TOOLBOX
THE #1 COMMUNITY OF SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTORS
CCN
MAY 2020 FROM THE PRESIDENT
IN THE TOOLBOX
The art of slowing down and other timely advice BY SCOTT SIEGAL
L 3 Coronavirus and the
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) alert
What you need to know about this new act
4 Building tomorrow with a little help from the past Why "time-tested" matters when selecting materials
6 How to win at working from home
Tips and tricks for your success
8 Business as usual.
(During a pandemic.) How RGS Exteriors is getting it done
10 You’re outta here
How the progressive disciplinary process works
Scott Siegal, President CCN
ast month, after the COVID-19 outbreak, we kicked off our April issue by tackling the topic of the “unknown” and discussed the importance of preparedness in the event of an emergency. We discussed WHAT needs to be done in such situations as the one we’re facing now. This month, I’d like to discuss HOW we must be facing our current reality. When the world turns upside down, and everybody enters panic-mode, our natural instinct is to speed up. To get everything done as quickly as possible. When the pandemic hit our industry, the fuse was lit and companies were charging full steam ahead, some trying to apply for the Small Business Association (SBA) loan. It was a rush to get the applications. Then it was a scramble to find banks we could apply to. And once the loans were approved, word came down about an expiration date—funds had to be used within an 8-week period, in order to be forgiven. So, it was off to the races again, even without clear guidance from the SBA on loan forgiveness. Before panic-spending, and before rushing off to do anything else, maybe it’s time that we all just SLOW DOWN. Collect our thoughts. And re-examine the road ahead. Yes, we may only have 8 weeks to spend this loan, but don’t make any drastic moves until you know what we’re dealing with. Until we actually know what the loan guidelines stipulate. At this point, things are changing. Everything is very fluid and far from concrete. And we need to be fluid, too, and willing to adapt to the changes that could come every day. The end goal is to make informed decisions to help us keep all of our employees and survive the months to come.
A word about chess The current economic climate is a lot like playing chess. While we don’t know exactly what will happen next, we can anticipate what needs to be done, when certain moves/events happen. So, we don’t have the official rules yet from the government for the SBA loan and we need clarification. What can we do with the funds? What can’t we do? At CCN, we brought in CPA’s and attorneys to review the current language around the loan, but it all comes down to interpretation until we get definitive answers from the SBA. So, what’s our move? We have to do the best we can with the info we have. At first, I had been advising people not to get crazy with their money. At first, I thought it was clear—we need to spend on payroll costs, overhead, and then your business is good to have the loan forgiven. And continued on page 2
CO N T R AC T O R S . N E T
FROM THE PRESIDENT
TOOLBOX THE #1 COMMUNIT Y OF SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTORS
MISSION STATEMENT To enhance the professionalism, performance and perception of the construction industry. We promote ethics, education, leadership and innovation, so that the construction industry and the community achieve mutual benefit. Corporate Headquarters 6476 Sligo Mill Road Takoma Park, MD 20912 301.891.0999 800.396.1510 866.250.3270 fax www.contractors.net STAFF Scott Siegal, President scott@contractors.net John Martindale, Principal johnm@contractors.net Catherine Honigsberg, GM catherine@contractors.net Sindy Wohl, Director of VIP sindy@contractors.net Denise Metheny, Accounting denise@contractors.net Troy Timmer, CCN Business Consultant troy@contractors.net Dave Harrison, CCN Business Consultant dharrison@contractors.net Daniel Murgo, Events Manager danny@contractors.net Brian Wohl, Membership Consultant brian@contractors.net Carla Sarabia, Help Desk Administrator carla@contractors.net Toolbox is a publication of the Certified Contractors Network. Toolbox is a member benefit. Non-members may subscribe for $75 annually. design: stacy claywell thatdesigngirl@icloud.com editor: jon goldstein jgoldst@gmail.com
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with payroll and overhead accounted for, I thought, “Hey, let’s then do the projects we normally wouldn’t. Invest in projects we didn’t think we’d have the money to invest in.” Then I learned that only 25% can be spent on non-payroll related items for the loan to be forgiven. This was followed by language about needing to retain the same number of fulltime employees (FTE's). Then more information trickled down by another interpretation of the rules. This is where “keeping fluid” matters most. Until we receive SBA guidance, we won’t know what will or will not be forgiven. By the time this article is published, maybe we’ll know. But for now, we need to take things slow and think it through. Think about every possible move and even think 5 moves ahead, so you don’t get blind-sided.
