Company Culture

  • People + Skills: Meetings Make it Stick

    It used to be that when Ben Morey, president of Morey Construction in Long Beach, Calif., wanted to share information with his staff, he'd do what many of us do: He'd write a memo.

     
  • Employees might surprise you with their solutions

    Fans of the old TV show M*A*S*H will remember Radar O'Reilly, the affable young corporal with an almost otherworldly ability to anticipate needs and provide answers before anyone even got around to asking.

     
  • Experimenting with team dynamics

    Although team-selling is not a new concept, more remodelers are experimenting with team dynamics, including introducing male-female sales teams.

     
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    Use holiday cards to raise awareness

    The holiday season may not officially kick off until next month, but many remodelers are already looking at marketing strategies to keep business coming in during this traditionally slow time.

     
  • Working Bonus

    Remodeling company benefits from its first goal-oriented bonus.

     
  • Making subcontractors or employees work for your business

    A few years ago, Rob Mathews, president of Curb Appeal Remodeling in Dallas, had an awakening moment — he realized he couldn't meet payroll.

     
  • Followup: Should Remodelers Test for Drug Use?

    The "no" response from this month's "Big 50 Face Off," which asked, "Should remodelers test their employees for drug use?" came from Greg Antonioli (Big50 2006) of Out of the Woods Construction & Cabinetry, Arlington, Mass.

     
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    Communication is key to working well with architects

    The excerpts above are part of a June 2007 discussion on kitchen designer Peggy Deras' blog, http://kitchen-exchange.blogspot.com/. Although the bloggers are kitchen designers and architects, the same discussion could just as well have occurred between remodelers and architects.

     
  • Employee interactions are as important as business basics

    Basic business functions must be kept in balance to ensure profitability and success. But the working interactions between employees also must be kept in balance for an enjoyable, productive environment.

     
  • Plastic monkeys represent problems

    In a take-off from the book The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, one manager changed his life by throwing monkeys -- plastic ones -- at his employees.