18 minute read
transforMing teaMs
from BPD January 2022
Surviving the Great Resignation
You’re probably sick of hearing about The Great Resignation, but listen up! Not only isn’t it going away, it is gaining momentum. Consider the following statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor: ● 3% of the total U.S. workforce left their jobs in September. That is an astonishingly high number. ● As of November 5, there were 11.2 million job openings in the U.S. That is also a record. ● Education and health services lost more than 50,000 workers in September. Remember that these are essential workers. ● 300,000 women left the workforce in September.
These are jaw-dropping statistics. For employers who want to recruit, retain, and expand in 2022, the challenges are daunting. There are some actions you should take now to help prepare for the bumpy road ahead that will be 2022.
1. Review Paid Salaries
If you typically award year-end salary increases, now is the time to determine whether you’ll award them and the amounts necessary to maintain both external competitiveness and internal equity. The challenge is that sometimes external competitiveness and internal equity are at odds. For example, entry-level pay has increased 15%-20% in many locations, and you may have needed to hire at those increased rates. That means some of your longer service employees may require larger salary increases.
Across the board year-end increases don’t work well when compensation for certain groups is this volatile. Now is the time to look at other pay increase models, such as equity increases, bonus payments vs. base salary increases, and special incentive programs.
A recent Business Insider survey reported that 54% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. While advancement opportunities, good supervision, and work-life balance are important to many workers, so is salary. Make sure your compensation is and remains competitive.
2. Review Those Bonus and Incentive Plans Too
Now is the time to determine whether you’ll pay 2021 bonuses and incentives. If you are a home improvement retailer or sell to a home improvement retailer, chances are you’ve had a good 2021. If, on the other hand, you’re a brick-and-mortar department store, 2021 probably isn’t your best year.
The wild economic fluctuations of the last two years make planning difficult but more important than ever. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you begin to set bonus and incentive goals and measures for 2022: ● What are the objectives for your plans? Do they complement the organization’s business strategy? ● How will you pay for these plans? ● Do individual goals support business strategy? Do you need to establish new goals/revise existing goals as you develop new products, enter new markets, etc.? ● Are your performance measures appropriate? Have you included non-financial metrics such as customer satisfaction, resource utilization, people and project management where appropriate? ● Do employees understand the plans and what they must do to be successful?
Q. Our employees have worked really hard this year and we wanted to acknowledge it with a year-end bonus? Would this create any issues for us if we do not do it again?
A. It’s wonderful that you are acknowledging the role your employees played in this year’s success—we love to hear it!
You can always make a one-time decision based on current circumstances. We recommend explaining that to your employees up front so they do not have the expectation of receiving this bonus each year going forward.
As a one-time occurrence, this bonus should be able to be classified as a discretionary bonus, meaning there is no expectation on behalf of the employees to receive it and they did not have to meet certain criteria (like sales numbers) to get it. A discretionary bonus does not need to be calculated into compensation rate for overtime purposes whereas non-discretionary bonuses do. It may or may not be taxable so be sure to check with your accountant or payroll provider.
3. Get Ready for More–and More–Legislative Changes
We’ve been noticing for quite some time that state legislatures and municipalities have enacted all types of legislation that impacts employee compensation. The list below is just a sampling of changes scheduled for 2022: ● Illinois HB-1207 prohibits employers from seeking an applicant’s salary history but allows employers to provide compensation information about the position applied for ● California AB-701 requires warehouse distribution center employers to provide written descriptions of quotas at time of hire. ● District of Columbia B-285 amends the Universal Paid Leave Act to increase the amount of paid leave to six weeks of medical leave and two weeks of parental leave per year. ● Several bills in different areas of North Carolina prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of protected class. The definition of protected class is amended to include gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and natural hairstyle.
This is particularly important if you do business in multiple locations. And don’t forget that 26 states also have minimum wage increases scheduled for 2022. The Affinity HR Support Plan is a great tool that not only tracks the legislative changes happening in the states where you do business but also provides next steps for how to stay compliant.