A word about cheese In addition to anticipating what the future may hold, we must also get to a place where we are willing to make the necessary changes when they are required. If you haven’t read it already, there is a smartly written book about adjusting to change called “Who moved my cheese?” In this book, Dr. Spencer Johnson examines how people don’t want change. How we resist it. As the story unfolds, there are two mice and two “littlepeople” living inside a maze. Every day, the two mice and two littlepeople go out in search of cheese. This cheese has always been in the same spot, until one day, it’s all gone. Upon this discovery, the mice head out in search of more cheese. The littlepeople, however, look at this situation with dismay and complain that the cheese is gone. Instead of searching for new cheese, the littlepeople wait for the cheese to come back, but soon learn that it’s not going to. The story concludes with one of the littlepeople venturing out to find new cheese, while the other one stubbornly stays behind. The littleperson who embraces change and searches for new cheese, is rewarded by finding some. The moral of “Who moved my cheese?” is perfectly suited for our lives, at this time. We can’t wait for things to return to the status quo. That’s not an option. We need to adapt and help our businesses to adapt, in order to survive. Maybe this means finally transitioning from print marketing to digital or taking your sales process online so you can make virtual house calls instead of conducting them in person. And who knows, this could become the new normal. Maybe we’ll discover that there’s greater efficiency in conducting our sales online, and that by eliminating travel, our team can just log in and get three times as many sales calls done in a day.
How CCN is embracing the change Moving forward, Certified Contractors Network will not be waiting for things to return to normal. We’re embracing the change and adjusting how we’ll be doing business for the foreseeable future. First and foremost, we had the New Orleans conference that needed to be cancelled. We were initially hoping to postpone it until June, but now that doesn’t look like an option. We also now have to start considering what to do about our September conference if things don’t get better soon. As for our boot camps, we are exploring how to conduct these online, whether they’ll be live and virtual or through on-demand, recorded trainings. Right now, not many people are all that interested in sending staff out for training. Besides the desire to attend, it’s a legal impossibility in some locations. As of now, we’re open to all options. Currently, we’re waiting for production studios to open back up to help us film professional, training materials. We envision these videos being of a high production value and great editing. The materials we shoot, we want to be used as an evergreen product. In addition to virtual training opportunities with our boot camps, we’re conducting live webinars every week, on Tuesday afternoons. We have about 150 members turn out and conduct the webinars through Zoom. We’re also looking forward to our 1st Zoom happy hour. We are a network after all, so let’s network! If the happy hour is a success, we will try to host one on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Just because our members are at home, it doesn’t mean we’re alone. We’re all in this together. For more on how your business can embrace change or for details on our virtual training opportunities, don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to hearing from you. Stay safe and be well, Scott
Coronavirus and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Alert
BY ANITA DOMBROWSKI, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PRESIDENT & SR. HR CONSULTANT, FOURTH DIMENSION ENTERPRISES LLC.
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n March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. This Act is geared toward those employees who are impacted by the Coronavirus due to personally contracting the virus and those employees who are impacted by the virus due to the closing of their child(ren)’s school or daycare provider. The new rule is limited to direct impact by the Coronavirus and is effective beginning April 1, 2020 and ending December 31, 2020. Paid leave entitlements of the Act include 80 hours of paid sick leave for an employee who contracts the virus and up to 12 weeks of the combination of paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave paid at 2/3 for the following qualifying reasons all related to the Coronavirus. n The employee is subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19. n The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19. n The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. n The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in the first bullet above or has been advised as described in the second bullet above. n The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the childcare provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions. n The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. An employer of an employee who is a health care provider or an emergency responder may
elect to exclude such employee from the application of this reason. In general, employees of private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees are eligible for paid sick leave. Employees who have been employed for at least 30 days prior to their leave request may be eligible for an additional 10 weeks of partially paid leave to care for a child whose school or daycare is closed. Please note that the normal FMLA requirement of working for the employer for at least 12 months has been waived as is the criteria for having at least 50 employees before the company must provide the FMLA option. In this situation, employers with 30 or more employees and less than 500 are required to post the poster in a conspicuous place and entertain requests for leave from employees who are impacted by the Coronavirus.
