I frequently write about roof types, client projects, and challenges in the roofing industry. Today, though, I want to talk about what is probably the key component in the success or failure of any business: its employees. At Spokane Roofing Company, I have plenty of good things to say about our employees.
I truly believe that how a company treats its employees creates a ripple effect, one that will eventually show up in how it treats its customers. That is why our management focus is always on behavior that reflects and reinforces our core values: honesty, professionalism, dynamic, consistency, and emotional investment. More and more, these foundational values are what we need to be about. We spend a great deal of time at Spokane Roofing talking about, defining, and expanding those values.
Let us face it. Construction work, including roofing, is not attractive work unless you make it attractive. It is hard to wake up, come to work at 6 in the morning and get up on a roof. We want to make Spokane Roofing a place where our employees want to come to work. For them to be invested in us, they need to know that we are invested in them.
I read recently that a good company works for 25 years to become an overnight success, and that really stuck with me. You can’t just flip a switch to get everything the way you want it. As a growing business, one of the things we can control is how we treat people and the kind of benefits we offer them. I consider us a work family, and I try to promote family team-building events like dinners, cruises, bowling, and more. We send our people to off-site training to develop their skills. When one of our employees is struggling, we pull together and help to pick up the pieces.
Yes, treating our employees well gives us a competitive advantage, but that is not why we do it. We want our employees to buy into our vision, and to feel that they are part of something bigger than a single job or a single season. We want to hire and keep people who want to have a career with us. That is not always easy, because it is hard to find people who have seen it all.
We retain good employees with solid compensation and benefit packages. Because the commercial roofing business is so seasonal, we are always looking for ideas to make the business better for our employees and clients alike. For example, a systematic program of roof inspections is ready to launch; more information will follow.
Roofing in the Pacific Northwest is not easy, but it can be very rewarding. Anyone who is interested in working with Spokane Roofing Company can be assured that they will make a good living, doing work that matters. Happy, healthy employees do better work, and that is good for everybody.