4. Do a Deep Dive into Employee Retention
Most likely you’ve had some employees leave during 2021, and you’ve probably collected some basic exit interview information. Have you looked closely at the information you’ve collected to determine if there are patterns or reasons for leaving?
According to a 2021 survey by NerdWallet, the top five reasons employees left their jobs this year were: ● Lack of respect or trust ● Low pay ● Poor company culture ● Overwork and underappreciation ● Bad management and supervision
Recently a large manufacturing client that had been experiencing high turnover took a closer look at their turnover statistics and discovered that most of the employees who left had worked in two workgroups. Further analysis revealed that the first-line supervisors in these workgroups were new and pretty much untrained. These supervisors are now receiving additional training and are working closely with their managers and more experienced peers to help reduce turnover in their areas.
5. Plan Your Year-End Compensation Communications Now
We hope 2021 has been a successful year for your business, and that you have good news to communicate to employees. Regardless of what the news is, there are some things that are critical to communicate: ● Legislative changes and how they will impact employee paychecks ● Plans for year-end base salary increases and incentive and bonus plan payouts ● 2022 planned changes to base salaries, incentive and bonus plans, and related compensation policies and procedures
Here’s hoping your organization doesn’t just survive The Great Resignation—but thrives in 2022!
Susan Palé, CCP Vice President of Compensation, Affinity HR Group contact@affinityhrgroup.com
RP Unites with Alexander
R.P. Lumber Co., Edwardsville, Il., now tops 80 locations throughout the Midwest with its acquisition of longtime competitor, 130-year-old Alexander Lumber Co., Aurora, Il.
“For five generations, Alexander Lumber has been our family’s identity,” said Watt Alexander, board chair. “It has shaped our lives and our relationships to one another, but time has caught up with us. As our family has grown and spread across the country, we’ve lost the cohesiveness and focus that previously enabled us to transition leadership from one generation to the next. Once we decided it was time to make this change, our goal was to find another family-owned company—rather than a private-equity-backed competitor—where business decisions affecting our people and our customers would be made for long-term goals, instead of cashing out every few years to redeem investors. We think we’ve found that in R.P. Lumber and the Plummer family.”
The acquisiton not only expands R.P.’s footprint in Illinois and Iowa, it
Palmer-Donavin has relocated its West Chester, Oh., distribution operations to a more centrally located facility in Hebron, Ky.
The 200,000-sq. ft. facility’s location will allow it to expand its service area to Nashville, Tn., and better serve dealers in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and now Tennessee.
The new distribution center also features better lighting, a style of concrete with fewer control joints, and an optiopens the doors to Wisconsin (where Alexander has two stores and one sales office) and expands its truss manufacturing capabilities and geographic reach with the addition of a robust production facility in northern Illinois.
Alexander locations will be rebranded to R.P. in Iowa City, Ia.; Oconomowoc, Elkhorn and Twin Lakes, Wi.; and Crystal Lake, Fairbury and LeRoy, Il. Alexander operations in Champaign and Watseka, Il., will be consolidated into R.P.’s stores in those communities, while its Cortland, Il., store will give way to R.P.’s unit in nearby Dekalb.
Marwin Purchases HB&G
HB&G Building Products, Troy, Al., has been acquired by The Marwin Co., West Columbia, S.C.
Founded in 1926, HB&G is a leading manufacturer of columns and other specialty millwork products.
HB&G will become Marwin Co.’s fourth division, joining Marwin (attic stairways and specialty door products), SS Industries (spiral staircases), and Millwork 360 (doors and mouldings).
mized racking configuration that allows more product to be warehoused.
“The layout of the racking in the new building has better flow of product that will allow us to be more efficient with the handling of product and timelier on transfers and deliveries,” noted Tom Bartlett, VP of operations. “We’re also excited about the facility’s new construction as we expect less wear on equipment and on the bodies of employees.”