More detailed information can be found at dol.gov/agencies/ whd or 1-866-487-9243. You will find the poster to put in a conspicuous place and some clarifying FAQ's
This article should not be considered legal advice. Should you have any questions on this article or any of the HR articles presented in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact me at AnitadombrowskiHR@gmail.com. CCN TOOLBOX
M AY 2 0 2 0
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FEATURE
Building tomorrow with a little help from the past BY JON GOLDSTEIN WITH FRANK ISTUETA
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n modern times, our future-focused culture is always fixated on “The Next Big Thing.” What are the new features on the new Ford F150? How will 14 NFL playoff teams impact postseason play? Should I keep Hulu+ or get Disney+ for the kids? New is trendy. New is exciting. New is what grabs our attention. But is new always the right way to go? To discuss this, I sat down with Frank Istueta of Istueta Roofing, South Florida’s most trusted roofer since 1985. Cutting right to the chase, Frank shared with me his thoughts on what’s new, and why old-school products remain his go-to choice.
New doesn’t mean best You have to be careful—not all new construction materials should be used, Frank explained. The latest products on the market might not live up to their claims. Frank cited waterproofing as an example and how new coating products are claiming 10, 20, 50-year warranties. Some of these products aren’t even able to hold up for 10 years, let alone 50! There are plenty of manufacturers out there that are making false claims, like how their white coating can be used on all types of surfaces. In reality, not all materials can be used on most surfaces. This is why you have to be selective with the ones you choose. For these reasons and more, it’s always important to see how new products perform for others, before purchasing them yourself. You don’t want to be the bad example that other companies learn from.
Nature gets final say A big factor in product selection is your client’s home environment. This is especially true of Istueta’s clients, whose houses are located in the tropical climate of southern Florida. While a new synthetic underlayment might be a smart choice for some, Istueta Roofing knows that this material will perform poorly in the Florida climate. Ventilation can be a significant problem, leading to trapped moisture and attic temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.
Consistency is key TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin), a single-ply roofing membrane that covers the surface of the roof, came to market as a quality material with a cheaper price point than the competition. Over the years, TPO has changed up its formulation and offered additional products to improve the material’s results. This is a red flag. A trusted material should not have its manufacturer constantly updating how it is made. You want a product to provide the same quality, year after year.
Be brand loyal If you have a company with materials that have never let you down, why try something new? For Frank Istueta, this company is Ludowici. Established in 1888, this Ohiobased company has proven itself time and time again. According to the company 4
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site, “Ludowici clay tiles are the highest quality available, which is why they adorn thousands of historic and newly built structures around the world. Meticulously crafted in New Lexington, Ohio from locally sourced materials, our products are infinitely customizable and carry a 75-year warranty.” Designed to be high end with low water absorption, Ludowici tiles are perfect for Frank’s clients.
Innovation is on the way As discussed, it’s important to not get overly excited about a new product or material until it has been time-tested and proven successful. That said, there are some exciting new products on the horizon that are worth keeping an eye on. They could very well change the way we build, repair and remodel homes. Aluminum foam — By injecting air into molten metal, this surprisingly strong, light weight material can provide quality cladding for your next project. What’s more, this material is 100% recyclable.
WHEN YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS, DON’T FALL FOR THE ALLURE OF A NEW PRODUCT. WAIT UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT THE NEW PRODUCT YOU’RE INTERESTED IN IS AS PROVEN TO WORK AS THE ONE YOU’RE USING NOW.
Bamboo-reinforced concrete — Instead of using rebar to support concrete, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology has found a way to use a bamboo fiber and organic resin mixture. This mixture prevents the bamboo from rotting, while
keeping it strong. Using bamboo over steel presents a smart, eco-friendly option when it comes to choosing products for your next project. Pollution-absorbing bricks — Designed to work in concert with a building’s ventilation system, pollution-absorbing bricks cycle pollutants out of the air like a vacuum—this improves a building’s overall air quality and provides fresher air for its inhabitants. Self-healing concrete — Concrete has been a dependable material for ages. That is until it cracks. But now, there are concretes coming to market that use a mixed-in bacteria to help self-heal any damage by developing calcite to fill in the cracks. All that’s needed is the addition of a littler water to activate this process.
