P1 Manpower Juggles a Constantly Changing Landscape
If you think there’s any such thing as a typical day for our manpower team, think again!
Between frequent changes occurring within specific jobs and shortages in the union halls, today’s construction landscape creates daily challenges for manpower – and our coordinators know they have to be able to turn on a dime to make it all work.
Manpower Coordinator Robb Eder says that, in a nutshell, manpower is responsible for all the moving parts that comprise staffing P1’s construction jobs.
“It’s moving guys from job to job, hiring, lay-offs, payroll, and managing both union and HR issues,” he said.
Manpower Coordinator Assistant Emily Barber notes there’s really no telling what the day could bring, and team communication is imperative.
“The manpower coordinators never know what may be coming due to constant unknowns that happen from crew to crew, so daily communication among our team and with the field is critical,” Emily said.
Millwright Manpower Coordinator and Project Engineer Wes Trammell
notes that the role also means being a mediator between office and field personnel, and sometimes field and field personnel.
When personnel issues arise, Electrical Manpower
Lead Riston Breiner says manpower may not handle them directly, but will have to act as a liaison between the employee and HR or whatever department will ultimately handle the issue.
Robb says the manpower roles have grown to cover all mechanical trades, as well as electrical
among our team and with the field is critical."
"The manpower coordinators never know what's coming due to constant unknowns in the field, so daily communication
-Emily Barber
and millwright, because having someone looking at the big picture and ensuring communication across personnel is critical.
Wes says Millwrights look closely at strengths and abilities when assigning manpower, since their projects tend to be more specialized.
He also notes something many of the manpower coordinators try to do: give newer field associates the chance to work with the seasoned ones so they can learn on the job.
“We try to put less experienced foremen with the experienced foremen to be better prepared for inevitable transitions, like retirement and personnel changes,” Wes said.
Robb says meeting the new talent is the most rewarding part of the job.
“I love hiring apprentices,” he said. “I get to interview the new ones from Local 8 and 533, and you can see how excited they are to start their career.”
“Project managers and foremen are too busy to handle those responsibilities,” Robb said. “We’re the intermediary between field, office, and all the different departments, like VDC, warehouse, fabrication, etc.”
It’s no secret that manpower shortages are at an all-time high across the industry – and this poses a particular challenge for P1 manpower coordinators.
When a project manager asks for a team for a specific project, manpower collects info on the project size and starts figuring out who will best fit the team.
But a lot of moving factors can influence that decision, including shortages. Spreading everyone equally is hard, but something Robb says manpower tries to do.
“We sometimes have the same guy assigned to multiple projects,” Robb said. “You start to guess based on how likely we are to win and perform the job, when it will hit, and what strengths certain foreman and other field personnel have for the job at hand - and do your best to assign the right people.”
“We try to switch guys from job to job,” Riston said. “But if we do need additional manpower, we get in contact with the union halls to get more apprentices and journeymen.”
He notes that on the electrical side, some halls have enough, and some have far less.
“It also depends where the jobs are,” he said. “Jobs in more remote locations may have fewer resources in the union hall, and therefore may be harder to fill.”
On the flip side, Wes and Robb agree laying anyone off is the worst part of the job.
“Those are sleepless nights for me,” Robb said.
Riston says that, for him, juggling constantly changing plans is the most challenging aspect of the job.
“The planning is one of the hardest parts of the job,” Riston said. “Especially when there will always
be emergencies and unforeseen circumstances that can bring your plans to a halt.”
But Riston says on those occasions when everything comes together, and everyone has a job, it’s a rewarding endeavor.
“I love hiring apprentices. I get to interview the new ones from Local 8 and 533, and you can see how excited they are to start their career.”
-Robb Eder
"For me, it's the reactionary nature of the job that keeps it interesting. It’s constant change, and you have to be ready.”
-Wes Trammell
Wes says the reactionary nature of the job keeps it interesting. “I could be getting ready to do a lay off Wednesday, for Friday, and then Thursday I’m turning around and hiring 10. It’s constant change.”
Despite what’s coming, Robb says he has complete faith in the talent at P1. “We have some of the most talented field in the industry – I have no fear that our people can meet today’s needs and those of the future.”
Shawn and Riston say hearing the good news from the field –from a GC, owner, or customer – about how well our field associates are doing, is always a point of pride.
“Whether it’s schedule changes, lack of work, extra hands,to jobsite emergencies, being part of Manpower definitely makes every day a challenge - and different - but that’s why I enjoy the work,” Emily added.
Shawn Norris recently moved from manpower into a field superintendent role, and has turned the reins over to Riston.
“Although electrical manpower shortages haven’t typically been a problem, we foresee that they will in the near future with all the work coming down the pike,” Shawn said.
“We are busier than I’ve ever seen it in my 28 years here,” Robb said. “These are somewhat unprecedented times.”
“Unfortunately people don’t report the good news as often as it probably happens, but when you hear it, it reinforces what we already know about our manpower talent,” Riston said.
One truth is universal for Manpower: There’s never a time they aren’t busy. Even when construction is slow, they still have to find work for everyone. Keeping our field employed and busy is the mission, and manpower never stops working to make it happen.
KNOW! Like us and follow us on
"Unfortunately people don’t report the good news as often as it might happen, but when you hear it, it reinforces what we already know about our manpower talent.”
-Riston Breiner
“Although electrical manpower shortages haven’t typically been a problem, they probably will in the near future with all the work coming down the pike.”
-Shawn Norris
P1 Service Coordinator Josie Vestal has always had a close-knit family and says she enjoys the fun and personal relationships that go along with that.
