The hidden ROI of putting people before profits

What's the ONE thing that separates thriving construction companies from those just getting by?

It's not their equipment, marketing, or even their pricing strategy.

It's their priorities.

The average business owner (in construction and everywhere else) has it backwards. They prioritize:

1. Money first

2. Customers second

3. Staff third

But focusing on profit first is short-sighted, setting off a predictable chain reaction:

Your team feels overworked and undervalued…

Then, quality begins to suffer…

Customer satisfaction tanks…

And finally, your profits decline – the very thing you were chasing!

This is why top-tier construction companies flip it around and prioritize:

1. Staff first

2. Customers second

3. Money third

When your team knows they come first, they perform better because they want to, which means your customers get served well. And this leads to better profits in the long-term.

This all turns into a self-feeding ecosystem, where your team shares in the profits while they work hard to grow the company.

It's a beautiful thing!

And, there are even more downstream effects…

Prioritizing your people first builds a company culture that gives you four massive business advantages:

• Drives execution capability (Work gets done right the first time)

• Improves accountability (People hold themselves and each other to higher standards)

• Enables scalability (Growth doesn't mean more babysitting)

• Retains talent (Your best people stay and help recruit more like them)

Culture under pressure: A real-world example

One of our clients runs a $10M construction company in Bellingham, Washington.

And ever since we’ve known him, his #1 goal has been to be a good boss.

He says “I focus on the currency of good relationships with good people.”

For him, this means:

• Protecting good employees from bad people

• Protecting customers from bad people

• Protecting the company from bad customers

Not only that, he pays his team at the top end of what the market’s paying (or slightly more), giving them exceptional support.

But, this client once got incredibly unlucky in a freak event, where three project managers all quit in the same week.

• One had to take care of an injured family member…

• Another’s wife was promoted, and they had to move states…

• And another decided to backpack around Europe for six months on a whim

This client was watching and thinking, “oh no… I’m going to have to get back into the field, sales are going to drop off, and this is going to be disastrous for the business.”

But as it turns out, none of that happened.

His entire company rallied around him right away to help fill in for the missing project managers. Some people got on the phone and started scouting for PMs they knew, and others stepped up to the plate and filled in for the spot full-time.

And the organization emerged stronger as a result.

All of this happened because this client had spent years building a culture where the team wanted to protect their company.

When their house was threatened, they banded together as a cohesive unit.

To bring the point back full circle: you don’t get these results by prioritizing profits over people!

Is your construction company built to weather any storm?

If you’re ready to build a construction company that thrives year-round, Highspire Coaching teaches you how to:

• Build a self-managing construction company that runs without your constant supervision

• Create rock-solid operational systems that maintain accountability and high performance

• Develop a culture where your team protects and grows the business like it's their own

👉To learn more about Highspire Coaching, click here.

👉To apply for the next cohort, book a call here.

Forward always,

Highspire