When choosing materials for future jobs, keep in mind everything that Frank and I discussed. Choose quality over novelty. Time-tested over now available. Allow new products to prove themselves before taking a chance and putting your company’s reputation at risk. You’ll be glad you did. For more information, or help in choosing the best products, feel free to contact your friends at CCN.
About Istueta Roofing: A multi-generational family business, Istueta Roofing is the only roofing contractor in South Florida that specializes in both residential roofing and new construction roof installation for high-end and ocean front homes. Learn more about their business at istuetaroofing.com Sources: Blog.plangrid.com | Constructionnews.co.uk | Ludowici.com | Reganindustrial.com | Roofcalc.org
CCN TOOLBOX
M AY 2 0 2 0
I 5
How to win at Working From Home
BY JON GOLDSTEIN
6 tips for staying productive in your home office.
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piping hot tumbler of your favorite coffee, accompanying you on the morning commute. The fresh air of a construction site, not a cloud in the sky. Lunch breaks with the team. They sure sound nice right about now, don’t they? Working from home can be tough at times. Like church and state, there’s meant to be a clear separation between your work life and home life. But now, because of COVID-19, all of this has changed. So, how does one succeed at work while housebound? How do you stay focused when every day is like Ground Hog’s Day, but without Bill Murray to keep things interesting? Here are a few tips to help you stay the course.
Dress for success (This doesn’t mean PJ’s) A simple act, but a necessary one, getting dressed is a symbolic gesture that you’re starting the day. Now this doesn’t mean you need to go putting on a tie. Think of it like it’s Casual Friday at your office, except that every day is Friday. That’s how you should dress. Be comfortable but confident that should a video conference happen, you won’t need to speed-button a button down shirt.
Define your time Be sure to set boundaries for when you’re working and when you’re not. Start at 9. End at 5. Start at 8:30. End at 4:30. Do whatever works for you but be consistent with your timetable. Consider keeping your exact office hours the same to ensure a smooth transition once social distancing measures lift and you can return to work. If everyone in your office keeps the same hours, it will remain easy to communicate with the rest of your team throughout the day.
Over-communicate While working remotely, it’s easy for tasks to fall through the cracks if everyone is not regularly communicating with one another. Make a plan with your boss for how often you should check in each day. Come up with a plan for how new projects should get kicked off. And by all means, don’t limit your communications to email and text messages. Try video conferences. Try the oldfashioned method of just picking up a phone and making a call. Phone calls and video meetings can help you actually talk things out instead of volleying emails back and forth, wasting time and 6
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productivity.
The Pomodoro Technique Did you see what’s trending on Yahoo news? How about that free agency deal on ESPN? Any word from college friends on Facebook messenger? At work, it’s easy to get distracted. And it’s even easier to get distracted while working from home. This is why you should consider a method like the Pomodoro Technique. This time management tool divides your workday into 25-minute segments. Set the timer for 25 minutes and when it goes off take a 3-5 minute break. After completing 4 of these timed cycles, take a longer break. Then start over. By establishing official break periods, you’ll be encouraged to focus on the tasks ahead of you. Because a break is just around the corner.
Stay connected Reply to emails, return calls and answer voicemail messages promptly. When not occupying the same workspace, people become hyper-aware of timing and whether or not they’ve heard back from you. Even if you don’t have all the answers to someone’s email, you can still reply to them confirming receipt of their message and letting them know when you plan on following up. Always keep lines of communication open. The more that is said, the less confusion there will be between members of your team.
Stay social While working from home, it’s easy for a company’s culture to fall by the wayside. Work becomes all about the work, and less about the comradery and teamwork that goes into it. To help keep your company’s culture strong, schedule social events with your colleagues. Throughout the country, businesses are holding virtual happy hours—video calls where everyone gets online just to talk about life without any business agendas. As weeks become months, and as the coronavirus continues to keep us at home, it’s important for us to succeed as remote workers. What we do from afar, every day, is what will keep our businesses afloat. Sources: inc.com | npr.org | themuse.com
What makes someone a Sales Winner?
