The topic on everyone’s mind seems to be the labor shortage. Metal Construction News felt so strongly about this they hosted a Labor Summit last year. Editorial director Paul Deffenbaugh frequently addresses this in his monthly column.
It’s summer and lessons from baseball can help you combat the labor shortage
My colleagues at the Metal Construction Association, the Metal Building Manufacturers Association, and IMPACT (the Iron Workers International labor-management partnership) are also keen to find a solution. As with many things, we keep looking for a magic bullet, a quick hit. “Just tell me what I have to do or pay” to fix the problem.
Unfortunately, this is not a problem that will be fixed with an easy solution. We all need to do our parts to change perceptions, inspire pride in the trades and promote our industry.
Recruiting and getting people interested in working in our trade is certainly one issue; but perhaps of equal concern is making those new recruits stay and become productive members of your team. In our Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association’s June newsletter, we shared a tip from J&M Steel Solutions Inc., Lehi, Utah, on mentorship. (If you are not receiving our newsletter, contact Sasha Demyan at sdemyan@mbcea.org.) Further to that tip, Jamin Jackson of J&M shared this thought:
“The mentorship approach not only pays off when it comes to keeping the new hires safe … we have seen way less new hire injury since starting the program, but it also pays off in overall safety. It pays off because you are retaining employees so your bench of experienced employees gets deeper and your team gets stronger. More efficiency and more experienced workers being retained lends itself to better safety. The crew will simply get better as a whole at knowing safe practices and procedures when there is lower turnover.”
Since baseball season is well underway, I’d like to use a few baseball analogies to explore the idea of building our teams and successfully on-boarding not only to reduce attrition, but as Jackson said, to improve efficiency and safety.
Spring training: Spring training is when managers and coaches consider what to do with their superstars, utility players, rookies and the guys just starting to pop. Managers have to come up with batting orders and pitching rotations, bench players and scheduling. It requires a lot of planning to assess the team and determine the best way to use it. Great teams are carefully calibrated to maximize everyone’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
Employee development and staff training is a lot like spring training. Put some time into nailing down your roster to ensure a strong team of complementary skilled workers. Develop a training plan for each worker. Assess their skills and make corrections as needed.
Make ’em want to keep coming back: Every team plays 162 games in a Major League Baseball season, which means team owners have 81 home games worth of seats to fill. They have to give their customers value. But since they’re not in control of the final result of the game, value means creating an experience that includes food, atmosphere and accessibility. Ballpark experiences are about more than the game.
How is this like human resources? You can’t just think about the paycheck as the be-all and end-all. The experience your employees have with your company can make or break their overall view of you and whether they want to stay. Filling the seats isn’t enough. You want those seats filled by people who are happy they came, and who want to keep coming back.
Data and statistics: One of my favorite baseball movies is ”Moneyball.” It highlights the story of the 2002 Oakland A’s, led by the unconventional leadership strategies of general manager Billy Beane. Beane demonstrated that by measuring statistics such as on-base percentage, he could onboard talent that most teams perceived as cast-offs. Great leaders are keenly aware and use all of the data they can get their hands on to analyze and make informed organizational decisions. For contractors and erectors, it all comes back to man hours. Measure productivity, track performance, and compare efficiency and safety records for each crew. Use this data to make adjustments and informed decisions.
It’s about TEAM: Perhaps more than any other team sport, baseball capitalizes on the influence made by the collection of individuals on the field. A dominant pitcher only plays every few days. The crushing long-ball hitter only appears at the plate four to five times a game. The most successful leaders realize that the whole team is greater than the sum of its members. While it is great to have remarkable talent, it is the whole of the organization working together toward a common vision that produces success.
If players don’t gel and the team’s culture is toxic, winning the World Series becomes nothing more than wishful thinking. Team chemistry is the positive consequence generated from effective leadership and healthy cultures.
When all else fails, break out the hot dogs! If you want to know more about the MBCEA and our strategies for success, visit www.mbcea. org or contact sdemyan@mbcea.org.
Keith Wentworth is president of the Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association and vice president of Dutton & Garfield Inc., Hampstead, N.H. Wentworth holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Merrimack College, and has more than 20 years of experience in commercial and industrial metal building design-build construction. He is proud to be a third-generation Butler builder. Wentworth also serves on the board of directors of the Metal Building Institute and is a past president of the New England Chapter of the MBCEA. To learn more about the MBCEA, visit www.mbcea.org.
