Masons: Hard Times Build Character, Develop Survival Skills

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all we had to do to build a successful business is work hard? While I do believe that the harder you work, the luckier you will get, every business and its people will encounter plenty of hard times along the way. Although it doesn’t feel like it at the time, those challenges are all part of the game of business and exactly what the doctor ordered to build the character and survival skills you need to survive long term.

Have you ever had an employee come to work for your company with the idea that, because you have been in business so long, you are flush with cash, and your company just sails along through beautiful waters? Then, once he finds out how tough you have to dig every day to survive, he wonders what he got himself into. 

Some just can’t endure the rough times and will run like scared rabbits for the door! Luckily, others stay, even in the hardest of times. I guess some people don’t believe there are actual day-to-day struggles a business faces that may cause it to fail. Well, these people are living in a different world than the one that my companies compete in! In my world, I need and look for survivors.

We brought in a CFO who left a really good job to join our team in 2008. Wow, was timing bad for him! As soon as he arrived, the bottom dropped out of the construction market, which every company I own was centered around. With his understanding of numbers, I am sure he could see that we were bleeding like a pig with his throat cut. I often worried that he may throw up his hands, say “uncle,” and leave, because this guy had not had a chance to experience any good times with us.

During his first three years, we had to make tremendous changes and cuts, some I never thought I would do, but it was all about mere survival. During that time, he never wavered though, worked even harder to prove to the financial people that our company would survive when others in our industry weren’t, and I’m sure he lost some sleep (but probably not as much as I did). 

Things are a little better now, but not without the help of him and the rest of the management team who stood by my side. If I would not have experienced it firsthand, I would never believe the character this has built into my CFO and the managers who dug in their heels and stayed the course with me. And, the best part of all, I believe they are now equipped with survival skills.

The only way a football team has a winning season is through tremendous pain during training and daily workouts. For great employees, managers and owners, these painful daily workouts are no different than athletes. They are just more mental than physical effort to get through the painful times. In either case, those that work the hardest, and can endure the most pain, will obtain character and survival skills it takes to develop a winning team. 

  

When you put it all together, it makes sense that most businesses don’t survive long term. According to the Small Business Administration, only one-third of family-owned businesses survive the transition from the first to the second generation. If you happen to survive that phase, according to the Family Firm Institute, only 12 percent of family-owned businesses stay viable into the third generation, and only 3 percent are alive at the fourth-generation level and beyond. 

I believe a large part of these slim success rates is due to the successors not having to endure the hard times that Dad or Grandpa did. Therefore, due to the blood, sweat and tears already shed, along with the equity already being in place, when hard times come, the successors don’t know what to do as they didn’t personally have to work through the lean years to learn true survival skills.

So, remember this, your business needs those who believe in you, regardless of how hard times get. If they don’t want to deal with the hard times that are present daily or sure to be coming, then you are alone. You just don’t know it yet. Search within your organization (and outside it, if they are not within) to find not only the best qualified people to help you succeed, but those that believe in you regardless of how hard things seem during those daily workouts. These people will build character and develop the survival skills it takes for a company to survive long term.

Damian Lang operates four companies in Southeast Ohio, including a masonry contracting firm. He is the inventor of many labor-saving masonry systems and equipment he and his customers throughout the country use. He is also the author of the book “Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry.” To order a copy of his book, or to network with Damian on these tips or tips you have and would like published, contact him at dlang@langmasonry.com or 740-749-3512.

All rights reserved, ©2013 Damian Lang, President of Lang Masonry Contractors, Inc., and EZ Grout Corp.

Mason Contractors: Keep Your Offensive Line in Check

By Damian Lang

With the lack of work available to bid, regulations, inflation, increasing health care costs and other issues a business has to face today, many of us get so tied up in mere survival that we sometimes forget we must remain positive with our people.

At Lang Masonry Contractors (LMC), around 25 percent of our field employees’ pay is incentive based (pay based on piecework). We also pay our foremen about 90 percent based on piecework. During the last few years of tighter bidding, our employees have felt the effect of how lower sales not only relate to lower profits for the company, but also reduce their incentive pay.

Although our crews increased production to help offset the drop, it wasn’t enough to keep the employees’ incentive pay from being reduced as it directly ties to the overall price of the project. This direct correlation helped LMC survive the recession. Although this has been difficult for the company, it also has been tough for our employees.  

A few months ago, during our monthly foremen meeting, the foremen brought up how the pay system had affected them during the last few years. They mentioned that their pay on some jobs was getting tighter and asked if there was a way we could give them a salary or guaranty on how much they would earn, instead of basing their pay almost solely on piecework. These are the same guys who did very well with this program in the good times. It took the recession to drag on and on, before they spoke up. My project managers and I listened intently to their concerns. I told them we would consider their request.

My team was looking toward me for some positive answers. With this weighing heavily on my mind, I brought it up to John, a paving contractor with whom I network. John said, “Maybe you are not giving them pep talks anymore. These foremen are your offensive line and, if they are not up for the game, they will leave holes in the line where the competition can get to the quarterback.”

I sat there thinking, “Right, and I know who the quarterback getting slaughtered will be!”

He went on to say, “Your foremen need to know it is you and them against the world.” I knew he was right. We had been so busy dealing with survival issues during the recession, we forgot to consider the effect it had on each of them. After all, they took cuts to help our company survive, too.

At the next foremen meeting, while staring at 10 faces with a combined service of about 200 years with LMC, I ran point on letting them know that we realize they have taken a hit for the company during the slow times. I also let them know how important they were to our company and that I realize the foremen have the hardest job in the company. My project managers and I presented a regular, hourly pay system we’d put together as an option for them, with a dollar-per-hour amount instead of incentive-based pay.

I informed them I wasn’t crazy about it, as I always wanted the foremen and company to work together as a team. And, without their pay being tied to what gets accomplished each day, I felt they could lose the edge that drove them to continue to get great results. We gave them one week to choose how each wanted their pay structured in the future, and we let them know it did not have to be all or none. Each had the option to go hourly pay or stay on the incentive-based system we have had in place for more than 20 years. Not one person elected to go to hourly pay.

Looking back, I think what meant the most to our foremen was that we listened to their concerns. We also focused more on the positive side of things, while letting them know how much they mean to our company. And, the good news is, we still have our starting offensive line in place and are ready for a winning season.

Damian Lang is a mason contractor in Southeast Ohio and inventor of many labor-saving masonry systems and products. He also is the author of the book “Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry.” To order a copy of his book or network with him on future tips or strategies, email dlang@langmasonry.com or call 740-749-3512.

Copyright 2013