BY SCOTT SIEGAL
The 8 great characteristics of a successful CCN salesperson. It’s no surprise that CCN has some of the best salespeople in the home improvement business. It’s not uncommon to hear that our sales performance is roughly triple of what is considered to be “highly successful”. There are many factors that contribute to this, but it all comes back to our belief system. We need to believe we will be successful in order to become successful.
Below are the key characteristics of a highly successful CCN salesperson. As you look at and study these characteristics, skills and talents, you'll realize that you already possess many of them yourself. Some of these skills and talents are more dominant than others and will play a greater part in your being or becoming successful. These are the things you do well. The things you do easily and effortlessly. These are your strengths. For example, it may be easy for you to get people to like you. When you find that you need a skill or talent that you don't have, we have proven, effective resources that will help you learn our best practices and help you close the gap. For example, many salespeople have a difficult time asking for the order or making the “close”. At CCN, we have developed a series of Bridging Questions and a SCSP that automatically asks for the order, without the salesperson having to say, “Well, are you ready to go ahead?”
Here are the 8 characteristics. Which do you possess? 1. A passion to excel Successful CCN salespeople have a well-defined purpose. A definitive goal. They know what they want. They aren't easily influenced by the thoughts and opinions of others. They have willpower and a passion to succeed. They have ideas on how to improve the success of their sales. Their strong passion triggers extraordinary results. They do what less successful salespeople feel can’t be done. They are not limited by the following feelings: n I feel the economy is holding me back n I feel the low-ballers are holding me back n I feel I don’t have enough qualified leads n I feel my customers are different and will not respond to the CCN processes n I feel uncomfortable asking for an appointment with the complete buying party when I get resistance n I feel uncomfortable with the SCSP so I don’t use it Successful CCN Salespeople are those who produce results, not excuses. Anybody can come up with excuses and explanations for why they can’t sell, or for their low sales performance. Those who want to succeed badly simply do not make those excuses.
2. Just the right blend of ambition and motivation Successful CCN salespeople want to be the best they can possibly be. They have enthusiasm, commitment and pride. They have self-discipline. They're willing to work hard and to go the extra mile for both the internal and external customer. They have a burning desire to succeed. They're willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. They know that joy in life comes with working for and producing the results that help achieve their dreams. They take great satisfaction in closing sales, writing their sales success on the Daily Sales Activity Board, seeing their name in the weekly newsletter and receiving awards at CCN Quarterly Conferences.
3. Hawk-like focus Successful CCN salespeople concentrate on their main goals and objectives. They don't get sidetracked. They do not participate in water cooler talk. They do not participate in negative salesperson talk. They don't procrastinate. They work on the steps of the CCN Sales Process that are important, and don't allow steps to wait until the last minute. They're not just busy, they’re productive.
4. A hunger to learn Successful CCN salespeople acquire their skills, talents and knowledge to get the job done. They learn what needs to be learned, not just the things they are passionate about. They are willing to work hard and commit themselves to fully understanding that which they aim to sell.
5. Problem-solving skills Successful CCN salespeople are opportunity minded. When they see opportunities, they take advantage of them. They debrief their Measure Calls and focus on these 4 questions: 1. What will the customer buy? 2. Why will they buy it from me over anyone else? 3. Why will they buy it upon completion of my presentation? 4. What is the most probable reason or reasons they won’t buy from me? They have proactively prepared solutions, so they approach the Follow-Up call prepared to get the order, not an excuse.
6. Self-Reliance Successful CCN salespeople have the skills, talents and training that are needed in order to be successful. If leads are slow, they self-generate leads. They use their skills to differentiate themselves from the competition.
7. Resourcefulness Successful CCN salespeople know the things they need to know to be successful. And when they need specialized information, knowledge, or skills and talents that they don't possess, they know how to find it. They connect with peers who know the information. They listen to recordings and read books. They do the hard work, beyond just using Google.
