This is Kayla Reed, my Admin Assistant and Coordinator.
When I brought Kayla on board, I had a vision: to groom her into a Project Manager or Engineer within 2-4 years. As a leader, my mission includes hiring individuals and imparting to them all the knowledge and skills they need to thrive. I have no fear of losing my top admin because I have absolute confidence in my ability to discover and nurture another outstanding talent.
My goal for her, or anyone on my team, is to grow and become the best in their field. I want them to want my job or one above. Why? Why not? #growthopportunities
The best project managers and leaders aren't necessarily the ones with the degrees, the best have EXPERIENCE. They often start as the field hand, apprentice, or the secretary who answers the phones. The firsthand experience gained on the job, from the very bottom, even for a short period, provides an invaluable perspective to operate from. Outside of enhancing the emotional intelligence needed to lead truly, it grants a front-row seat to witness all the pieces and parts of this vast construction process.
There is not enough of this happening in our industry!
As an office manager in the Mechanical/Industrial field, I hypothesized early that participating in person on the 2 million-dollar GP shutdown (circa 2012) would result in fewer payroll errors and improved billing efficiency.
Management, and especially that first Super didn't want me to go in the field with them, but I convinced them. Guess what? I was right. My presence not only enhanced my administrative functions but also significantly benefited the project and team.
They took me on every shutdown after that. Administratively, I was invoicing within five days of an outage and had 99% accuracy on every payroll. Let me tell you, it's a different vibe to get someone's payroll wrong when you are sitting in the same job trailer.
Eight years later, I would be managing my own projects for STEBBINS merely on the word of another Superintendent who "didn't need me" when we had met four years earlier. Thanks, Covid.
In fact, on the first day of that shutdown in 2016, Dennis told me, "There is no reason for you to be here; I have done this on my own for thirty years." Insert my "yep" ... He apologized a few times throughout that outage as we navigated those 26 purchase orders together.
In the not-so-short, I suspect your challenge isn't finding the right people, but that you are searching in the wrong places. Focus on hiring individuals with the potential for growth and longevity.
Additionally, when issues such as persistent administrative errors, delays in AR/AP, and poor coordination between the corporate office and field teams arise, look at how your team communicates and acknowledges one another. Do they know they are on the same team? Do they equally care about the success of the company? If not, the disconnect inevitably results in wasted time, energy, and, ultimately, financial losses.
Just applied for an opening role on your company website!