Although she was not particularly seeking a “family” atmosphere at work, it came as an added bonus when she joined the Service team at P1.
Josie grew up in Tonganoxie, KS, and began her career right after high school as a chiropractic assistant in Lee’s Summit, MO.
“Coming straight out of high school, this position gave me a great start and a good deal of experience with customer service - specifically learning how to talk with people I didn’t know on a day-to-day basis,” Josie said.
“I also learned how keep the appointment schedule and develop a rapport with the patients.”
After a few years, Josie wanted something a little more challenging.
“My dad works for P1 Construction in the Architectural Metal shop, and he mentioned that P1 had a job posting for a Service Coordinator,” she said.
“I thought that might be good for me.”
She talked with Project Coordinator Laura Adkins, who explained more about what the position entailed.
“I thought it sounded like something I would enjoy, and my dad had such good things to say about P1, so I decided to apply,” Josie said.
Josie has now been with P1 more than two years.
When she started, Josie said it was an adjustment.
“I didn’t know much about the HVAC industry, and the pace of the job was much faster than what I was used to,” she said.
Due to the nature of P1 Service and getting techs to multiple jobs that come up, things can change quickly and the schedule rarely stays the same – a big difference from her job at the chiropractor.
“You can have a schedule complete for the next day and an emergency call will come in and you have to reroute everything.” Josie said.
Call Center Supervisor Jill Hollingsworth says Josie was a quick study.
“Josie’s customer service background gave her the foundation to know how to talk with customers and technicians,” Jill said. “Learning how to work with the other coordinators to solve scheduling issues was something she was able to grasp in a short amount of time. She has been a great addition to our team.”
Being part of the “team” is what Josie loves most about the job.
“The call center group is really amazing. I love coming to work knowing that I have a great team,” Josei said. “Even on the most stressful days, we work together to get the job done and still have fun in the process. We truly are like a big family.”
In her free time, Josie can often be seen with her two dogs Izzy, a14-year-old Lhasa Long-haired Dachshund and Millie, a one-year-old Cowboy Corgi/Blue Heeler-Corgi mix).
Josie’s dad, Bobby Vestal, is the Shop Foreman at the Architectural Metal shop, and her sister, Kylee Vestal, has recently accepted the position of receptionist at the P1 Service Lenexa location.
Bobby has been with Architectural Metal and P1 for 20 years. He started out doing residential heating and cooling until a friend directed him to join Sheet Metal Workers Local #2.
Bobby says he loves working at P1 because he constantly has new and challenging projects to work on and the owners really care about their employees.
“I wouldn’t have wanted my daughters to work for P1 if I didn’t think it was a great company,” Bobby said. “And these opportunities opened up for them which happen to perfectly match their skill sets.”
Josie said she is excited to have Kylee join the P1 team as well.
“I’m sure working in the same building will strengthen our sister bond, but ultimately I hope that she loves working for P1 as much as I do,” Josie said.
KNOW! Like us and follow us on
“I don’t do it for the recognition.” For some of us, that’s true. The joy we get from doing our jobs comes from being someone else’s solution – and hopefully making their day better.
But that doesn’t mean a “job well done” shouldn’t be recognized. Recognition of our fellow P1 associates’ work is more than an "attaboy" – it’s a way to connect employees across office and field.
That is how the P1 Service GOOD NEWS emails came about. Service General Manager Todd Andrews says he started putting together the weekly communications in 2020 when COVID hit.
“It was such an uncertain time, and we definitely had our share of bad news,” Todd said. “It seemed like we needed something to remind people of all the good things our associates do every day.”
This was especially true of the field. While office employees were sent to work at home for the better part of a year, the field had no such luxury.
Because of the critical nature of P1 Service's business, technicians went to work for various customers every day, braving possible illness and more complex working conditions as a result of the pandemic.
While our P1 Service associates tend to be modest and reluctant to tout their own success, Todd says it’s important to recognize a job well done.
While the emails were intended to be temporary, they are still going out weekly to P1 Service personnel more than three years later. The communication have grown into a connector, showing the symbiotic relationship between office, field, and customer.
Todd notes that P1 is too big of an organization for everybody to know everything, with offices spreading out across the U.S. GOOD NEWS tries to bridge gaps where possible. “It’s the only way we have of spreading things people should be recognized for,” Todd added.
Just putting the emails together comes with challenges too. It’s difficult to get information exactly right, or sometimes only partial information is received, and there’s
always the chance someone or something will unintentionally be left out.
The other challenge is actually getting the news – people either don’t remember or are hesitant to share what they’re doing.
Todd says some of the service managers and service coordinators are great about passing things along, but he’d like to have more direct communication from the field and other office personnel.
“It’s not about a big story - it’s just about the every day way our associates take care of each other and our customers – that’s what we want to share,” Todd said.
Since the GOOD NEWS emails have been well-received, Todd hopes they live on, even when he eventually passes the ownership of these emails to someone else.
However, without your “news” they will cease to exist, and that would be too bad.
There is no item too small for consideration. Although P1 Service associates may enjoy what seems like a robust GOOD NEWS email every week, it can be a real struggle to put these together if people don’t take a minute to send information, even if it’s just a sentence or two about every-day good work.
If you are P1 Service, share your GOOD NEWS by emailing tandrews@p1-service.com
The weather doesn’t cooperate, systems break down, and emergencies arise - and they don’t always do it conveniently between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Therefore, the technicians and experts at P1 Service must handle multiple emergencies and take care customer needs 24/7/365.
Crews have to respond to calls at all hours all days of the week. It takes teamwork, hard work, and above all, dedication to providing excellent service to P1 customers – no matter what.
We asked some of our experts how they handle the unexpected.