8. Collaborative spirit Successful CCN salespeople have positive, outgoing personalities. They surround themselves with people who offer them help, support, and encouragement. They reach out and try to help salespeople that are not as successful. They help people dispel negative thoughts that are limiting their personal growth and achievement. They are leaders within their companies. For help in further developing these traits of a successful CCN salesperson, do not hesitate to reach out. Your success is our success. We look forward to being of assistance.
CCN TOOLBOX
M AY 2 0 2 0
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FEATURE
Business as usual. (During a pandemic.) How RGS Exteriors is adapting to the times.
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s COVID-19 continues to ravage the country, some states are getting hit harder than others. And as I write this article, Utah has still not instituted a full-state lockdown. However, the two major cities where RGS Exteriors conducts its business have recently received the order. Fortunately for Tim Brown’s team, they have been deemed “essential business” and are currently able to continue working. But in this new reality, the way they have been going about their day-to-day has changed. In addition to the health and safety measures that all of our members are taking, here’s how RGS Exteriors has adjusted its business to weather the storm.
WHILE CREWS STILL REPORT TO THE RGS EXTERIORS’ OFFICE EVERY MORNING, THE OFFICE ITSELF HAS CHANGED. ALL WORK IS NOW CONDUCTED OUTSIDE! 8
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The Open-Air Office While crews still report to the RGS Exteriors’ office every morning, the office itself has changed. All work is now conducted outside! Well, not completely outside. The team has set up shop in what was previously covered parking. Instead of vehicles, desks and desk chairs are now parked at the location with baskets for employees to place their paperwork in. Team members respectfully keep their distance from each other and keep office materials properly sanitized. This helps continue to keep the team together… within reason.
BY JON GOLDSTEIN WITH TIM BROWN
Hard Work Pays Off For most in this industry, the winter months can be the hardest. That’s why business planning is so important. What you put in is what you get out and RGS Exteriors put in the hard work, enabling them to kickstart the spring with a 2-month backlog. While this was not planned with the foresight of an approaching pandemic, this smart planning will lay the foundation for their early success during this time. And reallocating the profits from these projects can help them stay afloat.
The Power of Relationships Ringo Starr sang it best. “I get by with a little help from my friends.” Without even having to start the conversation, Tim Brown’s banker called him up letting him know that he had set in motion the deferment of RGS Exteriors’ building and vehicle loans. In the times ahead, leaning on each other, and fellow members in the CCN network, can help make all the difference.
Change of Plans If you haven’t already, now is the time to re-work your business plan. Revise your sales projections, apply for government loans, defer payments where possible and make any other adjustments necessary. By taking these steps, Tim’s team has been able to get a clearer understanding
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of their financials. By knowing what you’re working with, you can start to see the big picture and work out how to best move your business forward.
A Shift in Marketing Strategy None of RGS Exteriors’ marketing initiatives have been slowed down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. What has changed is the strategy behind them. For example, Tim has a radio spot that he does where he’ll go into the studio of a local sports station and speak with the shows’ hosts during a featured commercial break. He’ll get roughly 3-4 minutes of airtime per segment. While Tim can’t currently head into the studio, he has been able to do these spots over the phone. During the last segment, Tim talked about what RGS Exteriors is doing to protect homeowners while they conduct their business. In addition to radio, RGS Exteriors is also speaking to these safety measures in their mailers and newsletters. An example of one of their safety measures is the implementation of virtual meetings, via phone or video calls. This eliminates the need for in-person conversations while we are social distancing.
A Little Inspiration In addition to all of the practical steps RGS Exteriors is taking, Tim is also providing spiritual and inspirational
encouragement to his team as well. Tim, a devout Mormon, never thought he’d mix faith with work. But a few words of encouragement from The Book of Mormon felt right the other day. “We receive no witness until the trial after our faith.” In addition to spiritual quotes, Tim has been sharing other positive quotes in group chats with his team.
EVERY TIME SOMEONE MAKES A SALE, OR GETS A WIN, ALL THE TEAM MEMBERS WILL REPLY IN THIS GROUP CHAT, CELEBRATING TOGETHER. BEING POSITIVE, TOGETHER, IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW FOR COMPANY MORALE. These are a few of the key ways that RGS Exteriors has been getting by over the past two months. If you are open to sharing your strategies for success during the COVID-19 pandemic, please contact me at jgoldst@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to share your efforts with the rest of our network.
