But Tim Faller, president of Field Training Services, in Westerly, R.I., thinks the lack of career tracks in remodeling companies can be traced to the way many owners started their companies. “Most are brought up in the trades,” says Faller, an industry consultant and regular REMODELING contributor. “They treat their employees the way they were treated. The difference is that as people who open their own businesses, they are more driven” and have trouble understanding the employees who don’t seem as interested in advancement.
ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL The mechanics of career tracks will vary based on the company structure, but a typical progression would take a person from helper or laborer to lead carpenter or project manager, with appropriate stops along the way. Of course, it’s not necessary that employees start at the bottom level, and employees with the necessary skills and interest can begin to move out of the field by becoming a production manager, a hybrid position that combines field and office skills. A few will move out of the field altogether and into the office as a designer, estimator, or salesperson.
Indeed, letting your employees have a say in how they develop is just as important as providing them the opportunity to do so. Jerry Harris, president of Case Handyman and Remodeling of Tidewater and Richmond, in Virginia, says that career tracks are really about job satisfaction. “It’s helping an employee reach a level that they want to get to.”
Jamrog agrees. “Career paths depend on the individual,” he says. “They can’t be one-size-fits-all.” Different employees will have different career goals that will keep them motivated to not just work, but work at your company. The only way to find out what their drivers are is to ask them. Putting them on a track that they help develop will satisfy them more than one you dictate to them.
To the extent that it’s possible, career tracks should have milestones that employees need to reach before receiving a promotion. At Kowalski Construction, in Phoenix, field employees are divided into four levels. To advance a level, employees must demonstrate specific field skills. “It’s a win-win situation,” says company president Steve Kowalski. “It’s a definitive measure for people who want to better themselves, and the company gets a better employee.”
At Case of Tidewater and Richmond, field crew members on the project management track must collect signatures from their more experienced colleagues in administration, production, and sales that show their competency in those areas. It’s an idea Harris adapted from the military. “Once you’ve gotten all the signatures, you become qualified to sign for others,” he says.
MEASURING PROGRESS Establishing a career track is only half the battle, however. You’ll also need a plan to help employees on their way up through the company.
Santa Barbara, Calif., remodeler Dennis Allen has eight “associates” essentially running their own practices under the company umbrella. They’re responsible for all aspects of a project, from budgeting to negotiating with trade contractors to hiring and firing employees. “We don’t hire associates,” Allen says. “We hire people who have the potential to be associates.”
Those people join the company as junior associates, and spend a minimum of one year with the company under the supervision and tutelage of one of the associates.
When Allen and the rest of the management team feel that a junior associate has progressed enough to be considered for a promotion — including hitting certain volume and profit targets — the decision is made by a vote among all the associates in the company. “The associates care immensely about the company,” Allen says, “and don’t want anybody who they think will be a detriment.”