SPACE-SAVING layout and racking configuration of Palmer-Donavin’s new Hebron, Ky., facility allows it to stock significantly more merchandise.
Palmer-Donavin Now Serving Tennessee via New Facility
Your Building Centers, Altoona, Pa., acquired Allensville Planing Mill, operator of True Value Hardware/building supply stores and component plants in Allensville, Huntingdon and Lewistown, Pa.
R.P. Lumber Co. opened a new
location in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
Aubuchon Hardware, West-
minster, Ma., is acquiring Delray Plus True Value’s stores in New
Hope, Doylestown, Richboro and Blue Bell, Pa., bringing Aubuchon’s overall store count to 107 locations across eight states.
Johnson Hardware & Rental,
Whitehall, Wi., has been sold by Glen and Kathy Johnson to Andrew and Chris Ritter, who have renamed the store Ritter Hardware.
Harry’s Ace Hardware, New
Orleans, La., will close in the spring after 63 years.
Steffes True Value Hardware,
Wisconsin Dells, Wi., has been purchased by longtime manager Gary Booth from Martin Steffes, 71, who is retiring after 47 years at the helm.
Yellow Springs Hardware,
Yellow Springs, Oh., was bought by Dan Badger from Shep Anderson and Gilah Pomeranz, who have owned the 94-year-old store since 2017.
Ace Hardware opened a new location in Reed City, Mi. (Byron Clouse, store mgr.).
Casper’s True Value Hard-
ware, Lake Zurich, Il., is liquidating after 56 years, anticipating permanent closure by the end of January.
Butters’ Ace Hardware has
broken ground on a new 17,500-sq. ft. store in Thompson’s Station, Tn., targeting an August unveiling.
Tignor’s Hometown Hard-
ware, Wooster, Ma., has liquidated and closed after 18 years and the storefront will be taken over by E&H Hardware.
US LBM has acquired two prominent East Coast pro dealers—Professional Builders Supply, with 12 locations in the Carolinas, and Barrons, with two yards serving the Washington, D.C., area.
Founded in 2003, Professional Builders Supply sells, installs and distributes residential and commercial building materials, while providing turn-key installation services for multifamily through its PBS Commercial brand and for residential roofing and siding via SouthEnd Exteriors.
“This exciting, new partnership with US LBM allows Professional Builders Supply to continue delivering an unequaled level of service while expanding the range of materials and services we can provide to our customers and communities,” said Van Isley, who will continue to lead Professional Builders Supply’s day-to-day operations.
Founded in 1947, Barrons operates a 6.6-acre yard in Gaithersburg, Md., and a 14.7-acre property in Manassas, Va. Both locations include a showroom, warehouse and lumberyard.
“We look forward to embarking on this new chapter with US LBM to continue our growth and offer even more value to our customers and employees,” said Jim Davis, who has led Barrons since 2008 and will continue to lead day-to-day operations following completion of the acquisition.
LMC Expo Returns to Philadelphia
For the first time in almost two years, LMC hosted its network of dealers, suppliers and the LMC team in person at the 2021 LMC Expo Nov. 15-17 in Philadelphia.
Dealers reconnected with exhibitors and the LMC team, bringing a sense of normalcy that had been missing over the last two years. Dealers discussed current industry challenges and gathered market intelligence from insiders to help plan their purchasing strategy for the upcoming year.
“I come to the LMC Expo because it’s a great opportunity to network with my fellow yards, and also meet the people with LMC that you don’t often get the chance to see face to face and get a little bit of that personal time,” said Jason Pickelsimer, operations manager for Building Solutions, Bend, Or. “The most beneficial thing for me is actually the networking. People buy from people, but at the end of the day LMC is a big family.”
Sessions during the Expo included the LMC Update from Paul Ryan, who assumed the role of president/CEO in July. Ryan gave his first organization-wide recap of the buying group’s past year and what to expect for 2022.