About RGS Exteriors: Salt Lake County's premiere siding and exterior construction contractor, RGS Exteriors has been a family-run operation since the 1950’s. You can learn more about the Brown family business and their decades of success at rgsutahsiding.com
Congratulations!
We're pleased to announce that Roofing & More has again received the most prestigious contractor award GAF - Roofing offers: the 2020 President’s Club Award. This is the 7th year in a row Roofing & More has been a President's Club winner! This highly coveted award recognizes them as one of the “elite of the elite” residential roofing contractors in the United States.
Toolbox Wants To Hear From You Have something different, unique or particularly successful that you’re doing with your marketing? Is there a method or process that you or your staff has developed that solved a problem? Is there a sales or production superstar on your staff? Toolbox aims to bring news, views and above all the best practices of CCN members and member companies to the attention of the overall membership of CCN. If you have a story to tell, we are eager to convey that news to all CCN members!
CCN TOOLBOX
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ON HR
YOU’RE OUTTA HERE!
By Anita Dombrowski, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, President & Sr. HR Consultant, Fourth Dimension Enterprises LLC.
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raditionally, summer is the start of your busy season and it is “all hands on deck.” You need every employee working at their peak. That’s why when one of your employees found Joe sleeping on the job, you went ballistic!
Joe is an okay employee who has been with you for two years. You were ready to fire Joe when you heard about the sleeping on the job, so you took a look in Joe’s personnel file. No disciplinary actions in his file. You’re thinking to yourself about how many times you talked to Joe about his late arrivals and callouts, but you never documented them with a note in his personnel file. Those times that Joe was not working to capacity, you did speak with him but, again, you never threw a note in his file. Plus, since recruiting hasn’t been going so well, having Joe on the team fills a position. So, you are thinking that termination is probably not the correct option but perhaps some other type of disciplinary action could get Joe’s attention. Your company normally follows a progressive disciplinary process which as the name implies has several progressive steps to the process.
Counseling and verbal warning The supervisor finds a performance area where the employee is not following the company’s performance requirements. This is a great opportunity to have a conversation with the employee, explain the company’s requirements and point out to the employee how he/she is not meeting those requirements. 10
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Let’s talk about another employee, Marvin’s, situation. You pull him aside and inform him that you have noticed he has been late ten times in the past month. You just want to point out that this level of tardiness is not acceptable at your company and use the Employee Handbook as reference. You ask Marvin to improve this area and advise you are considering this conversation a verbal warning. You complete your normal disciplinary action form, ask Marvin to sign it, give him a copy and you take the original and place it in Marvin’s file. Notice that in this conversation you knew that Marvin was late ten times. This can easily be researched through your timekeeping or payroll system. It is helpful for Marvin to understand that the company pays attention to this type of infraction. When you are completing your disciplinary action form, it is helpful to quantify the number of times the employee violated the rules because if Marvin was late only one or two times, you would probably want to have a conversation rather than a verbal warning disciplinary action. You may be wondering, if this is being considered a “verbal” warning, why are you documenting it? Verbal or oral warnings are part of your formal disciplinary action policy and it is important that you document that you followed Step 1 of your process.
Written warning Step 2 of your formal disciplinary policy is a written warning. A written warning could be for the same reason you issued a verbal warning and there has been no improvement or it could be that the infraction is serious enough to skip the verbal and go right to a written. Skipping the verbal step could possibly be for a safety violation among other issues. For example, the employee did not wear his/ her personal protective equipment (PPE), e.g. not wearing face mask or gloves when handling chemicals. In Marvin’s situation, there was no improvement in his tardiness. Make sure your written warning states the number of times Marvin was tardy or absent and also make sure your disciplinary action form states that the employee may be
subject to additional discipline, up to and including termination, if immediate and sustained corrective action is not taken. This statement will put Marvin on notice that his job could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t improve.
