I’m Afraid To Hire Production Employees For Fear I Would Run Out Of Work For Them
While at JLC LIVE last week in Providence RI Many remodelers shared with me that they were seeing positive signs like increased leads and project budgets, and are now booking more work recently than they have experienced in the last several years. Having scaled back their staffing due to the recession they expressed concern about hiring production employees to meet the demand only to have to let them go if the demand softens. They were looking for solutions for their businesses that help keep good employees working full time. There are no guaranteed solutions. However with some planning and committing to some changes about how you do business, you can make it happen. Here is some of the advice I offered these attendees:
Such a problem to have!
It’s a good problem to have, provided you can find a solution. Unfortunately there is not a single silver bullet solution. Success with this challenge requires the remodeler look at and adjust several areas of his/her business.
One thing I recommend is finding a real lead carpenter who can actually manage the job onsite with little interaction with the business owner after a proper hand-off of the project. For this to be successful the remodeler must look at what information needs to be collected and prepared before the hand-off from sales to production, conduct a successful hand-off, and actually empower and allow the lead carpenter to be a lead carpenter.
Unfortunately many remodelers are challenged by this because in the past the hand-off after the sale involved the owner handing off the project to himself; so the business never developed processes and project information packages adequate enough to successfully delegate to someone else.
Can you go it alone, or will you need help?
This change in business style is understandably difficult for someone who has in the past been in total control of everything in their business and has relied on micromanagement to get things done. Making the change requires new business practices and the changes can be fast-tracked with some mentoring/coaching to help the remodeler get through the structural and emotional adjustments required.
The main reason I suggest adopting the lead carpenter system and hiring a lead carpenter as a major part of the solution to this challenge is because if successfully implemented, the system allows the business owner the time and ability to concentrate on doing more marketing and selling, thus making sure there is adequate work coming in to keep the new hire(s) productive and continually employed.
If you are looking for help with this or similiar challenges contact Shawn about his Consulting, Coaching and Mentoring Services to discuss how he can help.
Many Design/Builders have found the Lead Carpenter System for production to be a very complimentary best practice when paired up with the Design/Build delivery system. When I owned my business it certainly proved to be the way to go for me and my employees. 
Create a written plan for implementation, including a realistic timeline.
Start implementing a piece at a time; assume it could take 1-2 years.