Keynote speaker Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., president and chief economist of graphsandlaughs.net and former senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, presented an overview of the housing and economic outlook for 2022.
During the Supplier Forum, key principals from leading manufacturers touched upon their own challenges of 2021 from a supplier’s perspective and what to anticipate for 2022.
“There was a unique sense of excitement about this event before it even started. The hotel lobbies were buzzing, and you could tell it was going to be a successful show,” said Sean Tighe, LMC senior VP of purchasing. “The energy once the event began really reflected that and was just further proof that relationships are always best built in-person.”
The industry has changed since the last in-person event at the LMC annual in Nashville in March of 2020. Expo attendees strongly believed that learning how to overcome industry challenges is always best when you can talk to other professionals from different parts of the industry at once.
“There’s a lot in our industry that’s changed in the last year and a half,” said Jeff Wolfe, owner of Montana’s Massa Home Center. “Being able to get some insight on what’s here to stay and what’s never going to be the same is vital so we can move forward and be successful.”
LMC CEO and president Paul Ryan addresses attendees at the 2021 LMC Expo. He recapped the year and what to look forward to in 2022. Cross & Lincoln Woodworks,
Alma, Mi., has acquired Barn Door Lumber Co., Hemlock, Mi.
Woodgrain purchased Lowe’s 35-year-old Thomasville Millwork
door shop in Lexington, N.C., which will continue supplying ReliaBilt interior and Therma-Tru Benchmark exterior doors to Lowe’s stores in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.
Advance Lumberworks ,
Douglasville, Tx., is building a 35,000sq. ft. lumber mill in Linden, Tx., on the former 25-acre site of Watson Wood
Yard.
Adelman Lumber, Pittsburgh, Pa., escaped with minor damage in a late night fire Dec. 7.
DW Distribution, DeSoto, Tx., recognized GAF as its 2021 Vendor of the Year.
Sakrete, Atlanta, Ga., is rolling out a redesigned website as it celebrates its 85th anniversary.
Fastenal moved into its new 97,600-sq. ft. corporate office in Winona, Mn.
ABC Supply has acquired the assets of Siding Sales Inc., with facilities in Bowling Green, Glasgow and London, Ky.
Separately, ABC opened a greenfield location in Lufkin, Tx., managed by Carver James.
L&W Supply opened new branches in New Castle, De., and Bedford Heights (Cleveland), Oh.
Epicor BisTrack now integrates with Geotab fleet management solutions, Buildxact estimating and construction management platform, and the new Epicor Enterprise Content Management (ECM) module.
Softwood Lumber Board will
pledge $420,000 in matching funds to the USDA Forest Service’s 2022
Wood Innovations Grant Program.
L.J. Smith Stair Systems,
Bowerston, Oh., launched an upgraded website at www.LJSmith.com.
The U.S. Commerce Department has increased anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports, implementing tariffs of 17.99%—more than double the 8.99% rate of the prior administration.
The National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association said it “strongly condemns the decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to double tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports and calls on the Biden Administration to reverse this unnecessary action,” said Jonathan Paine, NLBMDA president & CEO. “As the economy continues to grapple with crippling supply chain disruptions and price volatility, now is the wrong time to impose a new tax on American consumers and small businesses through additional tariffs. These tariffs will only exacerbate the nation’s affordable housing shortage and amplify existing challenges facing lumber and building material dealers.
“NLBMDA strongly urges the Biden Administration to pursue a permanent trade agreement with Canada that eliminates tariffs and brings long-term stability to the supply and pricing of softwood lumber.”
Kodiak Purchases Cape Cod Dealer
Kodiak Building Partners has agreed to purchase Shepley Wood Products, Hyannis, Ma., which operates three locations on Cape Cod and Nantucket.
Tony Shepley, who founded the company with a partner in 1978, will continue as president of Shepley Wood Products. It will join Kodiak’s Retail Lumber and Gypsum Group.