Second written warning Some progressive disciplinary policies have one written warning and others have two written warnings. A second written warning allows the employer to address a different performance situation or a second warning for a prior infraction. However, while tardiness is an important topic to the employer, termination for one written warning for tardiness seems a bit radical.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) After a second written warning, you may want to consider a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). During the disciplinary process, you have been trying to impress to the employee that his/her job is in jeopardy. A PIP makes that point very clear. A PIP outlines a very specific list of areas where the employee needs to improve to retain his/her job and creates a timeline of 30, 60, or 90 days in which to make this happen. There is also a schedule of regular meetings the supervisor will be having with the employee during the PIP period to make sure progress is being made. The length of the PIP depends upon the severity of infraction(s). Again, the PIP should also include a statement indicating that the employee may be subject to additional discipline, up to and including termination, if immediate and sustained corrective action is not taken. Language about the “sustained improvement” is very important because you want to make certain the employee will not fall back into the prior pattern of poor performance issues. The “sustained” language would permit you to take further disciplinary action if that occurs.
SUSPENSIONS CAN BE WITH OR WITHOUT PAY. Suspension and final written warning Sometimes it is important to address an issue immediately to make a point the employee’s behavior is not acceptable. An angry outburst or argument between employees that could have escalated to something more is a good example as is a second warning regarding a safety infraction. A suspension could just be in response to a behavior or it could be a way for you to investigate the situation. “Suspension pending investigation” is a time out for the employer to see exactly what happened i.e. talk to the employees involved in the situation or speak with witnesses to see how the situation should be addressed before taking action. While the supervisor may be ready to terminate the employee on the spot, it is important to make sure you have all of the facts to make sure the situation does or does not warrant termination. Suspensions can be with or without pay. When you are investigating a situation, it would be wise to pay the employee while you are
figuring things out. If the employee had an angry outburst, or the situation was clearly the employee’s fault, unpaid time out would be appropriate. Suspension time should be anywhere between one to a maximum of five days. One day for an insubordination issue and three to five days for angry outbursts or when you really need time to investigate something such as missing money in Accounting. Don’t forget that suspension of a salary or exempt employee needs to be done in full day increments to comply for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations. Also, don’t forget to pay the employee for an unpaid suspension should he/she be exonerated of the wrongdoing.
Termination of employment We have talked a lot about the progressive disciplinary process. But there are some situations that are so onerous, that immediate termination is warranted. Behavior that is illegal is not subject to progressive discipline and could result in immediate termination. You should report illegal activity to the local authorities. Also, most Employee Handbooks have a list of infractions that are grounds for immediate termination such as theft, substance abuse, intoxication, fighting and acts of violence at work. Before taking action, isolate the employee and then separately confer with Human Resources or a leader within your organization to make sure you are taking the correct action. If you have any concerns, you can easily “suspend pending investigation” to buy yourself some time to consider the situation. If you have followed your progressive disciplinary process properly, the employee should not be surprised when his/ her termination conversation happens. Hopefully, by this point in the process, the Human Resources Department is also not surprised. It is important to make sure that HR is part of the overall process. What you don’t
want to hear, after having all of those conversations, is that Marvin’s spouse has cancer and he needs to take her to chemotherapy which sometimes runs late. Hopefully, none of your situations ever get to that point. It’s a good idea to give HR a copy of your disciplinary action forms as the situation progresses so that HR can assess that your actions are equitable within the company’s norms. In other words, you don’t want to suspend an employee for three or four latenesses when the norm for suspension in your organization is for a much more serious issue. HR can help you determine next steps in a complicated matter. Before recommending termination, make sure you have proper documentation in the employee’s personnel file. You want to make sure you can support your decision should the employee file a legal challenge. If you feel there is not enough supporting documentation, you may want to hold up on termination for a later date. Again, your HR representative can assist in this area. Your supervisor may balk at the length of this process and then not being able to take action at what he/she perceived to be the end of the process. Many times, supervisors will ask about “employment at will.” Aren’t we permitted to terminate an employee at any time, with or without notice and with or without cause? Yes, that is the rule for employment at will, however, the employer is also preparing for the possibility of an employee’s legal challenge. Perhaps the employee is over age 40, or is a minority, or has a disability that the supervisor was not aware of. No attorney is needed for an employee to make a phone call to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to complain that he/she was discriminated against.
Conclusion In general, the progressive disciplinary process works well for everyday situations. Should you have any questions on this article or any of the HR articles presented in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact me at AnitadombrowskiHR@ gmail.com. This article should not be considered legal advice.
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