numbingly boring. That’s largely the fault of the safety community. We need to change that failing.

Safety is boring, unless and until, of course, you’re sitting in the ER Waiting Room. Now THAT can be the definition of boring. By the way, those ridiculous highway signs bragging about ER wait time in minutes are total fiction. You’re going to be there for hours. Minimum.

All of which is to emphasize that there is no middle ground on most of this safety stuff. You are either committed to it and a true believer, or you are comfortably in denial and planning to remain there.

In July the Virginia Safety Police (VOSH) issued a press release about an alarming spike in workplace fatalities. We are about 18% ahead of this time last year. That’s a big jump in funerals. All preventable. No particular industry is to blame, they cover the waterfront. Industrial, construction, educational, agricultural. No one is immune.

Antidote: Make sure you are saying the word “Safety” to your people at least daily. More often if the work is high hazard, i.e. fall protection. Rub their noses in it for emphasis. The message needs to come from the most senior people in your organization; in other words, show commitment and leadership. The more detailed the message, the better.

Telling a worker to ‘Be Safe’ is pretty lame. Telling them to ‘Buckle Up’ and burn daytime running lights is better. Telling then to leave a lot of space to the guy in front of them is better still. Putting a dash board camera and GPS on their rig is really sending the message.

Hispanic worker populations? Make absolutely sure the safety instructions they hear are translated, comprehensible and meaningful to them. Inclusivity is the goal. For extra credit, start pushing for basic English as a common language.

Ideally, your safety process will include the concepts of empowerment, enabling, self-directed ownership of the process, contributing, and participation. Safety Committees are an important organization-building formative step. If you plan on being in business five years from now, these concepts need to be on your agenda – short and mid-term.

OSHA, the federal Safety Police, has been busy lately as well. They recently increased their penalty structure by a lot. And they are on the way to require electronic reporting of all Recordable Cases. Meaning: your clients can easily check on your safety record. Along with your Workers Comp insurance Mod (EMF). No place to hide now.

These are all pretty good reasons to ramp up your safety mantra. The most compelling reason is to put those Emergency Rooms out of business.

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Are you counting pennies or benjamins?

Quote

As an engineer, I am very analytical and linear in my thought process. This is natural and almost expected as I deal with equations following specific procedures to arrive at design solutions. After all, there is no gray in engineering – it is either black or white. I refer to this thought process as counting pennies – that is examining every detail down to the smallest one to make sure everything is accounted. Because of my ethical obligations to protect the public with my designs, I, as an engineer, have to count and take into account these pennies to avoid potentially disastrous situations.

As the leader of PILLAR, my thought process is different. I can’t get bogged down with all the little details; otherwise nothing moves forward at the pace it needs to because people are waiting on me. I need to think bigger and broader and count the Benjamins. That doesn’t mean the details aren’t important. On the contrary, they are very important and can’t be ignored. Here is where leadership comes into play. As I don’t have the resources to examine all the little details, I have to responsibly delegate them by providing a clear vision with enough direction to my employees.

In short, I have to lead not do.

When I focus on the Benjamins – the big picture or total package – and let other employees count the pennies, I have to provide the tools and atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork to maximize individual strengths in order to achieve maximum performance in a timely fashion to either meet deadlines, exceed expectations, or act quickly enough to stay ahead of the competition. I also have to know my employees well enough to put them in a place where they can confidently work the details and excel at what they are good at. When my employees take a portion of the bigger picture, they accept responsibility for taking care of and focusing on their stack of pennies.

All this dialog of pennies and Benjamins is not a discussion on revenue or profit. Rather it is a discussion on short-term versus long-term thinking. As a leader, focusing on pennies is short-term thinking dealing with an event happening now or in the immediate near future. Focusing on Benjamins is long-term thinking dealing with the future or the direction of the firm. Dealing with pennies is like a horse with blinders. You can only see what is in front of you with a very limited and narrow view of the scene. You cannot get stuck in one pile of details for any length of time, lest some of the other piles get either too enormous to overcome or dwindle away to nothing from lack of attention. If you’re focusing on Benjamins, you’re gazing on the wider view of the horizon.

As a by-product of focusing on the Benjamins and relinquishing control of the pennies, I have fostered a cultural shift of accountability and responsibility while simultaneously empowering those who can make it happen. When you empower others, growth occurs exponentially not linearly. Empowerment comes in several forms. Simply put, it is removing roadblocks thereby building an atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork. Empowerment also fosters an environment that nurtures a positive spirit, pride, and loyalty.

Focusing on Benjamins allows me the time to reflect on our firm’s vision and purpose and formulate a path on how to fulfill them. It is easy to get caught up in working a pile of pennies as problems arise. I call this putting out brush fires. Unfortunately, this leads one to scramble with no sense of direction or purpose and eventually reflects and resonates with employees by stagnating any growth, duty, or loyalty.

I’ll admit focusing on the Benjamins is a continuous work in progress and there are still times I get stuck in the piles of pennies. As the firm grows and I mature, I like to think I am getting better at looking at Benjamins.

How about you? Are you focusing on pennies or Benjamins?

Pillar Infrastructure Asset Management
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What PILLAR Asset Management Means For Your Company

Is “asset management” more than a buzz-word to you and your organization? Are regulations and costs leading you to question whether you need a better understanding of your assets and their future value, risks, and needs?

You may find yourself wondering “How can we boost asset life-span?” or “Has the cost of this asset been justified?” PILLAR provides asset management to help you with the entire process of properly planning, building, operating, maintaining, upgrading and decommissioning assets.

This is big-picture thinking and long-term strategizing. For assets to be sustainable and cost-effective, you need a broad analysis of engineering, economics, risk management and user needs.

With appropriate asset management methods, you can answer key questions about:

FINANCES

  • Long-term funding, including grants and loans
  • Potential budget fluctuations
  • Total cost of ownership

DECISION-MAKING

  • Current state of assets
  • Maintenance scheduling
  • Rehabilitation vs. replacement
  • Risk analysis
  • Gaps in institutional knowledge
  • Internal and external communication

REQUIREMENTS

  • Technological and material life-spans
  • Current and future regulations
  • User demands

Asset management results in better business practices and a more proactive mindset. It allows your organization to identify strengths as well as weaknesses, creating a better foundation for decision-making.

With systematic and coordinated asset management techniques, PILLAR will provide your organization with the tools to succeed now and in the future.