Dear Friend:

Hopefully the arrival of Spring has, at this point, made a positive impact on your remodeling business. Maybe you have even made a new hire or two to meet the increase in demand. Now is the time to turn that new hire into a successful, productive employee. It is also a good time to ensure that your existing employees continue to meet the goals you have established for them.

This month’s article will help with these goals. We have put together some great information about motivating and retaining your employees. These two concepts clearly go hand-in-hand because a motivated employee will be a happy employee. And, a happy employee will stay with you.

Next month we will be changing topics to focus on marketing. By implementing just one or two new ideas from each month’s article, you could be seeing your most successful Spring yet!

- Walt Stoeppelwerth, HomeTech Information Systems, Inc.

P.S. In response to last month’s article on Hiring, our reader, Neale Hergenrather of Acme Construction in Springfield, VA, recommended the following book: High-Impact Interview Questions: 701 Behavior-based Questions to Find the Right Person for Every Job by Victoria A. Hoevemeyer. Neale told us that this book helped him to make hiring decisions based on behavior traits that are important to his company. Thanks for the information, Neale!

In This Issue

• Feature Article: Build a Winning Team
• HomeTech ADVANTAGE Tip
• Did You Know This Remodeling Industry Fact?

Build a Winning Team

Hiring the right people is just the first step to building a successful team out of a group of individuals. You also need to have the tools in place to make sure that your people understand how to work together efficiently. And, they need to be motivated. This means not only motivated to work hard but motivated to achieve the specific results that you are looking for. By following the suggestions below, you can help your employees become a supportive and cohesive team.

Develop a Playbook
In order for a sports team to be successful, all of the players must understand the rules of the game and they all must be playing from the same playbook. The same is true when you are developing a team of employees for your business.

The first step is to create a document which establishes the ground rules for all of your employees to follow. This document is an Employee Handbook. By informing all of your team members about what is expected of them and what they can expect from you, the result will be far fewer misunderstandings and less on-the-job training. If you would like to learn more about employee handbooks, click here.

If your employee handbook provides the basic rules for playing the game, what is the business equivalent of the playbook? This information can be provided in many different ways, some of which you may have already developed during the hiring process. First is your organization chart. This document defines roles and communication flow. It tells your players who is playing which position. Next are the individual job descriptions which define the responsibilities of each individual player. This information (unlike the game rules) is not static. It must be reviewed and updated over time to keep your team competitive.

Make Spring Training Work for You
As you know, sports teams train, not just in the spring, but constantly. They do this not only to stay in condition but also to learn new skills and to learn how to work together as an efficient unit. Training serves the same purposes in a business. Much of the training in a remodeling business will take place on the job. But, it is just as critical as dedicated training and deserves the same amount of attention.

Let’s talk for a moment about training a new employee. Every new hire, no matter how experienced or skilled the individual, will require training. You should expect to train a new employee heavily for the first one to three months. To accomplish this, you need two things, a plan and a mentor. The plan should detail exactly what you want the employee to learn including the details of the work process for your specific business.

When you assign a mentor to a new employee, they will serve several important functions. A mentor will help your new employee learn the details of the job while also helping to make them feel a part of the team as quickly as possible. The mentor can introduce the new employee to other workers and help to integrate him or her in the day to day work flow. It is like having a personal coach to speed the process of learning the ground rules and the playbook.

Winning is Motivating
What is the one thing that motivates a sports team to play hard? The answer is winning or the hope of winning. It’s not the high salaries. They get paid the salary whether they win or not. Hearing the fans cheering or seeing their picture in the newspaper is a much stronger motivator to any player.

So, how do you encourage your employees to work toward the win? You simply provide recognition for a job well done. You need to be the cheering section for your employees. Tell them when they’ve done a good job and they will respond. There are many simple and low cost ways to recognize your employees. Here are a few suggestions:

• Hang a photo of the Employee of the Month in your reception area.
• Take your team to lunch after completing a tough job.
• Offer tickets to a ball game if you notice an employee putting forth extra effort.
• Reward special work with a dining out gift certificate.

The key to making these rewards work for you is to be sure that you are clearly recognizing the behaviors or results that you want to promote and to make your rewards timely.

For more ideas on how to motivate your employees, check out 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson. This book has ideas to fit every budget and teaches us that the things that don’t cost money are, ironically, the most effective.

Playing the Game Should Be Fun
Okay, work isn’t always fun, and even playing professional sports is work. But, work should remind us, hopefully on a daily basis, why we chose this job in the first place. Otherwise, we’ll soon find ourselves looking for a new job. So, the next step is to make your company a nice place to work, a place that your employees can enjoy going to each day. If you can do that successfully, you will find that your employees stay with you for the long term.

Here are several ways to make your company an inviting place to work:

• Hire nice people. The most important part of any job is the people you work with. If your company is filled with nice people everyone will be happier.
• Be flexible whenever possible. Flexibility can refer to work hours, what time employees take lunch, or days off for special needs. Flexibility does not mean that the employee’s needs must come before the business, but it means that you take both into consideration and try to find a place to meet instead of automatically saying no.
• Communicate clearly and regularly. This means keeping your employees informed and listening to what they have to say.
• Enable employees to provide input. By listening to ideas and suggestions you not only have the opportunity to improve your business but you also make the employee feel connected and important.
• Provide opportunities. Be sure that everyone has the opportunity to move up the “corporate ladder,” or to move across and learn a new job or skill. Cross training is valuable both to your company and to your employees.

Sometimes You Need To Make a Trade
Unfortunately, not every employee you hire will work out. It is important to recognize this when it happens and take action without delay. If you wait, it can create morale problems for other workers and drain profit from the company. When you do take action be sure that you have a well-documented record of the employee’s infractions and that you follow all local laws regarding the firing of employees.

Much of the content for the article above was taken from:
Mastering the Business of Remodeling by Linda Case and Victoria Downing and was provided courtesy of:
Remodelers Advantage, Inc.™

Help Links Provide Help with a Mouse Click

In various places within HomeTech ADVANTAGE, there are Help Links that provide information about the specific feature you are using. These links are identified by a large “?” and the word "Help." The Help Links may include specific steps on how to use a feature, information regarding settings or preferences, or examples of how to use the feature.

Click here to go to our Web site for more information about Help Links.

Of course, if you have more questions, we will be there to answer them for you. Toll free phone support is always available to all HomeTech ADVANTAGE users at no additional cost. Just call us at 1-800-638-8292.

Most contractors are aware that there is a variation in remodeling costs from location to location. But, did you know that the variation can be as much as 40%!

Based on our cost data we rated a number of cities based upon the average cost of a remodeling project. A score of 100 represents the national average.

Comparing Average Remodeling Costs
Across the Country (May 2006)

Let us know how you liked this article by writing to us at feedback@hometechonline.com. We also want to hear about your greatest challenges and successes. If you've got a great story to share, send it to us. And, we'll all learn something.

HomeTech Information Systems, Inc. - 5110 Ridgefield Road, Suite 410 - Bethesda Maryland 800-638-8292

www.hometechonline.com
(c) Copyright 2006 All rights reserved.