New Names for Concord Lumber
Concord Lumber Corp., Littleton, Ma., is rebranding as Concord Building & Design Center.
Since its founding in Concord, Ma., in 1946, the company has expanded to 10 locations throughout the state. Over the next six months, its Concord and Littleton Lumber branches will be renamed Concord Lumber & Design Centers, its Kitchen Works stores will change to Concord Kitchen & Design Centers, and Forester Moulding & Millwork will become Concord Millwork & Design Center. At a later date, its ColorWorks Paint & Decorating Centers will rebrand as Concord Paint & Design Centers.
Orgill Hits Million Item Milestone
During the fourth quarter of 2021, Orgill reached a significant milestone in its efforts to help independent retailers enhance their eCommerce capabilities as the number of individual items within its shareable product information database grew to more than one million.
“Nearly a decade ago, we realized that independent retailers would need access to all of the product data, images and information for the products they carry in order to populate their eCommerce engines. And, if they were going to properly represent their store brands, this would also include products that Orgill may not supply,” says Boyden Moore, president and CEO. “Today, with the help of our customers and industry partners, the enriched product data that we make available to our customers has grown to exceed 1 million unique items and continues to grow.”
To make this amount of data easily accessible to retailers who subscribe to the service, Orgill houses the information in what is called a Product Information Management (PIM) system. At its core, the Orgill Industry PIM is a database of enriched product data that its customers can use to populate their eCommerce websites, point-of-sale (POS) systems or in a variety of other functions, including for products not stocked in Orgill warehouses.
Redwood Empire Lands in Texas
On Dec. 1, Redwood Empire and its Pacific States Industries division started up a new distribution and value-added facility in Houston, Tx.
Formerly operating as a bulk distribution center for Home Depot, the 20-acre site is situated near the Port of Houston, with nearly 200,000 sq. ft. of covered storage and two rail spurs capable of spotting six cars. It will operate as a Redwood Empire Distribution and value-added facility focused on domestic and imported softwood and hardwood with an emphasis on redwood, North American cedar, and sugi.
Redwood Empire began importing lumber from South America and Asia in 2001 and has been at the forefront of popular species such as ipé and sugi lumber and fencing, becoming one of if not the largest importer and distributor of the species today. Sales for the location will be handled out of Redwood Empire’s West Coast sales office.
Redwood Empire is owned by the Burch family from California. Operations include a redwood lumber sawmill; redwood fence, post and rail mill; value-added operations; treating plant; and distribution centers in Northern California, all supported by family-owned timberlands.
U-C Coatings Adds Repair Products
U-C Coatings, Buffalo, N.Y., has acquired Abatron, Inc., Kenosha, Wi, manufacturer of LiquidWood and WoodEpox wood restorers and Abocrete and Aboweld concrete repair products.
“Abatron is a great addition to U-C Coatings that will expand our specialty offerings, especially to the contractor and DIY markets. The acquisition continues our emphasis on environmentally friendly, high performance products,” said Eric Degenfelder, CEO of U-C Coatings.
Operations will continue in Buffalo, Kenosha, Seattle and Portland, Or.
CNRG Acquires Frattallone’s Ace
Larry Frattallone, founder and operator of Frattallone’s Ace Hardware in Arden Hills, Mn., and his two sons, Tom and Mike Frattallone, have sold their 22-store chain and operating assets to Central Network Retail Group, Collierville, Tn.
CNRG now operates 139 hardware stores, home centers, and lumberyards in 16 states.
Frattallone’s will become the eighteenth brand operated by CNRG. It began in 1975 when Larry Frattallone opened his first store in Arden Hills, a suburb of St. Paul. Their most recent store opened a year ago, in Little Canada, Mn.
Mike and Tom Frattallone are joining the CNRG team.
THE POSSIBILITIES KEEP GROWING: REDWOOD
