Be Resilient. Focus on the End Goal

“Other construction companies blew her off. They said no way. And that’s the wrong thing to say to Iris.” —Genie Nowicki, HRI senior designer

Harrell’s optimistic yet steely resolve serves her well in good times and bad. She is deeply spiritual, a private matter that she rarely shares at work but that helps her stay grounded even under pressure.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for example, came months after two of HRI’s biggest ventures ever: the purchase of 15,550 square feet of office and warehouse space, and the launch of its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). As financial paralysis struck, “We knew we had to do just over $7 million to keep this ship afloat,” Harrell says. An emphasis then (as now) was tighter “throughput” — identifying and streamlining slowdowns between sold jobs and production.

Giammona says that those times epitomized Harrell’s ability to find her center, deliver the truth (the company is open book with its financials), and inspire powerful accountability. “She can lead a meeting like nobody, and she said, in effect, ‘We are going to make it through this, and here’s how,’” he says.

That leadership is pulling HRI through the current, more protracted recession. There have been adjustments — a 20% staff reduction, reduced work hours for some, 5% pay cuts for salaried workers, subbing out far less. Yet the remaining 35-person team seems tighter and more committed than ever. “One has to be calm in the middle of a storm,” Harrell says. “Fear is paralyzing.”

Plus, she knows from her favorite sport, golf, that “you have to remember to breathe.”

Similarly, in 1989, when Harrell joined her first remodeling peer review group, she was one of the few women (let alone openly gay) members. Not all the other members were kind or respectful toward her, at least at first, but she focused on her numbers rather than her popularity.

A telling example was when she was told that owners should aspire to revenue that would provide a 10% net profit for the company and 10% for the owner. “What I didn’t know was that most remodelers didn’t achieve that!” she says. She usually did. In fact, HRI was the No.1-ranked company in the group for most of the years she was involved.

Respect, Recognize, Reward

“Many people can stand up and say, ‘We’re so grateful,’ but when Iris said it, you almost got chills. You could see that everyone felt it.” —Bella Babot, HRI director of marketing and human resources

The occasion was one of HRI’s “trade partner appreciate dinners,” an annual event that Babot (who was then in the high-tech arena) had attended as a guest. She hadn’t met Harrell before that night and was “amazed to see the employees of HRI working together as this happy, well-oiled machine.” She was especially floored when Harrell spoke about the professionalism and customer service of each trade specialist. “She was just exemplifying gratitude,” Babot says.

Good trade contractors want to do high-quality, challenging work, of course, and HRI specializes in both. And they really value being paid quickly and well. “I’ll invoice them Tuesday and have a check by Friday, without discussion,” Camolinga says.

“Iris set a standard a long time ago: We truly value our trade specialists,” chief estimator Paul says. “And we work long and hard to make sure we get trade specialists who have the same philosophy as we do.”

Likewise, Harrell recognizes her team at every turn, in ways that range from her un-CEO-like practice of routinely thanking them for specific contributions to the company’s success, to a generous benefits program that includes the literal sense of ownership that the ESOP bestows. (Employees are 25% vested after two years and fully vested after five years.)

Most distinctive are HRI’s “cultural” rewards. The whole team selects an employee of the quarter and an “employee-owner of the year,” with the latter unveiled in a surprise, and frequently hilarious, video produced by Giammona. He’s also a musician, and when people hit their 10-year HRI anniversary, he writes and performs (with backup singers) an equally unique and funny “10-year song” at an all-staff meeting.