Construction: More about building people than building projects

I learned from a young age that being a contractor meant you were serious about your work. Having been born from generations of contractors, I had many notions about what a construction company was. My grandfather and nearly all my uncles had been, and continue to be, contractors. These people were tough as nails: They were hard working, had calloused hands, and sore backs. But they were driven to build projects. Being serious about work meant that you did not speak of pain, feelings, ideas  or how you may think something could be done differently. You certainly didn’t share personal thoughts about your life. I don’t remember a time where my family smiled a lot, laughed, or showed much emotion. In fact, it was quite the opposite. You were there to work and to get things done, not necessarily to enjoy it. It seemed to me that if you wanted to be in construction you had to be tough, smart, and hold a stiff upper lip.
 
Over the course of my career I have worked with some of the smallest and largest construction companies in the world. They have all demonstrated to me the importance of being smart, tough, and nimble. These are crucial qualities for any team. These companies have also demonstrated that being vulnerable is not always welcomed or appreciated in the industry. This lack of vulnerability is a large contributor to high employee turnover rates. If there isn’t honest and collaborative communication or the encouragement to share ideas, we would just be left with an average project.
 
At the inception of my company I had one vision—I wanted to create a construction company unlike any I had experienced before. I asked myself, “what if we focused on building people first and projects second?” 

These are the keys that have been the bed rock of our company and have been proven true many times over: 

Diversity of Strengths 
For nearly thirteen years, we have worked to build a culture that embraces differences and that uses them as tools to grow. Giving room for celebrating each person’s unique skills, personalities, and talents fosters a more creative and intuitive atmosphere. It’s amazing to see people excel in innovative problem-solving, creating more streamlined systems, policies, and procedures because they have been encouraged to use all the skills that they bring to the table.

Communication
Over-emphasizing communication to make sure people know we value their thoughts and that we want them to contribute is important. Often, we preach, “the things that we don’t talk about will be the things that will hurt us the most.” People often worry that speaking up might have a poor outcome, but the truth is that when dealing with challenges, reasonable people can come to reasonable outcomes most of the time. Over time, I have found that fostering open communication has created a strong and trusting team.

Another philosophy we have adopted is “Just Say It!” It’s easy: When you have something that you need to say, you just say it. The premise is to give voice to what’s bugging you, get it off your chest, and then work together to find a solution. Those three little words have lifted so many burdens off our team – They really do work!

Vulnerability 
In the light of being communicative, we encourage people to trust the process of sharing, and trust that their team will be supportive. We encourage vulnerability and thereby trust. Admittedly, being vulnerable can scary but many times we’ve found that until we lean on each other, express our needs, and even ask for help, we stay in the mantra of “every man for himself.” That mantra destroys a team! As a team, we check our egos at the door and know that each person provides value and contributes to the team. Ultimately, this provides us an inherent ability to tackle complex and diverse problems.

Freedom to Exceed Expectations 
Our team has learned to release: Release being afraid that there won’t be enough of the right people and release being afraid to let people go to where they need to be, both personally and professionally. When a company seeks to invest in, buildup, and strengthen their team, the team members feel the genuine sense of care. They perform more confidently knowing that they are valued and supported for who they are – not just for their degree or talents. There is a sense of freedom and power that’s created when a team knows their skills, talents, knowledge, as well as when and how to use these qualities. By building up people, a project’s success will follow. Building people produces results… results that exceed expectations.

As evidence to support these key ideas, over the last year our staff has doubled and any issues that have come up are quickly resolved. Although our staff has grown and changed over the years, we have been able to move some big mountains by continuing to grow together. We hire people with similar values and we hire them as if it is the last job they will ever have. We truly enjoy investing in our employees and strive to provide them the best work environment they have ever been a part of. We seek to find ways for our people to grow and encourage them to better themselves both personally and professionally. It is an integral part of life at Catworks Construction. We often say, “if you are not growing, you are dying,” and I am certain the former is better. 
 
Although the complexities of our projects have grown and the challenges have risen, they have truly become second to building our people. Our philosophy of people first and projects second has proven that it works, only when our people are free to contribute all of themselves. With great people contributing at their highest level, project success is inevitable. It may not always be easy or even fun, but it is a worthwhile endeavor, with long-lasting rewards. 


Mike Nieto is the owner of Catworks Construction, which is a minority-owned general contractor in Battle Ground, Washington. Mike is also the 2017 SWCA Board President. 

Also published on the Vancouver Business Journal.